Neural activity in the auditory system synchronizes to sound rhythms, and brain–environment synchronization is thought to be fundamental to successful auditory perception. Sound rhythms are often operationalized in terms of the sound’s amplitude envelope. We hypothesized that – especially for music – the envelope might not best capture the complex spectro-temporal fluctuations that give rise to beat perception and synchronized neural activity. This study investigated (1) neural synchronization to different musical features, (2) tempo-dependence of neural synchronization, and (3) dependence of synchronization on familiarity, enjoyment, and ease of beat perception. In this electroencephalography study, 37 human participants listened to tempo-modulated music (1–4 Hz). Independent of whether the analysis approach was based on temporal response functions (TRFs) or reliable components analysis (RCA), the spectral flux of music – as opposed to the amplitude envelope – evoked strongest neural synchronization. Moreover, music with slower beat rates, high familiarity, and easy-to-perceive beats elicited the strongest neural response. Our results demonstrate the importance of spectro-temporal fluctuations in music for driving neural synchronization, and highlight its sensitivity to musical tempo, familiarity, and beat salience.

Neural activity in the auditory system synchronizes to sound rhythms, and brain– environment synchronization is thought to be fundamental to successful auditory perception. Sound rhythms are often operationalized in terms of the sound’s amplitude envelope. We hypothesized that – especially for music – the envelope might not best capture the complex spectro-temporal fluctuations that give rise to beat perception and synchronize neural activity. This study investigated 1) neural entrainment to different musical features, 2) tempo-dependence of neural entrainment, and 3) dependence of entrainment on familiarity, enjoyment, and ease of beat perception. In this electroencephalography study, 37 human participants listened to tempo-modulated music (1–4 Hz). Independent of whether the analysis approach was based on temporal response functions (TRFs) or reliable components analysis (RCA), the spectral flux of music – as opposed to the amplitude envelope – evoked strongest neural entrainment. Moreover, music with slower beat rates, high familiarity, and easy-to-perceive beats elicited the strongest neural response. Based on the TRFs, we could decode music stimulation tempo, but also perceived beat rate, even when the two differed. Our results demonstrate the importance of accurately characterizing musical acoustics in the context of studying neural entrainment, and demonstrate entrainment’s sensitivity to musical tempo, familiarity, and beat salience.

This experiment was designed to address factors that make repetition of musical themes within a piece recognizable, and to explore the relationship between internal repetition and musical interest. Thirty-seven participants of varied levels of music training listened to Stravinsky’s Symphoniesof Wind Instruments twice and responded to the music in real time. During the first listening, they continuously rated their level of interest and at the same time mentally identified the major themes. During the second listening, they indicated when they heard the major themes repeating. One theme was especially well recognized when repeated. It was relatively short, slow, began and ended with a predictable pattern, occurred relatively early in the piece, and was interspersed with other themes. Another theme stood out in the interest ratings, which was relatively long, fast, sometimes repeated immediately with a build-up of instrumentation and dynamics, and occurred later in the piece. In general, themes judged interesting were not those that were easily identified when repeated, suggesting these are independent aspects of this composition. No effect of music training was found. Extensive analyses of Stravinsky’s Symphonies consider how the themes are repeated and interwoven. The experimental results confirmed the musical attributes considered in these analyses.

The three experiments reported here investigate how pitch and time interact in perception using the standard rhythmic pattern and the diatonic scale pattern, which share the intervallic structure of 2 2 1 2 2 2 1. They share a number of theoretical properties, including being cyclic with seven unique rotations. Experiment 1 measured rhythmic stability by dynamically accenting each of the events in each rhythm, called the probe accent; listeners rated how well the probe accent fit the rhythm. Listeners heard the rhythms in subgroups and with reference to a syncopation-shifted metrical hierarchy. Experiment 2 used the probe tone technique to measure the tonal stability of each tone in each mode beginning and ending on C. Higher ratings were given to tones earlier in the contexts and tones closer to C on both the chroma circle and the circle of fifths; influences were also found of tonal hierarchies of diatonic scales with corresponding accidentals. A measure of similarity derived from the probe ratings found the same order for the rhythms and modes which matched theoretical proposals of inter-rhythm and inter-mode distances. Experiment 3 presented all combinations of rhythms and modes; listeners judged how well the rhythm fit the mode. These judgments did not depend on the intervallic isomorphism between tone duration and interval size. Instead, the judgments depended on whether tonally stable events occurred where accents were judged as fitting well with the rhythm. Overall, the standard and diatonic patterns follow different perceptual hierarchies while sharing similar cognitive principles between rhythms, between modes, and across dimensions.

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