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The Accuracy of the Modern Phonograph Motor
Each wave represents one one-hundredth of a second in the motion of the
disk. If there were a discrepancy of as much as one tenth of a wave in two suc-
cessive circles, that would mean an error of one one-thousandth of a second in
the revolution; but there is scarcely any place in this record of a tuning fork in
which an error to that extent can be detected. It is this high accuracy of the
reproducing machines that has made possible the present “Measures of Musi-
cal Talent” in the form of records, and the use of the phonograph as a uni-
versally available motor on which many other measuring devices may be used.

BEVERLEY EDUCATIONAL SERIES
EDITED BY
W. W. CHARTERS
PROFESSOR OF EDUCATION
CARNEGIE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF

MUSICAL TALENT
BY -
CARL EMIL SEASHORE
PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY AND
DEAN OF THE GRADUATE
COLLEGE IN THE STATE
|UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO
Ç. f
* º
w * -
*
* º
& *f &
CoPYRIGHT, 1919,
By SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY.
All Rights Secured.
Yº..." !
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2 S + 2
*
* ^\ .2
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* - ...? - *. A-3 *
EDITOR'S PREFACE
THE published material on methods of teaching music is
of all the major subjects of instruction the scantiest. But
that man is ignorant indeed who rests satisfied with the
written descriptions of musical methods. Only a small
fraction of this baffling field gets into print, because, of all
the subjects of instruction, none has more individual “sys-
tems” of instruction and in none is there so much of the
atmosphere of trade secrecy. Master teachers develop
methods which are more or less original and the students
of the masters come to form groups between whom there
is the keenest rivalry. But, unfortunately, the methods
of deciding between rival claims are too frequently argu-
ment and hostile criticism of each other.
The cause of this does not, of course, lie entirely within
the personal idiosyncrasies of teachers of music, vocal and
instrumental; rather is it due in great part to the impon-
derability of the aesthetic element in music. Interpretation
and expression are not easily measured in any exact way:
taste and individual differences are constituent factors in
any verdict about the relative superiority of rival methods,
and these have not yet been, and in all probability can
never completely be, subjected to definite measurement.
As a result of these conditions musical methods are in a
chaotic condition without a means of separating excellence
from mediocrity.
But into this unsatisfactory situation in methods of
421068
V
EDITOR'S PREFACE
artistry, teachers of public school music have injected into
their allied field four movements which have materially
benefited the subject of methods in the public schools.
Three of these are the application of the aims of English
composition to musical composition as a school project, the
application of the methods of primary reading to the teach-
ing of elementary music, and the introduction of the idea
of the relative importance of musical appreciation in com-
parison with musical performance for the great majority of
school children.
The fourth movement is that described and demonstrated
in this volume. The author has assigned to himself during
the last several years the scientific study of the psychology
of musical abilities. He has seen, as we all have felt, that
music may use science for its own benefit in the under-
standing and mastery of technique. By definite tests
scientifically determined, it is possible to determine which
children possess musical ability of a high order and may
therefore be given the opportunity to become artists, and
which possess it in less degree and should be given an op-
portunity to develop themselves along other musical lines.
This is a difficult task, to be sure, because of the complexity
of the factors which constitute ability in music, but, as this
volume demonstrates, a task by no means impossible of
accomplishment.
Fortunately for teachers of music, the author has con-
stantly had a keen realization of the practical outcomes of
investigations during all the years of his researches in the
laboratory, and the editor is delighted to be able to include
this volume in the Beverley Series.
vi
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
THIS monograph is addressed to students of applied
psychology. By content, it appeals directly to those who
are interested in music ; by method and treatment, it may
serve as a somewhat intensive presentation of a specific sub-
ject for the student of educational psychology, child-study,
vocational and industrial selection, or vocational and avoca-
tional guidance.
