Effects of Pitch Source on Pitch-Matching and Intonation Accuracy of Collegiate Singers

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effects of multiple reference pitch sources on collegiate singers’ accuracy in pitch-matching and intonation tasks. We also investigated which reference pitch source participants preferred and for what reasons. Participants ( N = 99) sang a two-measure excerpt of Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine after listening to the starting pitch of A on a pitch pipe, the piano, a vocal hum, or a tuning fork in two conditions. For one tuning fork condition, participants’ starting pitch was an A, the same pitch as the tuning fork. For the other tuning fork condition, their starting pitch was a G, a different pitch than the tuning fork. We selected two pitches for analysis, each corresponding to the first syllable of the word Joseph. We then analyzed pitch deviation of the two target notes from the reference pitch in each condition. Participants were most accurate in response to the piano and least accurate in response to the tuning fork when their starting pitch was a G. Participants expressed preference for the piano (37.12%) as their pitch source, followed closely by the pitch pipe (33.33%).

Effects of Tonic Drone Accompaniments on the Intonation of Collegiate Wind Instrumentalists

“…We played 15 s of Edgard Varèse's Amériques between each of the three performances. Similar to previous research protocols (Nápoles et al, 2019;Silvey et al, 2019), we chose this atonal excerpt to serve as distraction music between each repetition of the tuning task in order to limit participants' tonal memory. While listening to this 15-s excerpt of distraction music, participants also responded in writing to the question, "How accurate was your intonation in this excerpt?"…”

“…For the first research question, we selected two target pitches for analysis (the first note and the last note of the melody) because they were both tonic pitches that occurred on strong beats within the musical phrase. Similar to previous studies (Morrison, 2000;Nápoles et al, 2019), the use of those target pitches allowed us to examine not only how accurate participants were in matching the first note of a melody but also how accurate they were at performing that same note later in the melody. We treated each of the pitches as separate dependent variables in data analyses.…”

The Effect of Register, Direction, and Magnitude on Musicians’ Evaluations of Chamber Ensemble Intonation: A Within-Study Comparison for Analysis of Repeated Measures

“…Among all factors affecting intonation performance and perception, the effect of timbre is possibly the most documented in the extant empirical literature (Byo et al, 2011;Byo & Schlegel, 2016;Caruso & Balaban, 2014;Ely, 1992;Geringer et al, 2012Geringer et al, , 2015Geringer & Worthy, 1999;Krumhansl & Iverson, 1992;Melara & Marks, 1990;Nápoles et al, 2019;Pitt, 1994;Russo & Thompson, 2005;Vurma et al, 2012;Warrier & Zatorre, 2002). Still, the evidence points to mixed results.…”

“…When conducting studies on performance and perception of intonation, researchers have frequently used repeated-measures designs and analyzed their results using either a repeated-measures analysis of variance (rANOVA; for example, Byo et al, 2011;Byo & Schlegel, 2016;Johnson & Geringer, 2007;Nápoles et al, 2019;Schlegel & Springer, 2018) or multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA; for example, Geringer et al, 2014Geringer et al, , 2015MacLeod et al, 2022;Springer & Silvey, 2018). The use of repeatedmeasures designs in music education research extends beyond the subject of intonation.…”

“…Numerous aural and nonaural factors have influenced intonation performance and perception. Researchers have shown that the register (Byo et al, 2011; Byo & Schlegel, 2016), sound source (Byo et al, 2011; Byo & Schlegel, 2016; Nápoles et al, 2019), and timbre (Byo et al, 2011; Byo & Schlegel, 2016; Nápoles et al, 2019) of a reference pitch interfered with performers’ tuning accuracy. The register of an out-of-tune accompaniment relative to the performer also affected musicians’ intonation (Brittin, 1993).…”