Auditory Superiority for Perceiving the Beat Level but not the Measure Level in Music

Abstract

Auditory perception of time is superior to visual perception, both for simple intervals and beat-based musical rhythms. To what extent does this auditory advantage characterize perception of different hierarchical levels of musical meter, and how is it related to lifelong experience with music? We paired musical excerpts with auditory and visual metronomes that matched or mismatched the musical meter at the beat (faster) and measure (slower) levels and obtained fit ratings from adults and children (5-10 years). Adults exhibited an auditory advantage in this task for the beat level, but not for the measure level. Children also displayed an auditory advantage for the beat level, their sensitivity to beat in both modalities increased with age, and they were not sensitive to measure-level matching in either modality. More musical training was related to enhanced sensitivity in both auditory and visual modalities for measure-level matching in adults and beat-level matching in children. These findings provide evidence for auditory superiority of beat perception across development, and they suggest that beat and meter perception develop quite gradually and rely on lifelong acquisition of musical knowledge.

Auditory superiority for perceiving the beat level but not measure level in music.

“…Beat perception can arise from auditory, visual, or somatosensory stimulation (Huang et al, 2012; Nave-Blodgett et al, 2021; Palmer & Krumhansl, 1990; Palmer & Peterson, 2016; Su, 2016b), suggesting that beat (and possibly meter) perception is not exclusive to the auditory modality. There is evidence that beat perception relies on either shared or partially overlapping auditory and visual processes (Grahn et al, 2011; Marchant & Driver, 2013; Schubotz et al, 2000).…”