Naslov
When the fixed do tends to move: The ambiguity of the solfège syllabary

Autori
Kiš Žuvela, Sanja

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
ICMPC15/ESCOM10 : Abstract book (electronic) / Parncutt, Richard ; Sattmann, Sabrina - Graz : Centre for Systematic Musicology, University of Graz, 2018, 256-256

Skup
International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition; Triennial conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music

Mjesto i datum
Graz, Austrija, 23.07.2018. - 28.07.2018

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
solfège, absolute, relative, pitch, listening, cognition

Sažetak
Although ubiquitous in music pedagogy worldwide, the repercussions of various systems of mnemonic syllables are rarely the subject of empirical research in professional music education. Only a handful of surveys involve musicians or students of music (e.g. Mikumo, 1992 ; Rogers, 2007), while others deal with non-musicians. Most previous studies use short, context-deprived sequences of equal-length tones played on the piano or an electronic instrument, without excerpts from musical literature or comparisons with external criteria. It seems that the issue of choosing a suitable syllabary remains a matter of pedagogical tradition and is seldom examined in scientific research, although even expert subjects such as Huron (2006) confirm the importance of mnemonic syllables in conceiving and understanding pitch relationships. This study is an attempt to establish a new approach to the impact that solfège systems used in the ear training of professional musicians have on their understanding of music. The aim of this study is to determine the correlations between the participants’ hearing system (absolute or relative pitch), the syllabic system used, the perception of tonal relationships (parallelism, relatedness etc.) and other relevant factors in order to improve the awareness of the solfège-based ear-training processes in professional music education. A study was conducted among 196 undergraduate music students who participated in listening exercises. The participants were asked to recognize and write down the didactic syllables which appeared in their mind while listening to excerpts of recordings of tonal, common-practice symphonic literature. A linear regression analysis was performed with the variables of the participants’ age, sex, duration of music education, major subjects, solfège systems they were exposed to and the most recent grades achieved in ear-training courses. The results show that most of the participants use solfège syllables in their everyday professional activities. Their understanding of tonal processes such as modulation and mode mutation relies heavily on the nature of the solfège system they were exposed to in their earlier music education. The correctness and nature of their answers correspond closely with the nature of the applied solfège system and the internal logic of the musical material heard in the excerpts. Even listeners with absolute pitch showed better results if their training included relative solfège systems in tonal contexts, while participants with relative pitch displayed significantly poor results if trained by methods of absolute pitch intonation. Conclusions Greater awareness of the consequences of choosing a solfège system in music education could contribute significantly to students’ understanding of both tonal and atonal repertoires. A flexible combination of approaches in accordance with the implicit logic of concrete musical material could prevent difficulties originating in the limitations of individual solfège systems and raise the level of comprehension of pitch relationships. References Huron, D. (2006). Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Mikumo, M. (1992). Encoding Strategies for Tonal and Atonal Melodies. Music Perception, 10 (1), 73-82. Rogers, N. (2007). Solmization Expertize Correlates with Superior Pitch Memory. Em Pauta, 18 (30), 131-152. Available at http://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/EmPauta/article/v iew/7469/4655. Accessed: 10/18/2016.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija, Znanost o umjetnosti, Interdisciplinarne humanističke znanosti, Kognitivna znanost (prirodne, tehničke, biomedicina i zdravstvo, društvene i humanističke znanosti)

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