The Effect of Pitch and Rhythm Difficulty on High School String Sight-Reading Performance

Abstract

Reading music at sight is a complex skill, requiring the musician to perform pitch and rhythm simultaneously. Previous research has identified difficulty levels for pitch and rhythm skills for strings individually but not in combination. In this study, we sought to study possible relationships between pitch and rhythm tasks occurring concurrently. High school string players (N = 88) performed melodies with varying combinations of pitch and rhythm difficulty. Results indicated that pitch and rhythm skills retained their relative difficulty levels, regardless of the presence of other factors. Rhythmic success was related to pitch success. Rhythm accuracy without pitch success occurred least frequently. Pitch accuracy without rhythm success occurred most frequently. String players appeared to give priority to pitch over rhythm, performing pitch correctly at the expense of rhythmic accuracy. Implications for teaching include the necessity of emphasizing rhythmic continuity. Future research should explore the pitch and rhythm reading capabilities for other instrumentalists and string players with a vocal background, as well as exploring the ability to sight-read additional musical elements in conjunction with rhythm and pitch.

Effects of Pitch and Rhythm Priming Tasks on Accuracy and Fluency During Sight-Reading

“…Treatments in this study were designed to isolate the roles of rhythm and pitch in music reading. Investigators have observed an interaction between pitch accuracy and timing accuracy (Alexander & Henry, 2015; Cassidy et al., 2001; Henry, 2011; Pike & Carter, 2010). Building on those observations, I asked what the effects would be on the accuracy of performing music from notation if participants were primed with rhythm or pitch.…”

“…Evidence suggests that factors other than knowing how the rhythm goes may be more important to a fluent performance. It has been observed in singers and string playing that students first attend to the pitch (what to play) and then timing (when to play) during sight-reading (Alexander & Henry, 2015; Henry, 2011).…”

“…These errors were self-corrected in 30% of the cases, indicating that students knew the correct notes but had difficulty producing them in the context of a musical performance. It also has been observed that students disrupt the pulse in order to find the correct notes (Alexander & Henry, 2015; Cassidy, Betts, & Hanberry, 2001; Henry, 2011; Pike & Carter, 2010), suggesting that the intrinsic cognitive load of the task could not be processed in the allotted time.…”