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Practicing Perfection: How Concert Soloists Prepare for Performance
Roger Chaffin
University of Connecticut
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Musical performances by concert soloists in the Western classical tradition are normally memorized, but there is little agreement among musicians about how this is done. To find out, I have studied concert soloists preparing new works for public performance. The musicians' reports about their musical decisions provide the key to understanding what they are doing in practice. Practice, in turn, provides a behavioral record of how the complex skills required for performance are developed. Together, the musicians' self-reports and the behavioral record provide a window into the attentional and memorization processes involved in concert performance. To date we have focused on experienced performers. We are now surveying musicians with various levels of experience in order to determine how practice and memorization strategies vary.

Bio
Roger Chaffin is Professor of Psychology at the University of Connecticut where he studies the cognitive processes involved in musical performance. He has reported this research in journals such as Psychological Science, Music Perception, and Music Psychology and in, Practicing perfection: Memory and piano performance (2002), written in collaboration with a pianist and a social psychologist. His work on musical memory complements his earlier work on memory and language reported in numerous articles in journals such as Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Cognitive Science, and Psychological Bulletin. He is co-editor of Memory in Historical Perspective (1988) and co-author of Cognitive and Psychometric Analysis of Analogical Problem Solving (1991). Professor Chaffin is an amateur flautist who has performed in public exactly once and prefers running white-water rapids in a kayak to the excitement of performing on the concert stage.

Possible Implications of Temporal Codes for Perception of Tonal and Rhythmic Structure
Peter Cariani
Harvard Medical School
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Temporal patterns of spikes (interspike interval codes) subserve representations of musical pitch in early auditory stations, and provide representations of event timings (rhythm) at all levels of the system. The interspike interval codes that subserve pitch contain temporal representations of both harmonics and subharmonics that determine virtual, periodicity pitches of notes and fundamental basses of chords. A temporal model of pitch multiplicity/fusion/stability can be used to predict the relative stability/consonance of isolated chords. Can subharmonic interactions provide a general basis for tonality induction, melodic coherence and harmony? In music, repeated temporal patterns on micro- and macro-temporal scales create substrates for respective grouping of frequency components (pitch) and recurring patterns of events (rhythm). We have proposed neural timing nets for use as general, temporal correlation-based auditory scene analysis mechanisms that build up and separate independent sets of temporal-pattern expectations. How far might these kinds of mechanisms go in explaining Gestaltist auditory grouping rules in music, thereby providing natural boundaries, contrasts, objects, and chunks for higher musical cognitive structures?

Bio
I am an auditory neurophysiologist and computational neuroscientist interested in temporal codes and computations in the brain. My previous neurophysiological research investigated early auditory neural codes for pitch, timbre, and consonance. My current work, with Ramdas Kumaresan at the University of Rhode Island, involves using timing nets for F0-based sound separation. I am a Clinical Instructor of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School and teach Music Perception and Cognition (HST.725) at MIT/Harvard and Psychology of Music (MUS59/PSY80) at Tufts.

Emotional Processing in Music
Marina Korsakova-Kreyn
Abstract/Bio

Bio
I was trained as a classical pianist (Diploma, Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory, Russia), and afterward studied Cognition and Neuroscience, concentration in Music Perception (PhD, The University of Texas at Dallas). My research interests focus on the quasi-spatial properties of tonal chronotope, melodic objecthood, and neurophysiology of emotional processing in music. While there is an agreement that music communicates the "contours of thoughts," the mechanism of communication is still unclear. Recent discoveries, related to perceived tension and navigation in tonal space, provide tantalizing clues to our understanding of music as the language of emotion.