/ The scientific study of the artistic mind is a somewhat
baffling undertaking. There are no substantial precedents;
the available scientific data are extremely meager; by
nature the artist himself is but little interested in the process
of his mental dissection; and, after all, the varieties of
artistic minds are legion. But the time is ripe for a vigor-
ous application of the technique of psychological inven-
tory to practical affairs, and the discovery and fostering of
human talents is indeed both practical and practicable.N. The
stress of war forced our army to adopt psychological methods
for the selection and rating of the human energies of men for
assignment to service and for promotion. When the best
results are demanded in any occupation, haphazard pro-
cedure must give way to procedure on the basis of ascer-
tained facts. When Music shall come to her own she will
come to the musically gifted: to that end musical talent
must be revealed and encouraged.
The system of evaluation of musical talents to be reviewed
in this book will find a large field of usefulness in the ele-
vii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
- mentary Schools. A set of exercises is being worked out for
the introduction of some of the most important tests in this
series as a part of the regular instruction in certain grades of
the elementary schools. This will secure a sort of “dragnet”
survey of musical talents, as all the children in the commu-
nity will be reached when they pass through these grades. It
will stimulate an interest in the search for talent and efforts
in the conservation of talent on the part of all concerned,
particularly the teachers. Among the pupils it will cause a
wholesome awakening to a recognition of their particular
talents. For teachers of music it will stimulate the rec-
ognition of responsibility for the talented children of the
community. It will be a part of the coming system of
vocational and avocational advice, and should be a potent
instrument in the development of community interest in
music. The tests themselves constitute very profitable
musical exercises.
If the great musicians can live before us in the wonder-
ful reproduction of the modern phonograph, tone-producing
instruments employed in the measurement of musical
talent might equally well be made to perform for popular
presentation through this medium. To test this assumption
we made accurate measurements of the reliability of the re-
production in phonograph records and found that, for most
purposes, such a record is as good as the original instruments
and that in some respects the record has an advantage over
the original instrument in that it makes it possible to stand-
ardize the test material with accuracy.
The first series entitled “Measures of Musical Talent”
is started with five double disk records, each illustrating a
basic test as follows: the sense of pitch (Chapter II), the
sense of intensity (Chapter III), the sense of time (Chapter
VIII
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
IV), the sense of consonance (Chapter VII), and musical
memory (Chapter XII). This series will be extended from
time to time as progress is made. These records have been
made by the Columbia Graphophone Company through
whose agencies they may be obtained. They are inexpen-
sive and permanent and may be played on any good phono-
graph.
With these records a booklet of instruction is furnished
free, giving directions, norms, and interpretations, as they
may be employed for class experiments in psychology; for
musical surveys in the elementary schools; for the analysis
of talent in the music studio, and for scientific entertain-
ment in home circles."
A second series embraces the motor tests. For this there
are available instruments and methods for the measure-
ment of timed action, rhythmic action, motility, singing
in pitch, and other tests as outlined in Chapters IX and X.
The use of these is more limited because the test can be made
Only upon One individual at a time; but their application is
of broader significance inasmuch as they measure basic
capacities for many occupations besides music.”
While there may seem to be much in the form of specific
guidance in this volume, the effort has been made through-
out simply to expose the facts in specific instances and indi-
cate their possible bearings, leaving it at every stage to the
reader to take larger situations into account and to feel the
* A monograph on “A Survey of Musical Talent in Public Schools”
will appear at an early date as a research bulletin from the Iowa Child-
Welfare Research Station (Iowa City, Iowa). Another monograph on
the analysis of musical talents in the music studio and the music school
will appear as Volume VIII of the University of Iowa Studies in Psychology
(The Psychological Review Publishing Co., Princeton, N. J.).
* The principal instruments in these two chapters may be obtained
from the C. H. Stoelting Co., Chicago, Ill.
IX
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
responsibility for working out in his own experience the
applications that the facts might warrant. This is particu-
larly true of the public school survey in which the main
object is to get the facts and then leave them as a standing
challenge to parents and pupils.
