title: Auditory imagery from musical notation in expert musicians.
abstract: Anecdotal evidence has suggested that musical notation can trigger auditory images. Expert musicians silently read scores containing well-known themes embedded into the notation of an embellished phrase and judged if a tune heard aloud thereafter was the original theme (i.e., melodic target) or not (i.e., melodic lure). Three experiments were conducted employing four score-reading conditions: normal nondistracted reading, concurrent rhythmic distraction, phonatory interference, and obstruction by auditory stimuli. The findings demonstrate that phonatory interference impaired recognition of original themes more than did the other conditions. We propose that notational audiation is the silent reading of musical notation resulting in auditory imagery. The research suggests that it also elicits kinesthetic-like phonatory processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of the Arts, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. wbrodsky@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
authors.forename: Warren
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Brodsky
authors.forename: Avishai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Henik
authors.forename: Bat-Sheva
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Rubinstein
authors.forename: Moshe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zorman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D009790:Occupations; D011361:Professional Competence; D011897:Random Allocation; D011930:Reaction Time