Text and Tune in Song Learning and the Relationship Between Aural Tonal Pattern Comparison and Singing Achievement
John Holahan
Yale University School of Medicine
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Recognition of text and tune of songs are highly associated, if not integrated in memory. Text is better recalled when heard in song relative to speech, provided the music repeats so that it is easily learned. However, deficits for recall of spoken relative to sung lyrics disappeared when both types were presented at the same rate. Professional singers vary in their approach to learning and memorizing the words and music of a new song. In terms of working memory processes, children recall far more text than rhythm, and in turn, more rhythm than melody when reproducing an unfamiliar song over four trials. We hypothesize that separability of text and tune, and their relations to comprehension might be revealed in different growth trajectories for the immediate recall of stories, melodies without texts, and songs, each learned by ear. We assess immediate recall (over four trials), cued recall, and comprehension in adult musicians. The stories and lyrics are minimally redundant, presented at comparable rates, contain high or low levels of rhyme, or contain pseudowords embedded among real words to maximize verbal working memory demands. The melodies similarly have minimal redundancy in the tonal and rhythmic domains without sacrificing musical coherence. We have measured verbatim recall of text on a preliminary sample of 17 subjects to gain insight into the statistical properties of the design. Future work includes measuring the tonal and rhythm aspects of the four trials, cued recall of text, tonal, and rhythm elements, and measures of comprehension, and collecting additional data from 10 to 15 adult amateur and professional musicians. Collaboration with Sandra Doneski, Gordon College. Variation in the relationship between children's ability to judge sameness and difference of aurally presented tonal pattern pairs and their achievement levels in singing tonal patterns and songs ranges from moderate (between r = .30 to r = .60) to near r = .00. This variation has occurred within and between studies. In collaboration with a group of investigators who have collected such data from children and adults, we seek to identify mediators and moderators of the relationship between aural and oral measures. Potential candidates for these mediation and moderation effects are - school, teacher, or classroom nesting effects and variation in singing tasks used as criteria. We are planning reanalysis of data from 7-8 studies involving data from approximately 1600 subjects ranging from primary grades to college non-music majors involving diverse singing criteria including tonal pattern, rote songs, rounds and cannons, with some studies having multiple criteria. This work is in collaboration with Debbie Lynn Wolf, Philadelphia Biblical University; James Reifinger, University of Houston; Georgia Newlin, Adelphi University; Denise Guilbault, Rhode Island College; Susan Guerrini, The College of New Jersey; and Eva Floyd, Zoltán Kodály, Pedagogical Institute of Music, Kecskemét, Hungary; and Sandra Doneski, Gordon College.

Musical Emotions: Functions, Origins, Evolution
Leonid Perlovsky
Harvard University and Air Force Research Lab
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Theories of music origins and the role of musical emotions in the mind are reviewed. Most existing theories contradict each other, and cannot explain mechanisms or roles of musical emotions in workings of the mind, nor evolutionary reasons for music origins. Music seems to be an enigma. Nevertheless, a synthesis of cognitive science and mathematical models of the mind has been proposed describing a fundamental role of music in the functioning and evolution of the mind, consciousness, and cultures. The review considers ancient theories of music as well as contemporary theories advanced by leading authors in this field. It addresses one hypothesis that promises to unify the field and proposes a theory of musical origin based on a fundamental role of music in cognition and evolution of consciousness and culture. We consider a split in the vocalizations of proto-humans into two types: one less emotional and more concretely-semantic, evolving into language, and the other preserving emotional connections along with semantic ambiguity, evolving into music. The proposed hypothesis departs from other theories in considering specific mechanisms of the mind-brain, which required the evolution of music parallel with the evolution of cultures and languages. Arguments are reviewed that the evolution of language toward becoming the semantically powerful tool of today required emancipation from emotional encumbrances. The opposite, no less powerful mechanisms required a compensatory evolution of music toward more differentiated and refined emotionality. The need for refined music in the process of cultural evolution is grounded in fundamental mechanisms of the mind. This is why today's human mind and cultures cannot exist without today's music. The reviewed hypothesis gives a basis for future analysis of why different evolutionary paths of languages were paralleled by different evolutionary paths of music. Approaches toward experimental verification of this hypothesis in psychological and neuroimaging research are reviewed.

Bio
Dr. Leonid Perlovsky is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, Principal Research Physicist and Technical Advisor at the Air Force Research Laboratory. He leads projects on evolution of languages and cultures, interaction between languages and cognition, interaction between language and music, role of music in cognition and cultural evolution, and mind modeling. He served as Chief Scientist at Nichols Research, a $0.5B high-tech organization, leading the corporate research in intelligent systems; as professor at Novosibirsk University and New York University; participated as a principal in several commercial startups developing language learning search engines, biotechnology, and financial predictions. He has delivered invited keynote plenary talks and tutorial lectures worldwide, published more than 340 publications, including more than 60 in refereed archival journals, 11 book chapters, and three books, including "Neural Networks and Intellect," Oxford University Press, 2001 (currently in the 3rd printing). Dr. Perlovsky organizes international conferences, serves on the Board of Governors of International Neural Network Society, on the Editorial Board for 6 journals including Editor-in-Chief for "Physics of Life Reviews," which he originated together with the late Nobel Laureate I. Prigogine. He has received prestigious National and International awards including the top research awards from International Neural Network Society, and US Air Force.

Dynamic Musical Imagery and the Brain
Andrea Halpern
Bucknell University
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Many people report that they can imagine all kinds of sounds, particularly music. Even nonmusicians can call up favorite pieces for internal listening. And musicians may find this ability useful in their profession, as when carrying out mental practice or studying scores silently. For some years, I have been exploring the neural underpinnings of this phenomenon. I will describe a few recent studies that focus on the active manipulation, anticipation, or retrieval of imagined tunes. Some of the brain areas active in these tasks overlap with those involved in processing heard music, and some appear to be unique to the imagery or perception experience, respectively. Studies requiring active manipulation of internal music show structures in common with other demanding mental tasks like mental visuospatial rotation and sequence planning.

