Absolute pitch shift

IF 1.6 3区心理学 0 MUSIC

Psychology of Music Pub Date : 2025-04-04 DOI:10.1177/03057356251322077

Jon Baggaley

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Absolute pitch (AP) enables its possessors to identify musical notes and keys by qualities of tone height and tone chroma. With advancing age, an unknown proportion of AP possessors perceives changes in these qualities, usually described as in the sharp direction and to the extent of a semitone or tone. The phenomenon is identified here as absolute pitch shift (APS). Using a cellphone-based tone generator, the writer conducted an N = 1 examination of the APS in his central musical range. The shift was greater at the centre of the range than at its extremes, causing him to perceive incoming tones as 1 to 4 semitones sharper than his recall of them in the A = 440 cps (concert pitch range). The report focusses on the comparative flatness of his AP memories of the tones, expressed with greater precision in cycles per second than by the names commonly given to their physical versions. The altered pitch perceptions are considered due to changes at the basilar membrane level in older individuals, and are labelled here as basilar AP. The internal pitch template’s role in memorising tone frequencies in the inner ear is labelled cortical AP. Implications are considered for further studies of AP and APS latency.

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来源期刊

Psychology of Music Multiple-

CiteScore

4.00

自引率

17.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： Psychology of Music and SEMPRE provide an international forum for researchers working in the fields of psychology of music and music education, to encourage the exchange of ideas and to disseminate research findings. Psychology of Music publishes peer-reviewed papers directed at increasing the scientific understanding of any psychological aspect of music. These include studies on listening, performing, creating, memorising, analysing, describing, learning, and teaching, as well as applied social, developmental, attitudinal and therapeutic studies. Special emphasis is placed on studies carried out in naturalistic settings, especially those which address the interface between music psychology and music education.