Back to feedback: aberrant sensorimotor control in music performance under pressure

Precisely timed production of dexterous actions is often destabilized in anxiogenic situations. Previous studies demonstrated that cognitive functions such as attention and working memory as well as autonomic nervous functions are susceptible to psychological stress in skillful performance while playing sports or musical instruments. However, it is not known whether the degradation of sensorimotor functions underlies such a compromise of skillful performance due to psychophysiological distress. Here, we addressed this issue through a set of behavioral experiments. After artificially delaying the timing of tone production while playing the piano, the local tempo was abnormally disrupted only under pressure. The results suggest that psychological stress degraded the temporal stability of movement control due to an abnormal increase in feedback gain. A learning experiment further demonstrated that the temporal instability of auditory-motor control under pressure was alleviated after practicing piano while ignoring delayed auditory feedback but not after practicing while compensating for the delayed feedback. Together, these findings suggest an abnormal transition from feedforward to feedback control in expert piano performance with psychological stress, which can be mitigated through specialized sensorimotor training that involves piano practice while volitionally ignoring the artificially delayed provision of auditory feedback.

Application Value of Multimedia Artificial Intelligence Technology in English Teaching Practice

Since the 1980s, with the continuous deepening of penetration of reform and liberalization, there has been scientific and technological development. In such an environment, the traditional teaching model of colleges and universities posed new challenges and put forward higher requirements for English teaching practice. To enhance the performance of English instruction, this article applies a multiple media technique to start English education practice; firstly, through the study of the current English teaching mode, it analyzes the specific needs of teachers and students and designs the functions to meet their specific needs. Secondly, combined with multimedia technology and network technology, a multimedia English practice teaching platform was designed and implemented. In this way, the overall educational efficiency has been increased by nearly 30%, and the acceptance of the model by students has been increased by 35%. Finally, this paper constructs a small multimedia piano practice teaching platform for testing and proves the practicability and usefulness of multimedia synthesis technology in English education practice through comparison with traditional English teaching effects. Experiments show that the adoption of multimedia artificial smart technology in English education has a remarkable impact on enhancing the result of English teaching, can stimulate students’ learning enthusiasm, and realize the reform of English teaching.

The Relationships Between Music Performance Anxiety and the Mindfulness Levels of Music Teacher Candidates

In this study the relationships between the Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) levels and mindfulness levels of Music Teacher Candidates (MTC) were investigated. A large sample of undergraduate students (N = 524) from seven different universities from around Turkey took place in the study. The data was collected with both Kenny’s MPA inventory and the Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire. The Pearson Moments Correlation Coefficient was used in determining the relationships between the MPA and mindfulness levels of the MTC. To determine whether the MPA of students and mindfulness differ in terms of piano lesson achievement and daily piano practice time (DPPT) variables, a variance analysis (ANOVA) and a Kruskal Wallis H test analyses were used. Students’ mindfulness levels were negatively correlated with their MPA levels. Their piano lesson achievement levels had positive relationship with mindfulness and a negative relationship with their MPA. Similarly, their DPPT had a positive relationship with mindfulness and a negative relationship with MPA.

New Interfaces and Approaches to Machine Learning When Classifying Gestures within Music

Interactive music uses wearable sensors (i.e., gestural interfaces—GIs) and biometric datasets to reinvent traditional human–computer interaction and enhance music composition. In recent years, machine learning (ML) has been important for the artform. This is because ML helps process complex biometric datasets from GIs when predicting musical actions (termed performance gestures). ML allows musicians to create novel interactions with digital media. Wekinator is a popular ML software amongst artists, allowing users to train models through demonstration. It is built on the Waikato Environment for Knowledge Analysis (WEKA) framework, which is used to build supervised predictive models. Previous research has used biometric data from GIs to train specific ML models. However, previous research does not inform optimum ML model choice, within music, or compare model performance. Wekinator offers several ML models. Thus, we used Wekinator and the Myo armband GI and study three performance gestures for piano practice to solve this problem. Using these, we trained all models in Wekinator and investigated their accuracy, how gesture representation affects model accuracy and if optimisation can arise. Results show that neural networks are the strongest continuous classifiers, mapping behaviour differs amongst continuous models, optimisation can occur and gesture representation disparately affects model mapping behaviour; impacting music practice.

The «Chateau of the Loire Valley» piano fresco as a representation of the artistic thinking of Lesia Dychko