This volume is primarily a collective and elementary
presentation of the results of investigation by the author
and his pupils and associates and must, therefore, go forth
essentially as a communication from our laboratory, which
is devoted largely to the study of the psychology of music.
Limits of space preclude a more general and historical
treatment.
The author is indebted to the Musical Quarterly, Science,
The Music Supervisors’ Journal, The Proceedings of the
National Music Teachers’ Association, The 18th Year Book
of the National Society for the Study of Education, The
Musician, and The Etude, for the privilege of using
parts of material originally published in those journals.
For generous equipment, research personnel, and a hearty
encouragement of specialization within the field, the author
acknowledges his profound obligations to the State Uni-
versity of Iowa. The author also acknowledges the favor
of The Macmillan Company for use of the illustrations from
“The Science of Musical Sounds” by Dayton Clarence
Miller and from “Experimental Psychology” by Edward B.
Titchener. Owing to the newness of the venture, advice
has been sought and received from a host of friends. To all
of these and to the laboratory students in the psychology of
music who have shared the joy of comradeship in research,
—a lasting gratitude.
- C. E. SEASHORE.
IOWA CITY, IOWA.
September, 1919.
II.
III.
/IV.
/i.
II.
III.
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
The Point of View
An Inventory
Records of Talents & g
The Value of a Talent Inventory
CHAPTER II
THE SENSE OF PITCH
Introduction * º
The Physical Basis of Pitch
The Physiological Basis of Pitch
The Lowest Audible Tone &
The Highest Audible Tone g tº tº
The Measurement of Pitch Discrimination
Individual Differences g º te
The Physiological versus the Cognitive Limit
Relation to Age tº te
Relation to Sex
Relation to Intelligence
The Effect of Training
Capacity Elemental .
Basic Nature of the Test .
Norms for Vocational Guidance
Heredity . * &
Tonal Range . e g &
Pitch Difference in the Two Ears
Illusions of Pitch *
The Sense of Pitch in Animals
PAGE
15
27
30
31
34
35
39
50
51
52
56
56
59
65
65
66
68
71
74
75
77
Xl
* *
TABLE OF CONTENTS
II.
III.
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
CHAPTER III
THE SENSE of INTENSITY
The Physiological Basis e
Tonal Gaps and Tonal Islands .
Acuity of Hearing . - e * - e
Acuity of Hearing throughout the Tonal Range
Periodicity in Sound e & º
The Measurement of Intensity Discrimination .
Relation to Age
Relation to Intelligence
Effect of Training
Musical Significance
CHAPTER IV
|THE SENSE OF TIME
PAGE
79
83
86
90
94
95
97
98
99
102
/1.
II.
III.
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
II.
III.
II.
III.
IV.
Introduction - º
Nature of the Sense of Time
Measurement of the Sense of Time .
Relation to Age -
Relation to Training
Relation to Intelligence . º º ->
Relation of Sense of Time to Sense of Pitch
Musical Significance .
CHAPTER V
*
THE SENSE OF RHYTHM
The Nature of Rhythm . & º e &
What Rhythm Does e e *
Measurement of the Sense of Rhythm
CHAPTER VI
THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
Definition of Terms .
