The Effect of Melodic Context on Students' Aural Perception of Rhythm

Abstract

To determine whether the accuracy of students' aural perception of rhythmic completeness and incompleteness is influenced by melodic context, 2,207 public school students were administered a 42-item data-collection instrument based on 14 rhythmic units, 7 complete and 7 incomplete. Students heard each unit (1) on one pitch, (2) as part of a melody in which the completeness or incompleteness of the pitch sequence matched that of the rhythm, and (3) as part of a nonmatching melody; indicating, in each case, whether the unit was complete or incomplete. According to the results, accuracy is influenced by melodic context.