Proposal of a Training Method for Beat Count Ability

Abstract

There are several different musical abilities, and previous researchers have developed various tests to measure them. For disc jockeys (DJs), the ability to find changing points in phrases and melodies while listening to music is essential because they need to find these points for mixing two songs. Herein, we have defined this ability as “beat count ability.” Beat count ability is not well known, and no proper training methods exist. Therefore, we propose a training method for the improvement of the beat count ability to enhance basic mixing skills of beginner DJs. There are three training steps in the method, and the users learn about beat count ability by watching learning videos and answering confirmation questions. We conducted an experiment with five participants who had no prior musical experience. As a result, our proposed training method was shown to improve their beat count ability.