Language Familiarity, Expectation, and Novice Musical Rhythm Production

Abstract

The music of expert musicians reflects the speech rhythm of their native language. Here, we examine this effect in amateur and novice musicians. English- and French-speaking participants were both instructed to produce simple “English” and “French” tunes using only two keys on a keyboard. All participants later rated the rhythmic variability of English and French speech samples. The rhythmic variability of the “English” and “French” tunes that were produced reflected the perceived rhythmic variability in English and French speech samples. Yet, the pattern was different for English and French participants and did not correspond to the actual measured speech rhythm variability of the speech samples. Surprise recognition tests two weeks later confirmed that the music–speech relationship remained over time. The results show that the relationship between music and speech rhythm is more widespread than previously thought and that musical rhythm production by amateurs and novices is concordant with their rhythmic expectations in the perception of speech.