Adjustment of successive and simultaneous intervals by musically experienced and inexperienced subjects

A single-stimulus adjustment technique was used to test the accuracy with which musically experienced and inexperienced subjects could intone musical intervals. We were particularly interested in the relationship between any improved accuracy resulting from musical training and interval properties, such as size or musical consonance, that could provide clues as to the mechanism of the improvement. The range of adjustment was restricted to a single chromatic interval to obviate the need for categorical interval labels. The intervals were selected so that the roles of both interval size and musical consonance could be tested. Simultaneous (harmonic) and successive (melodic) intervals, composed of both simple and complex tones, were examined. The experienced subjects were generally more accurate in their mean settings, although there was a slight tendency to stretch the smaller intervals. The inexperienced subjects tended to compress all intervals, expecially the larger ones. The experienced subjects were also more consistent in their settings, with the degree of consistency relating directly to the musical consonance of the interval. The inexperienced subjects, on the other hand, were also affected by absolute interval size and sensory consonance, displaying more consistency for smaller intervals and with simultaneous complex tones.