title: Amusic does not mean unmusical: beat perception and synchronization ability despite pitch deafness.
abstract: Pitch deafness, the most commonly known form of congenital amusia, refers to a severe deficit in musical pitch processing (i.e., melody discrimination and recognition) that can leave time processing--including rhythm, metre, and "feeling the beat"--preserved. In Experiment 1, we show that by presenting musical excerpts in nonpitched drum timbres, rather than pitched piano tones, amusics show normal metre recognition. Experiment 2 reveals that body movement influences amusics' interpretation of the beat of an ambiguous drum rhythm. Experiment 3 and a subsequent exploratory study show an ability to synchronize movement to the beat of popular dance music and potential for improvement when given a modest amount of practice. Together the present results are consistent with the idea that rhythm and beat processing are spared in pitch deafness--that is, being pitch-deaf does not mean one is beat-deaf. In the context of drum music especially, amusics can be musical.
authors.affiliation: a International Laboratory for Brain , Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), University of Montreal , Montreal , QC , Canada.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phillips-Silver
authors.forename: Petri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toiviainen
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gosselin
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Peretz
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009146:Music; D019986:Persons with Hearing Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D010898:Pitch Perception