Purity
OvertOnes - - º g ©
Measurement of the Sense of Timbre
103
104
108
110
112
113
113
113
115
117
124
. 127
128
129
136
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER VII
| THE SENSE of CoNSONANCE
- PAGE
I. Combination Tones . e e o e º © . 139
II. Spatial Fusions e º & e e © © . 143
III. Nature of Consonance º e e o e e . 144
IV. Measurement of the Sense of Consonance e e . 154
W. Relation to Age, Intelligence, and Training . º . 157
CHAPTER VIII
AUDITORY SPACE
I. The Problem . . . . . . . . . 160
II. The Sense of Direction . º e © º & . 160
III. The Sense of Extensity . * e e tº . . . 163
IV. The Sense of Volume e * e © © - . 165
CHAPTER IX
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
I. Introduction . - º e e e e tº . 168
II. A Chronograph and a Chronoscope . e e o . 170
III. Motility . - - - e º e º e . 173
IV. Timed Action . - e e e º e e . 175
V. Simple Reaction Time & e º e © e . 177
VI. Action on Choice º e © ſº e º e . 179
VII. Serial Action
VIII. Precision in Movement
IX. Discrimination * -
X. Strength and Endurance .
CHAPTER X
MUSICAL ACTION
I. Introduction
II. Pitch º ©
III. Seeing Yourself Sing
IV. Intensity . ©
W. Time

xiii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VI. Rhythm
VII. Timbre
VIII. Consonance
IX. Volume
X. What Constitutes Voice? -
XI. General Considerations
CHAPTER XI
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
I. Introduction g e
II. Imaginal Types e e e º &
- III. General Tests of Mental Imagery . e 4-
~ IV. A Simple Test of Auditory Imagery in Children
V. The Development of Auditory Imagery
VI. The Rôle of Auditory Imagery in Music .
VII. Actual Prevalence of Musical Imagery in Musicians
VIII. Motor Imagery - º
IX. Musical Imagination - • e º -
X. Significance of Imagination as a Musical Talent
CHAPTER XII
MUSICAL MEMORY
U. The Plastic Limit - -
Auditory Memory Span for Pitch
Pſ tention º e
* Learning Curve
solute Pitch o • e
Gignificance of Memory in Music
CHAPTER XIII
MUSICAL INTELLECT
juction ©
:al Free Association .
al Intelligence
°ower of Reflection
al Significance
PAGE
203
205
207
207
208
209
211
213
215
219
221
223
225
228
230
234
236
238
243
243
248
251
253
254
256
258
262







xiv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
II.
III.
IV.
CHAPTER XIV
MUSICAL FEELING
The Approaches to Feeling o º º º
Musical Taste . wº - . . e ©
Emotional Expression in Music
The Conveying of Musical Feeling
CHAPTER XV
THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
. A Self-Examination .
II.
III.
Use of the Measure of Musical Talent in the Schools
Organization of the Musical Schedule in the Grades on the
Basis of Ability to Progress and Profit
PAGE
264
268
269
270
272
280
286
XV
The Great Force
“I am the soul of the joy of life — the companion of its sorrows.
“All moods are mine. I am hilarious. I am frivolous, I am gay,
I am serious. I am sad. I spin out the silver thread of happiness,
the golden thread of comfort and solace. On wings of melody I
bear the dreamer off to strange places and strange lands. To the
wanderer I sing of home. In the despondent I renew resolve. To
the despairing I bring hope. In the child I engender pure tastes,
refinement, and inspire noble thoughts and high ambitions.
“I am ever ready. I never tire. I am a well-spring of inspiration,
relaxation, recreation. I am at home in the dwelling of the richest or
the most lowly in the land — where religion reigns or under the roofs
that know not God.
“In peace I had ever been at the service of man. In war was I to
be found wanting? Was I to be thoughtlessly brushed aside in the
tremendous rush to arms ? Many there were who would have stilled
my voice till peace should come again. But I was put to the test. I
was not found wanting. I proved my worth. I found my niche, for
I am full of cheer, of undying, unflickering resolve — of the spirit that
knows not defeat.
“Day and night found me on duty with the saviors of civilization —
in the camps, on the ships, in strange foreign villages, in dugouts, in
trenches right up to hell's partition — everywhere where death and
danger were commonplace, soothing tensed nerves straining at the
leash, singing of victory amid the battle's roar, – restoring the
balance of upset minds — chanting the dirge of deviltry.
“In war, as in peace, food, clothing, and shelter come first in sus-
taining morale and rendering comfort. I come next.
“I helped to win the war.
