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Past research has shown that listening to slow- or fast-tempo music can affect adults' executive attention (EA) performance. This study examined the immediate impact of brief exposure to slow- or fast-tempo music on EA performance in 4- to 6-year-old children. A within-subject design was used, where each child completed three blocks of the EA task after listening to fast-tempo music (fast-tempo block), slow-tempo music (slow-tempo block), and ocean waves (control block), with block-order counterbalanced. In each block, children were also asked to report their pre-task subjective emotional status (experienced arousal and valence) before listening to music and their post-task emotional status after the EA task. Three major results emerged. First, reaction time (RT) was significantly faster in the slow-tempo block than in the fast-tempo, suggesting that listening to slow-tempo music preserves processing efficiency, relative to fast-tempo music. Second, children's accuracy rate in the EA task did not differ across blocks. Third, children's subjective emotional status did not differ across blocks and did not change across the pre- and post-task phases in any block, suggesting the faster RT observed in the slow-tempo block cannot be explained by changes in arousal or mood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III, 1974) for two amplified pianos and percussion by George Crumb is one of the first works written after 1945 to use the same ensemble inaugurated by Béla Bartók in his Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. The aim of this article is to examine the relationship between temporality and texture in the performance of Music for a Summer Evening. The highly diversified textures in terms of colour and density, as well as the tempo palette offer performers a high degree of freedom in their interpretation. Seven recorded performances of the work, covering a period of more than forty years (1975–2017) are compared according to the methods I developed during previous studies (Lalitte, Philippe. 2015. Analyser l'interprétation de la musique du XXe siècle. Une analyse d'interprétations enregistrées des Dix pièces pour quintette à vent de György Ligeti. Paris: Hermann; Lalitte, Philippe. 2018. "L'interprétation de Sopiana pour flûte, piano et bande de François-Bernard Mâche." In François-Bernard Mâche: Le poète et le savant face à l'univers sonore, edited by Geneviève Mathon and Marta Grabocz, 299–318. Paris: Hermann; Lalitte, Philippe, and Vincent Grepel. 2017. "Prêt-à-porter ou coupe sur mesure? Liberté et contraintes dans l'interprétation de la Sequenza III de Berio." Filigrane 22.). The article sheds light on issues such as the fidelity to the score, the singularity of some interpretations, the impact of texture on the temporality of performance, and the potential effect of the number of musicians in the ensemble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is accepted by Muslims that Egyptian reciters have a very important place in recitation of the Qur'an. In fact, it is seen that non-muslim scientists who do research on the recitation of the Qur'an also choose Egypt as a sample in their studies. The recitations of the Qur'an in Turkey, which are performed in three different styles as tahkik, tedvir and hadr in terms of speed, are traditionally performed in two recitation styles in Egypt. These are murattal and mujawwad recitation styles. Murattal stands out with its melodic simplicity, narrow expression space and relatively fast character. On the other hand, mujawwad creates a space for a rich and viscous musical performance, as it has a slower character in terms of speed. Melismatic melodies are included. It is seen that these recitation styles have not been the subject of any comparative research before. In this research, the recitings of Abdussamed, Husari, Minshawi and Mustafa Ismail will be examined from a temporal perspective. At the end of a series of research processes, including this research, it is aimed to draw a clearer picture of the concept of tavır, which is frequently encountered in usages such as Turkish (Istanbul) or Arab (Cairo) “manner”. The reason why our research is planned as a series is that the studies are quite voluminous. It is aimed to complete this series with the research that constitutes the next stage of the process in which the metro-rhythmic features of the reciting of the reciters who are thought to represent the Cairo and Istanbul manner will be discussed comparatively. Although the concept of tavır is frequently used in today's Turkish music and Qiraah disciplines, it has not been the subject of a comprehensive research and has not reached a satisfactory definition. In order to obtain a competent definition of this concept, which we believe has been defined only on the basis of elements such as melodic character and phonetics, it will be necessary to examine in detail two important centres in the field of recitation, such as Istanbul and Cairo because the temporal characteristics of the recitations stand before us as an element that has the power to affect the tavır phenomenon and to be among its definition elements. Our research reveals the temporal and metrical features seen in the performances of the reciters. In this respect, it can be said that it has a comparative and descriptive character. The CV unit time average and metric properties in the recitations of the first five verses of Surah al-Baqara were determined by examining them with Praat phonetic analysis software. The numerical values obtained are presented through tables and graphics. When the data obtained were analyzed, it was determined that the CVPM values of murattal recitations were in the range of 282-356, while those of mujawwad recitations were in the range of 139-159. According to this result, the speed levels of murattal and mujawwad recitations are clustered in different regions. It is determined that the ratio of the average duration of long syllables to the average duration of short syllables is in the range of 1.7-1.8 in all of the reciters' murattal recitations, and these values are below integer 2. When we look at the mujawwad recitations, it can be stated that the metric ratio of one recitation is 1.94, while the others are 2 or