Neural Correlates of Processing Syntax in Music and ... - PubMan

Music Perception 6
results in [1] the priority of contour over interval processing (see “contour processing”
below), and [2] the priority of temporal patterning over specific timing cues (see “processing
of metre and rhythm” below), both following Gestalt principles for grouping.
These Gestalt principles are important for perceiving and remembering spoken as well
as musical patterns (Trehub, 1990; Trehub, Trainor, & Unyk, 1993). Children, thus,
focus on relational aspects of melodies, and synthesize global representations from local
details (i.e., they encode the melodic contour instead of exact pitches and intervals and
extract the temporal structure of the melody; Trehub, 1987).
Contour processing is an important part of relational processing in music. 5-month old
infants were found to easily remember melodic contour and to detect invariance in it
(Chang & Trehub, 1977; Trehub et al., 1984). The representation of contour appears to
be very robust, i.e., children often generalize it across transpositions (Trehub, Thorpe, &
Morrongiello, 1987) and are unable to detect changes when the contour is preserved
(Trehub et al., 1984). Infants group tones by their similarity in frequency, waveform or
intensity (Thorpe & Trehub, 1989; Thorpe, Trehub, Morrongiello, & Bull, 1984) and
segregate streams by the same mechanisms (Demany, 1982). This happens in a manner
that is very comparable to that in adults (cf. Bregman, 1990). Pitch contour seem to be
essential for the identity of a melody, but rhythm also contributes to it.
The processing of metre and rhythm may rely on some innate mechanism to process
temporal patterns (Drake & Bertrand, 2001). Infants are sensitive to changes in temporal
groupings (Chang & Trehub, 1977; Trehub & Thorpe, 1989), meter (Hannon & Johnson,
2005), tempo (Baruch & Drake, 1997), duration (Thorpe & Trehub, 1989), and
timbre (Trehub, Endman, & Thorpe, 1990). Demany, McKenzie, and Vurpillot (1977)
demonstrated that even 2-month old infants habituate to a specific rhythmic structure.
Children seem to encode rhythmic patterns on the basis of relative duration. This strategy
becomes more salient with age or experience (Morrongiello, 1984). Meter must be
inferred from periodic regularities in the music. There seems to be a bias to stretch or
shorten complex durations to fit simpler ratios (Essens, 1986; Povel, 1981). This may
contribute to the inference of metrical structure and varies as a function of listening
experience (Hannon & Trehub, 2005). Since “important” events occur more frequently
at strong metrical positions in Western classical music (Palmer & Krumhansl, 1990),
this structure may guide the listeners attention dynamically, enhancing the anticipation
of future events (Jones & Boltz, 1989). Conversely, the distribution of events and accents
helps to converge on similar metrical interpretations (Brochard, Abecasis, Potter,
Ragot, & Drake, 2003). The perception of metre is influenced by implicit knowledge
whose acquisition may require long-term exposure to culturally typical durations, duration
ratios, and metrical structures (Drake & Ben El Heni, 2003). Meter enables to syn-