Music perception, sound production, and their relationships in bowed string instrumentalists: A systematic review

Abstract

Music perception and sound production are very important skills in the formation of musicians who play bowed string instruments. The purpose of this literature review is to summarize the knowledge of these abilities and the relationship between them. A systematic literature review using the PRISMA protocol has been conducted. Studies were extracted from Sage, Scopus, WoS, and JSTOR using the terms: music, tuning, intonation, and perception. A total of 1819 studies were found, and 29 were selected. The studies analyzed covered the period from 1937 to 2019 and the levels from elementary school to professional players. The analysis applied six predetermined categories to data extracted from the selected studies showing at best a moderate relationship between both abilities. The data could confirm an increase in the relationship between the two skills due to factors such as learning and developmental stages. However, these stages are related to automation of psychomotor schemas and cognitive development, as well as the development of the musical expression of the students. Several apparent trends related to music perception and sound production are discussed.