Bio
Since receiving my PhD from Stanford in 1982 (with Gordon Bower), I have been employed at Bucknell University. There, I teach courses in cognitive psychology, including Methods and advanced courses in Cognitive Aging and Psychology of Music. I entered the music psychology field early in its development, and in those earlier years contributed fundamental behavioral work on memory and perception of musical structure. I am among only a few people to study auditory imagery for music, both behaviorally and more recently using methods of cognitive neuroscience. I am also among the few researchers interested in the relationship between aging and music cognition, and implicit memory for music. I serve on the Board of Directors of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, and am Associate Editor of the journal Music Perception. I have recently been an invited speaker at the Max Planck in Leipzig, Copenhagen University conference on Neuroaesthetics, American Society for Aesthetics, Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and the Eastman/Rochester/Cornell Music Cognition Symposium.

The Psychoacoustic Basis of Music
Josh McDermott
New York University
Abstract/Bio

Bio
Josh McDermott is in the Center for Neural Science at NYU. He studies sound and hearing, combining human psychoacoustics with computational audio research. His musical interests include the representation of musical structure in the auditory system, the domain specificity of processes involved in music, and the evolutionary origins of music.

Music Perception and Music Theory Pedagogy: A Curriculum Based on the Principles of the Implication-Realization Model
Alexander Rozin and Mark Rimple
West Chester University
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
The traditional methods of music theory pedagogy fail to adequately prepare today's music students to be successful and sophisticated composers, performers, music teachers, and musicologists. A new, alternative curriculum based on the principles of the Implication-Realization Model addresses the needs of the contemporary musician. In particular, this curriculum and accompanying textbook:

1. Focus primarily on music perception;
2. Present a parametric approach to analysis in which often-neglected parameters such as texture and melody are focal topics on par with harmony;
3. Explain how musical parameters generate tension and closure;
4. Explore hierarchical structure in form, melody, and harmony; and
5. Demonstrate the analytical approach on a plurality of musical styles.

This paper discusses the rationale of the curriculum and the overall structure of the four-semester sequence that culminates with compositional and analytical capstone projects that exemplify the potentially rich interface between music analysis, composition, performance, and perception.

Distributed brain activity and musical form: a quest and many questions
Dan Lloyd
Trinity College
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Like any data, fMRI data can be converted to sound, with some intriguing results. For example, one can audibly discriminate schizophrenia patients from healthy controls, or determine when specific tasks begin and end during an experiment. (For examples, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tFlrPwrwKY or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd6GwIWiHho&feature=channel or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsQiHWxJQSQ&feature=channel). This suggests a question: Does the musicality of these data (considered globally) reflect genuinely musical properties of distributed brain activity? Or conversely, does cognitive musicology offer analytical tools that can be usefully applied to brain scan data?

Empirical evaluation of intonation practices in singers and their relationship to musical context
Johanna Devaney
McGill University
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
The empirical evaluation of intonation practices in singers offers an opportunity to explore the relationship between tuning tendencies for horizontal and vertical intervals and the musical context in which they occur, specifically scale-degree function for melodic interval tuning and harmonic function for vertical interval tuning. The determination of these tendencies requires the comparison of numerous performances by numerous singers, both individually and in ensembles. This talk will highlight some of the challenges in collecting data from recorded performances and will present some preliminary results relating to both solo and ensemble performance.

Bio
Johanna Devaney is a Montreal-based researcher focused on studying and modeling performance practice. She is currently working on her PhD in the Department of Music Research at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, where she works with Ichiro Fujinaga and Jonathan Wild. Johanna holds an MPhil degree in Music Theory from Columbia University, where she worked with Fred Lerdahl and Dan Ellis, as well a BFA in Music and an MA in Composition from York University in Toronto, where she taught for several years in the areas of Digital Music and Music Theory.

The heart of the music: what cardiac responses reveal about emotional responses, attentional demands, and physiological health
Rob Ellis
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School
Abstract/Bio

Abstract
Recording heart rate (HR) is a simple, noninvasive, and relatively inexpensive technique, and numerous investigations have examined HR responses in the context of music. Most investigations, however, are driven by experimental practicality rather than an understanding of the autonomic nervous system.

I will describe progress in analysis techniques for HR that reveal far more than traditional, "average HR" responses show, and what such an analysis of cardiac activity tells us about the physiological health and attentional and emotional "flexibility" of organisms.

Evidence for the utility of these new techniques will be demonstrated through an exploration of the effect of musical tempo on listeners' HR and reaction times.