Neurological and developmental approaches to poor pitch perception and production

Abstract

Whereas much of research in music and neuroscience is aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which the human brain facilitates music, emerging interest in the neuromusic community aims to translate basic music research into clinical and educational applications. In the present paper, we explore the problems of poor pitch perception and production from both neurological and developmental/educational perspectives. We begin by reviewing previous and novel findings on the neural regulation of pitch perception and production. We then discuss issues in measuring singing accuracy consistently between the laboratory and educational settings. We review the Seattle Singing Accuracy Protocol-a new assessment tool that we hope can be adopted by cognitive psychologists as well as music educators-and we conclude with some suggestions that the present interdisciplinary approach might offer for future research.