Effects of Pre-Tuning Vocalization Behaviors on the Tuning Accuracy of College Instrumentalists

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of two pre-tuning vocalization behaviors (humming and singing) on the tuning accuracy of woodwind and brass instrumentalists. Undergraduate collegiate musicians ( N = 72) performed a sustained stimulus pitch (concert B-flat) while engaging in one of the two conditions or the control condition (silence). We also explored the relationships between participants’ tuning accuracy and their tuning confidence, examined the reasons instrumentalists provided for their pre-tuning vocalization preferences, and compared their most accurate performance condition with the condition they perceived to result in their most accurate tuning. Although participants performed with better tuning accuracy in the singing condition than the humming and silence conditions, these differences were not significant. Correlation analyses examining relationships between participants’ tuning accuracy and their tuning confidence in each condition yielded mostly weak and nonsignificant results. Participants reported internalization of pitch, physical response, and focus of attention issues most frequently when asked why they preferred a particular tuning condition.