more. As a result of our research, it has been observed that in each of the murattal and mujawwad reciting styles, the reciters recite with similar temporal characteristics. It is understood that both reciting styles find application in a unique and non-intersecting speed range. In terms of metrics, it is seen that murattal and mujawwad recitations are in consistent values within themselves. It is understood that these values form clusters that do not intersect with each other, as in the CV-PM values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals typically produce auditory sequences, such as speech or music, at a consistent spontaneous rate or tempo. We addressed whether spontaneous rates would show patterns of convergence across the domains of music and language production when the same participants spoke sentences and performed melodic phrases on a piano. Although timing plays a critical role in both domains, different communicative and motor constraints apply in each case and so it is not clear whether music and speech would display similar timing mechanisms. We report the results of two experiments in which adult participants produced sequences from memory at a comfortable spontaneous (uncued) rate. In Experiment 1, monolingual pianists in Buffalo, New York engaged in three production tasks: speaking sentences from memory, performing short melodies from memory, and tapping isochronously. In Experiment 2, English-French bilingual pianists in Montréal, Canada produced melodies on a piano as in Experiment 1, and spoke short rhythmically-structured phrases repeatedly. Both experiments led to the same pattern of results. Participants exhibited consistent spontaneous rates within each task. People who produced one spoken phrase rapidly were likely to produce another spoken phrase rapidly. This consistency across stimuli was also found for performance of different musical melodies. In general, spontaneous rates across speech and music tasks were not correlated, whereas rates of tapping and music were correlated. Speech rates (for syllables) were faster than music rates (for tones) and speech showed a smaller range of spontaneous rates across individuals than did music or tapping rates. Taken together, these results suggest that spontaneous rate reflects cumulative influences of endogenous rhythms (in consistent self-generated rates within domain), peripheral motor constraints (in finger movements across tapping and music), and communicative goals based on the cultural transmission of auditory information (slower rates for to-be-synchronized music than for speech). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of presentation condition, adjudicators' performing experience on string instruments, and music stimulus tempo on music majors' evaluations of string orchestra performances. Participants (N = 96) were randomly assigned to one of the four presentation conditions. Musical stimuli varied by quality of performance (good vs. poor) and presentation condition: audio only of good and poor performances, video only of good and poor performances, video of a good performance with audio of good or poor performances, and video of a poor performance with audio of good or poor performances. Participants assigned ratings to 12 evaluative statements (six for general musical performance and six for string instrument specific aspects) and also rated the overall performance. Participants also indicated their level of comfort with assigning ratings in each presentation condition. Repeated-measures ANOVA tests revealed that the ratings assigned to the 12 evaluation statements and to the overall performance were significantly more favorable for audio presentations of good performances compared to performances of poor performances. For 12 of the 13 evaluation scales, video presentations of good performances paired with audio presentations of good and poor performances received more favorable ratings than performances in the other presentation conditions. Results indicate that good visual presentations of performances can influence ratings for audio presentations of poor performances. Participants' comfort levels with assigning ratings to the string specific scales increased with string instrument playing experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal coordination between members of a string quartet was investigated across repeated performances of an excerpt of Haydn's string quartet in G Major, Op. 77 No. 1. Cross-correlations between interbeat intervals of performances at different lags showed a unidirectional dependence of Viola on Violin I, and of Violin I on Cello. Bidirectional dependence was observed for the relationships between Violin II and Cello and Violin II and Viola. Own-reported dependencies after the performances reflected these measured dependencies more closely than dependencies of players reported by the other players, which instead showed more typical leader-follower patterns in which Violin I leads. On the other hand, primary leadership from Violin I was observed in an analysis of the bow speed characteristics preceding the first tone onset. The anticipatory movement of Violin I set the tempo of the excerpt. Taken together the results show a more complex and differentiated pattern of dependencies than expected from a traditional role division of leadership suggesting several avenues for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swing is a musical performance technique, whose magnitude is indicated by the swing ratio. This study examines the effects of swing on music-listening appreciation. In Experiment 1, 21 participants were presented with synthesized performances with three swing ratios, and were asked to rate their impressions using the semantic differential method. The results show that there exists a certain relationship between swing and the affective evaluation of music and tempo. Experiment 2 explored the relationship between swing and melody, another dimension of music, in perceived dynamism and preference for swing. Two musical instruments were used: piano and drums. Twenty-two participants were presented with synthesized performances and were asked to rate the degree of dynamism and their preference using Scheffé's paired comparison method. The evaluations for five swing conditions were