“I am MUSIC.’’
— Courtesy of Life.
xvi
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
MUSICAL TALENT
CHAPTER I
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
I. THE POINT OF VIEW
Three branches of the psychology of music. Three
aspects of the psychology of music are fairly distinct : the
psychology of musical talent, the psychology of art prin-
ciples involved in music, and the psychology of musical
training. The present volume is restricted to the presenta-
tion of the first of these three aspects – the psychology of
musical talent, an account of the musical mind.
Aim, to describe and explain. This subject is treated
both from the theoretical and the practical point of view,
the aim being to describe and explain the musical mind in
such a way as to serve in the recognition, the analysis, the
rating, and the guidance of musical talent.
What constitutes description and explanation in psychol-
ogy. Description and explanation of this sort involve in
general for each mental process analysis of the process into
its structural elements, classification, identification of pur-
pose, tracing genetic history and physiological conditions,
and statement of laws of behavior. Thus, a psychological
account of musical rhythm begins with an analysis of this
experience into its component psychological elements.
l
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
These are then classified and the significance of each is
discovered by tracing the purpose it serves in mental econ-
omy, its evolution in the race, its development in the
individual, and its physical and physiological bases. Be-
yond such descriptive account the more exact knowledge
may then be stated in terms of laws of behavior.
Value of the psychology of music. From an adequate
study of types of mind of this sort, we should gain a system-
atic knowledge of the mental life involved, and the ability
to interpret this life for the enlargement of our horizon in
culture and for the acquisition of power in efficiency. It
should lead to an appreciation of mental life for itself, and
should lay a foundation for the understanding of ourselves
and Our pupils as musicians, our art, our methods of pro-
cedure in musical training, and the conservation and direc-
tion of artistic talent.
The experimental method. Our approach is that of
experimental study. Where there is no experiment there
can be no science. Psychology is scientific just to the extent
that it is based upon principles of experiment and is faithful
to them. In the study of a given mental process, the ex-
perimental method demands that the process shall be
specifically identified and reasonably isolated for descrip-
tion; that it shall be under control so that it can be kept
constant, can be repeated, and can be varied in one aspect
at a time; and that the results of the observation shall be
recordable and verifiable. In so new a science as psychology,
and particularly in the almost unexplored field of the psy-
chology of music, such principles can be complied with only
in part ; but adherence to them fosters a critical attitude
and chastens the treatment of those phases which have not
yet been brought under experimental control. We shall,
2
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
therefore, not vaunt the slogan of science, but shall modestly
try to maintain, in spirit, the scientific point of view.
The relation of applied to theoretical psychology. To
be sound, applied psychology must involve and rest upon
theoretical psychology; but the theoretical remains inci-
dental, serving merely as a groundwork to the applied.
In music the way of applied psychology is still desperately
obstructed by the underbrush of primitive views of mind
and the barbed-wire entanglements of the warfare of un-
critical theories and self-interests. We can at best pave
or point the wise way only in part ; the most effective guid-
ance comes from knowledge of the situation rather than
from directions or rules of procedure. Therefore, the
mere description of aspects of the musical mind will often
be placed in the foreground, without effort to point the
moral, particularly when the morals are countless.
Scientific vocational guidance. At the present stage a
scientific vocational guidance in music must be admitted
to be a vision rather than an avowed aim. Yet in no other
field does vocational guidance give so great promise of
becoming scientific as in music. Among the reasons are
these : music requires specific talents; these talents can be
identified and rated by psychological methods; to a cer-
tain extent they are essential to happiness and success in
the art ; musical education is expensive; misguided talent
may entail a chain of grievous misfortunes; and, other things
being equal, musical advantages should be conferred in
proportion to the degree of talent.
