The Relationship of Pitch-Matching and Pitch-Discrimination Abilities of Preschool and Fourth-Grade Students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between pitch-discrimination and vocal pitch-matching abilities of preschool and fourth-grade children. One hundred forty-four students were selected randomly and tested individually on both ability measures. Scores on the pitch-discrimination test served as the basis for three ability-level groups within each age group. Analysis of pitch-matching scores indicated a significant difference between the age groups, but not for the pitch-discrimination based ability groups; nor was there a significant age-by-ability group interaction. Rank-order correlations between the two measures were generally low, with the exception of the high-ability group of fourth-graders, where r = 61.