Differences in listening comprehension with tonal and atonal background music

Journal/Book: Journal of Music Therapy. 1989; Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. National Association for Music Therapy 8455 Colesville Rd., Suite 930 20910 Silver Spring, Maryland USA. journal article.

Abstract: This study investigated the ability of subjects to complete a listening comprehension test in the presence of background tonal and atonal music. Ninety college freshmen participated in the study. The subjects were divided into three groups. Each group was administered the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress Listening Comprehension Test, Level J. under one of three background conditions: (a) no background music, (b) tonal background music, and (c) atonal background music. Ana analysis of variance revealed that scores obtained under tonal music conditions were significantly lower than scores obtained under no music conditions. It was concluded that tonal music distracted subjects because of its tonality. These findings suggest that attention may be activated by auditory stimuli that have predictable outcomes in a temporal dimension.

Keyword(s): differences, listening, listening-comprehension, tonal, music, background-music, atonal-music.

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