Avocational guidance in music. But the pursuit of music
as a vocation is limited to a very small number of those
who legitimately pursue music as an art. Avocational
guidance in music, therefore, becomes more important
3
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
than vocational guidance; for avocational guidance is the
Systematic direction of children and youth in the selection
and Organization of their avocational pursuits — those
pursuits which we follow, not as occupations but as diver-
Sions and merely cultural quests. The goal of vocational
guidance is efficiency in the profession — a sort of business.
The goal of avocational guidance is self-realization in the
enjoyment and expression of the beautiful. There is no
contradiction between these two, and y have many
things in common, but the pursuit of art for itself is the
larger aim.
The conservation of artistic energies. From this point
of view the applied psychology of music leads to a conserva-
tion movement. Indeed, it is not out of place to speak
of the saving of life by the discovery and encouragement
of unknown genuine talent in such a way as to lead to
achievement in the art. Surveys of public schools show
clearly that very little correlation exists between the pos-
session of musical talent and the selection of children for
musical education ; and records of the extent of children's
musical education show no close relationship to the pos-
session of talent. Thus, in recognizing the possibilities
and worth of genuine talent and the futility of trying to
make a precious metal out of a base one, musical guidance
may be looked upon as alleviating human suffering, both
of the prospective musician and of those associated with
him. It should certainly enhance artistic life, both in the
individual and in the community.
A pattern for scientific guidance in other fields. In so
far as psychology of musical talent is a scientific basis for
vocational guidance in a specific field, it may serve as an
exemplification of principles which may be extended into
4.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
other fields. The psychology of talent in the graphic and
plastic arts and the psychology of talent in dramatic art
suggest themselves. But even in the study of fitness for
occupations in the trades and industries we shall find many
analogies.
Based upon measurement. The applied psychology of
music in the interest of guidance rests upon mental measure-
ments. We now find it quite feasible to measure certain
musical talent, quantitatively. Since this feature is com-
paratively new, it will be necessary to give considerable
space to the description of methods and means of measure-
ment, not only in order to show how it may be done, but
primarily because that is the best way of isolating and de-
scribing a mental process. Not all talents lend themselves
to measurement. Specific and simple talents, such as the
sense of pitch or the sense of time, can be measured with
precision. In general, the more complex and diffuse a
talent is the less it lends itself to direct measurement. Musi-
cal reflection and musical emotion are examples of talents
which are too diffuse to be measured as such, although we can
weigh many of the factors which are determining components.
The experimental attitude. Measurement is a form of
experiment. Therefore, as in experiment in general, the
conception of measurement is helpful in the evaluation of
many factors which we shall not undertake to measure.
It furnishes a point of view which results in a penetrating
insight, a power of analysis, a critical reserve, and accuracy.
Where we cannot measure directly, we can often evaluate
indirectly; for example, when an observer has several
hundred records of his rating of voice registers he can grad-
ually rank these in the Order of excellence and in that
way establish a fair scale for the rating of particular voices.
5
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Hierarchies of talents. Musical talent is not a single
talent ; it is a hierarchy of talents, many of which are en-
tirely independent of one another. Therefore, the descrip-
tion of a musical mind reduces itself to the picturing of the
relative prominence or latency of each musical talent. The
talents naturally group themselves so that we have, for
example, the tonal group, the rhythmic group, the motor
group, the intellectual group, and others; and within each
of these we may trace much detail. - -
Musical talent an inborn gift. Musical talent is a gift
bestowed very unequally upon individuals. Not only is
the gift of music itself inborn, but it is inborn in specific
types. These types can be detected early in life, before
time for beginning serious musical education. This fact
presents an opportunity and places a great responsibility
for the systematic inventory of the presence or absence of
musical talent.
The musical mind a normal mind. The musical mind
is first of all a normal mind. Indeed, the normal mind is
musical to the extent that it is normal. It will be out of
the question to attempt a general account of the mind as
a whole. We must take it for granted that the musical
mind is an aspect of a normal personality with endowments
for a general mental life, and we must also take the general
psychology of such mental life for granted. We shall not,
therefore, describe the musician as a whole but only with
respect to those aspects of talent which are peculiarly
necessary for music.