similar for those performed by the piano and by the drums. The discussion looks at the swing ratio and its psychological attributes as well as the relationships of perceived impressions of swing to tempo and musical instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to investigate how instruction in the use of rhythmic nuances influences subsequent timings of a musical performance. Volunteer participants were asked to listen to and alter a performance of an excerpt from Mozart’s Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 2 and Bach’s Suite Number 3 for Violoncello solo, Bourrèe Number 1. They used recently-developed software that allowed them to control the rhythmic timing of each of the performances without changing any other musical attribute. Forty music majors served as participants for both excerpts in a counter-balanced design. When, after practice, participants generated a performance with which they were pleased, it was saved as a pretest. Students in the treatment group for each piece were taught the rhythmic tendencies that have been identified in the finest performances of these excerpts and practiced them until they felt they were prepared to make a second recording, which was saved as the posttest. Control participants were instructed simply to practice more and to make another, better recording. All note onset data were calculated and analyzed to determine if the experimental groups had successfully integrated the given rhythmic tendencies into their performances. Results indicated that students in the experimental groups did indeed more closely reflect the model professional performances in their posttest performances of both experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manners of performance by Hungarian village- and town gypsy musicians in historical recordings. The paper describes the different elements of the performance: ornamentation, vibrato, improvisation, intensity of sound, tempo, register, pizzicato, etc. Musical examples are from the first period of the 20th century, from material of the Folk Music Department and Sound-Archiv of the Institute for Musicology of the HAS. The topic is structured as follows: short history of the instrumental music field-works: phonograph recordings and (later) 78 rpm shall-lack discs with instrumental music (peasants and gypsy musicians). The early recording-firms published discs as soon as in the 1910-20-ies with the most favourite contemporary ensembles (I. Magyari, B. Radics). Contemporary references describe their performance which was robust but full with nobility, graciosity, glittering viruosity, rich fantasy dynamism. The differences are clear among the two social strata (peasants and gypsy musicians), when performers play the same melody: one as dance music (in the villages) and one as restaurant music (only to hear) in the town. Some elements (like pizzicato) are used alone (or nearly exclusively) by gypsies, others are common features of the performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WHEN A MELODY BEGINS WITH AN ANACRUSIS, (i.e., "pick up" notes), rhythm and meter are out of phase. Three experiments were conducted to investigate the interactions between structural (rhythm and pitch) and performance (articulation and tempo) factors on the perception of anacruses. The independent variables were rhythmic figure, initial melodic direction, initial melodic interval, implied harmony, articulation, and tempo. Participants tapped "every other beat" to melodies com- posed for each experiment; the phase-alignment of taps with the stimulus was the dependent measure of anacrustic vs. non-anacrustic perception. Experiment 1 found a strong main effect for rhythmic figure and an interaction between rhythmic figure and tempo. Experiment 2 showed that as tempo increased there was a systematic shift toward anacrustic perception of some melodies. Experiment 3 found that in a rhythmically impoverished context, pitch-based structural factors had only a weak effect on the perception of anacrusis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WE INVESTIGATED PEOPLES' ABILITY TO ADAPT TO THE fluctuating tempi of music performance. In Experiment 1, four pieces from different musical styles were chosen, and performances were recorded from a skilled pianist who was instructed to play with natural expression. Spectral and rescaled range analyses on interbeat interval time- series revealed long-range (1/f type) serial correlations and fractal scaling in each piece. Stimuli for Experiment 2 included two of the performances from Experiment 1, with mechanical versions serving as controls. Participants tapped the beat at ¼- and ⅛-note metrical levels, successfully adapting to large tempo fluctuations in both performances. Participants predicted the structured tempo fluctuations, with superior performance at the ¼/4-note level. Thus, listeners may exploit long-range correlations and fractal scaling to predict tempo changes in music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examination of the mode of performance of central musical parameters was carried out through comparative analysis of a selection of recorded performances of Baroque compositions, made by prominent ‘historically informed’ and ‘main stream’ performers of different periods. Analysis of the manner of execution of pitch, intonation, tempo, rhythmic interpretation and ornamentation was aimed at exploring performance conventions, canonic authorities and the degree of compliance to scholarly findings and directives made in regards to these parameters. Results suggest the existence of ruling conventional practices and fixed prototypes of interpretations. Comparison between the ‘historically informed’ group of performers and their ‘main stream’ colleagues has shown clear similarity in many of the analyzed parameters, suggesting the existence of mutual influences and shared canonic authorities. Different degrees of compliance have been additionally found between scholarly directives and performances made in ‘real’ practice: despite some exceptions traced in various cases, findings have shown inclination towards ‘traditional’ positions stated by earlier scholars while later, critical attitudes did not find their way to general practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]