title: Singing proficiency in congenital amusia: imitation helps.
abstract: Singing out of tune characterizes congenital amusia. Here, we examine whether an aid to memory improves singing by studying vocal imitation in 11 amusic adults and 11 matched controls. Participants sang a highly familiar melody on the original lyrics and on the syllable /la/ in three conditions. First, they sang the melody from memory. Second, they sang it after hearing a model, and third, they sang in unison with the model. Results show that amusic individuals benefit from singing by imitation, whether singing after the model or in unison with the model. The amusics who were the most impaired in memory benefited most, particularly when singing on the syllable /la/. Nevertheless, singing remains poor on the pitch dimension; rhythm was intact and unaffected by imitation. These results point to memory as a source of impairment in poor singing, and to imitation as a possible aid for poor singers.
authors.affiliation: International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tremblay-Champoux
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dalla Bella
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phillips-Silver
authors.forename: Marie-Andrée
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lebrun
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Peretz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D010898:Pitch Perception; D021641:Recognition, Psychology