II. AN INVENTORY
Twofold basis of classification. In making an inventory
of the musical mind, we are guided by two coördinate
6
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
bases of classification : first, the attributes of sound; and,
second, the generally recognized powers of the human
mind.
The four attributes of sounds. Sounds have four attri-
butes: pitch, intensity, duration, and extensity. In terms
of these four attributes, we can account for every possible
shade of difference in sounds – from the most exquisite
nuances of the human voice, through all the range of instru-
mentaſtones and the sounds of animate and inanimate
nature down to the inchoate noises.
Principles of the classification. Our classification of
items will, therefore, be a list of those traits of the human
mind which are necessary for the apprehension and expres-
sion of the recognized attributes of sound. These are the
hearing of tones, the production of tones, the representation
of tones in memory and imagination, musical thought, and
musical feeling.
*Factors of the musical mind.
/I. Musical sensitivity
2 A. Simple forms of impression
& 1. Sense of pitch
2: Sense of intensity
/3. Sense of time
4. Sense of extensity
B. Complex forms of appreciation
1. Sense of rhythm
2. Sense of timbre
3. Sense of consonance
4. Sense of volume
II. Musical action
Natural capacity for skill in accurate and musically
expressive production of tones (vocal, instrumental, or
both) in :
7
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Control of pitch
Control of intensity
Control of time
Control of rhythm
Control of timbre
Control of volume
i
III. Musical memory and imagination
1. Auditory imagery
. Motor imagery
Creative imagination
Memory span
Learning power
:
IV. Musical intellect
1. Musical free association
2. Musical power of reflection
3. General intelligence
W. Musical feeling
1. Musical taste 2.
2. Emotional reaction to music
3. Emotional Self-expression in music
… The sense of pitch. The sense of pitch is involved, not
only in the hearing of melody and harmony, but also in the
hearing of tone character in many complex forms. Pitch
is the raw material of music. The function of the higher
capacities, such as memory, imagination, and feeling, or
playing and singing, is limited by the degree of sensitiveness
to pitch. This becomes significant when we find, for ex-
ample, that, according to actual measurement, one person
may be two hundred times as sensitive to pitch as another
of equal age, social standing, and general intelligence.
The sense of intensity. Then, we have the sense of inten-
sity, which represents the capacity for appreciation of dif-
ferences in strength of sound. This is basic for the hearing
8
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
of musical expression and the appreciation of touch, and for
modulation in intensity or loudness and volume.
The sense of time. The third elemental capacity is the
sense of time. This is basic for all perception of rhythm
and for rhythmic action. A limitation in this capacity for
hearing time sets a corresponding limitation upon feeling,
thought, and action.
The sense of extensity. The sense of extensity furnishes
the immediate experience of the magnitude or space rela-
tions of sound, particularly volume. Since it is a counter-
part of pitch, which it parallels, it holds but a secondary
place in the psychology of musical talent.
2 Simple, immediate, and elementary forms of all auditory
impressions. Such are the four fundamental capacities
of hearing. They vary quite independently — pitch with-
out time, time without pitch, intensity without pitch,
extensity without intensity. Since these are the four
channels through which all sounds must enter, all that is
within the mind is characterized by their receptivity or
non-receptivity.
Complex, derived, and richer forms of all auditory im-
pressions. There is another screen inside this outer screen
of the primary capacities, representing the ability to receive
auditory impressions; in this we find four principal phases,
namely, the sense of rhythm, the sense of timbre, the sense
of consonance, and the sense of volume. -
The sense of rhythm. The sense of rhythm rests upon
the sense of time, the sense of intensity, and mental imagery,
but it requires in addition a number of affective and motor .
qualifications; thus a person may have a keen sense of &
time and intensity and still not have a pronounced sense
of rhythm.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
The sense of timbre. The sense of timbre is essentially
the ability to hear the tone quality, tone character, or tone
color of sounds. Timbre is essentially a pitch complex,
It rests primarily upon the sense of pitch and in a secondary
way upon the sense of intensity; but it requires something
additional not embodied in either of these separately; a
person may have a keen sense of pitch and a keen sense of
intensity and yet not be keen in the sense of timbre.