The purpose of this represented scientific article is to reveal the specificity of piano thinking of L. Dychko as exemplified in the «Chateau of the Loire Valley» piano fresco. Methods. The methodological background of the study includes the integration of general scientific (historical, system-related, dialectic, culturological, comparative) and special artistic, in particular, music study methods and approaches of the scientific study. The application of the series of special methods of the music study research, characteristic to the historical, theoretical and performance musicology promoted the solution of the problems brought up in the article. Scintific novelty. The scintific novelty of the undertaken study is the revealing of the conceptual bases and intonational-stylistic specificity of the «Chаteau of the Loire Valley» piano fresco as the representation of the universality of L. Dychko’s creative thinking. Conclusion. The article reveals the form-forming and textural principles of the music mirroring of the masterpieces of French architecture in the text of the «Chаteau of the Loire Valley» piano cycle. The performed analysis enabled the distinguishing of L. Dychko’s piano piece as a model of the interspecific artistic communication and a manifestation of the artistic dialogue within «music - architecture» system, which is revealed on the graphically-associational, intonational and semantic, structural, texture and stylistic levels. The article proves that the «Chаteau of the Loire Valley» fresco of Lesia Dychko is distinguished by the immensity of the artist's intention, concert performance and stylistic direction and the high level of the pianistic technique, which is evidenced by the diversity of the piano texture, wide register coverage of the fingerboard, the predominance of the elements of octaval-chordal technique, the diversity of masterly performed passages and figured approaches, which are indued with formal and meaningful properties and acquire the value of the stylistic and graphically-semantic factors. There has been proved in the work the composer’s appeal to the music thesaurus of contemporary pianism, the established in the piano practice texture and expressive means and general types of movements, as well as the individualized performance approaches, endued in the context of the cycle with different functionally-semantic loads (coloristic background, representation of the sonic flow dynamics, graphical and emotional tension, disconcentrated figurative thematic invention, concert-virtuous style).

Action-Perception Coupling and Near Transfer: Listening to Melodies after Piano Practice Triggers Sequence-Specific Representations in the Auditory-Motor Network

Understanding how perception and action are coupled in the brain has important implications for training, rehabilitation, and brain–machine interfaces. Ideomotor theory postulates that willed actions are represented through previously experienced effects and initiated by the anticipation of those effects. Previous research has accordingly found that sensory events, if previously associated with action outcomes, can induce activity in motor regions. However, it remains unclear whether the motor-related activity induced during perception of more naturalistic sequences of actions actually represents “sequence-specific” information. In the present study, nonmusicians were firstly trained to play two melodies on the piano; secondly, they performed an fMRI experiment while listening to these melodies as well as novel, untrained melodies; thirdly, multivariate pattern analysis was used to test if voxel-wise patterns of brain activity could identify trained, but not novel melodies. The results importantly show that after associative learning, a series of sensory events can trigger sequence-specific representations in both sensory and motor networks. Interestingly, also novel melodies could be classified in multiple regions, including default mode regions. A control experiment confirmed these outcomes to be training-dependent. We discuss how action-perception coupling may enable spontaneous near transfer and action simulation during action observation.

Back to feedback: aberrant sensorimotor control in music performance under pressure

ABSTRACTPrecisely timed production of dexterous actions is often destabilized in anxiogenic situations. Previous studies demonstrated that cognitive functions such as attention and working memory as well as autonomic nervous functions are susceptible to induced anxiety in skillful performance while playing sports or musical instruments. However, it is not known whether the degradation of motor functions, sensory perception, or sensorimotor control underlies such a compromise of skillful performance due to psychophysiological distress. Here, we addressed this issue through a series of behavioral experiments, which provided no evidence supporting for detrimental effects of the stress on the perceptual accuracy and precision of the finger movements in pianists. By contrast, after transiently delaying the timing of tone production while playing the piano, the local tempo was abnormally disrupted only under pressure. The results suggest that psychological stress degraded the temporal stability of movement control due to an abnormal increase in sensory feedback gain but not temporal perception or motor precision. A learning experiment further demonstrated that the temporal instability of auditory-motor control under pressure was alleviated after practicing piano while ignoring delayed auditory feedback but not after practicing while compensating for the delayed feedback. Together, these findings suggest an abnormal transition from feedforward to feedback control in expert piano performance in anxiogenic situations, which can be mitigated through specialized sensorimotor training that involves piano practice while volitionally ignoring the artificially delayed provision of auditory feedback.

Specialized Somatosensory–Motor Integration Functions in Musicians

Somatosensory signals play roles in the fine control of dexterous movements through a somatosensory–motor integration mechanism. While skilled individuals are typically characterized by fine-tuned somatosensory functions and dexterous motor skills, it remains unknown whether and in what manner their bridging mechanism, the tactile–motor and proprioceptive–motor integration functions, plastically changes through extensive sensorimotor experiences. Here, we addressed this issue by comparing physiological indices of these functions between pianists and nonmusicians. Both tactile and proprioceptive stimuli to the right index finger inhibited corticospinal excitability measured by a transcranial magnetic stimulation method. However, the tactile and proprioceptive stimuli exerted weaker and stronger inhibitory effects, respectively, on corticospinal excitability in pianists than in nonmusicians. The results of the electroencephalogram measurements revealed no significant group difference in the amplitude of cortical responses to the somatosensory stimuli around the motor and somatosensory cortices, suggesting that the group difference in the inhibitory effects reflects neuroplastic adaptation of the somatosensory–motor integration functions in pianists. Penalized regression analyses further revealed an association between these integration functions and motor performance in the pianists, suggesting that extensive piano practice reorganizes somatosensory–motor integration functions so as to enable fine control of dexterous finger movements during piano performances.