The effect of directed focus on the peripheral hearing of undergraduate instrumental music majors
By: Dennis J. Hayslett.
Publisher: s.n.]
Published: 1991
Place of publication: [Kent. Ohio
Language: eng
Number of pages: 136
Subjects: Musical ability.; Music -- Psychology.; Hearing.
First sentence: Frederick Fennell stated in 1975, "One thing I have learned in a conducting career of forty years is that for all of us, players and conductors, the answers to making music are to be found in listening" (Fennell, 1989).
Description: Efficient error detection skills, as a primary competency for
 the conductor/teacher, can be facilitated by developing advanced
aural perception abilities so that incoming auditory stimuli can
 be sensed and perceived accurately.  This study compares aural 
perception to the visual perception process, theorizing that 
attention to a particular auditory stream causes concurrent auditory streams to be perceived in a manner analogous to 
peripheral vision, here termed "peripheral hearing."
     Because error detection requires focusing on a single errant
 auditory stream from among many incoming streams, the primary
 question was to determine the effect of this singular focus upon
 the simultaneous perception of concurrent auditory streams.  A 
secondary purpose was to examine the effect that acquiring an 
aural "template" of the stimulus had upon this perception.
Procedure
     An aural test containing three-line printed scores of short 
musical excerpts was administered to 178 undergraduate
 instrumental music majors from eight colleges and universities, 
who indicated errors or departures from the printed scores made by 
a recorded ensemble.  Subjects' focus was directed to a specific musical line, and maintained on that line by the insertion of 
obvious errors on several excerpts, whereupon a concurrent line
 was simultaneously deleted.  Detection of the deleted musical line
 was measured to indicate the extent of peripheral hearing.
     To measure the effect that an aural template of the test familiarization procedure with a recorded piece of music.  Half of 
the test excerpts were drawn from this piece (internal aural template piece) and half were drawn from unfamiliar (non-template) 
music.

Conclusions
     1. When aural focus was directed to one musical line through
 instruction and/or the insertion of an error as a "focus 
re-inforcer," accuracy of perception in concurrent parts was
 reduced significantly.
     2. Perception within all areas of test items drawn from music
 for which subjects possessed an internal aural template was
 significantly more accurate.
     3. Detection of an alteration to a peripheral musical part 
was highest when the part was the melody and next highest when it 
was the bass line.
     4. The lower percentage of deleted parts detected compared to
 the percentage of focus re-inforcers detected suggests a possible
 hierarchy of detectability among types of errors and
 discrepancies.
Notes: Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 1991.

Includes bibliographical references.

Photocopy. Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International, 1994.
Table of contents: class: section