Timeline for Role of muscle memory vs. ear-based micro-adjustments in non-fixed-note instruments
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
12 events
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| May 25, 2016 at 19:28 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackMusic/status/735553120344940544 | ||
| May 25, 2016 at 15:41 | answer | added | xxfelixxx | timeline score: 3 | |
| May 25, 2016 at 13:25 | comment | added | Carl Witthoft | without muscle memory, every time you start a new note, it'll be out of tune and you'd have to slide onto pitch. | |
| May 25, 2016 at 11:09 | comment | added | AakashM | This thread on violinist.com asks the same question; there are 94 replies, none of which I have read :) | |
| May 25, 2016 at 8:26 | comment | added | Tetsujin | Though a very tiny example, possibly relevant. As a singer, I do rely on muscle memory to 'know' where a note is, without doubt. This is, as has already been mentioned, tempered by current context. As a test, for anyone with good pitching, try singing along to Oasis' Wonderwall & listen/feel what you have to do in the chorus to stay 'locked' to the record's tuning... You have to be consciously sharp on the 'money notes' in the chorus, or you're flat to the track. I've never figured whether this is some psyco-acoustic phenomenon, because if I just listen to the record I can't hear he's sharp. | |
| May 25, 2016 at 1:22 | answer | added | Jamerack | timeline score: 6 | |
| May 25, 2016 at 0:37 | history | edited | MGA | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 25, 2016 at 0:34 | comment | added | user19146 | There's a reason that string players retune their instruments so frequently. It's because they go out of tune very quickly while playing. Logically, there is no way you can compensate for that only by muscle memory - you must be using your hearing to close the feedback loop. But for a good player the process is almost automatic, unless a string goes grossly out of tune (e.g. by a quarter-tone) in which case you start to be conscious of it - and maybe even re-finger the music to avoid that string where possible. | |
| May 24, 2016 at 21:17 | comment | added | Нет войне | ^ I'd agree - remember that non-fixed note players will not tend to just want to "hit the note", they'll want to intone it to sound the sweetest according to what other notes are playing at the time (i.e. to sound better than equal temperament - or whatever - would sound). It's hard to believe that many players could do that using muscle memory alone. | |
| May 24, 2016 at 21:02 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | If I had to guess, I'd guess both mechanisms are important. Certainly it is possible to sing without being able to hear oneself and have reasonable intonation, so I don't think we can totally discount muscle memory in any case. Also when singing, I've personally experienced making instinctive intonation adjustments based on the accompaniment and/or harmony vocal intonation. | |
| May 24, 2016 at 20:54 | history | edited | MGA | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| May 24, 2016 at 20:49 | history | asked | MGA | CC BY-SA 3.0 |