The sense of consonance. The sense of consonance is
the simplest form of musical hearing which underlies the
combination of tones, either simultaneous or successive, as
in melody or harmony. This rests primarily upon a sense
of pitch, but involves higher elements so that a person may
have a keen sense of pitch and yet not be effective in the
sense of consonance. M
The sense of volume. Volume in music may be analyzed
into its component elements: extensity, intensity, timbre,
and the number of sounds. The appreciation of volume
may, therefore, take several forms and the volume may be
of different kinds.
Capacities for action parallel to capacities for hearing.
Turning from musical hearing to musical action, we demand
the capacities for producing pitch, time, and intensity,
and their derivatives, rhythm, timbre, and consonance,
by voice and by various kinds of instruments.
Pitch, intensity, time. The ability to sing in pitch, the
possession of a large and suitable pitch range of the voice,
the ability to play in pitch on instruments whose pitch is
wholly or partly controlled by the player, present quite
different claims upon the human Organism. But each can be
isolated for examination and rating. The control of inten-
sity, which we ordinarily call touch, whether it be vocal or
10
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL, MIND
instrumental, reduces itself largely to a fine general muscular
control. The ability to keep time, both vocally and instru-
mentally, also rests upon a peculiar gift of precision in ac-
tion. These three capacities are comparatively simple
and specific. -
Control of rhythm. When we turn to rhythmic action,
the situation is different. Here we deal with the responsive-
ness of the whole organism, with certain unconscious and
instinctive reverberations, and a rich play of emptional
expression in action. Likewise, the control of timbre as
tone quality demands a very delicately adjusted system of
motor control. In the voice, for example, this calls for
favorable vibrating, resonating, and energizing Organs,
and a delicate control of these by a musical mind.
Control of timbre. On the other hand, the tone quality
of the stringed and other instruments, in which the tone
Quality depends largely upon the action of the player, is
conditioned upon general motor control as the servant of
a refined and analytic hearing. Likewise, the instrumental
rendering of tones in pitch, sequence, or concordance, as
in melody and harmony, demands, on the motor side, a good
general motor control as the Organ of musical intellect and
feeling.
Musical imagery. But the hearing of tones and the pro-
ducing of tones does not make music. One of the most
essential groups of capacities is that which we may call
representation, including memory and imagination. The
ability to re-live music realistically in memory and imagina-
tion depends upon the power of auditory imagery and motor
imagery, and is very much enriched by the possession of
imagery through each and all of the senses. A rich imagery
will enable one to recall or invent and review mentally
ll
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
with detailed accuracy in hearing, and with the accom-
panying motor and emotional effects.
Musical imagination. But one may have a rich imagery
without power of imagination; and music is a creation of
imagination, not only in composition but as re-creation in
playing or singing as well as in listening.
Musical memory. The need of a musical memory is
Self-evident. It is not merely a matter of recalling selec-
tions. Memory enters intricately into all stages of hear-
ing, feeling, and rendering of music. The learning process
is one special aspect of memory. Each individual has a
certain personal equation for capacity in rate and excellence
of learning, and each of us has some apt preference for one
kind of material or another. For a given activity, such as
singing, sight reading, piano exercises, this may be expressed
in the form of what is technically called a learning curve.
Musical thought. The musician must also be a certain
kind of thinker. A thinker in any field may be judged on
three essential scores: namely, his ideas in stock, his power
of reflection, and his general intelligence.
Musical feeling. Last, but not least, the very heart of
music is feeling, for without musical feeling music is soul-
less. Although feeling is in One sense a highly specialized
capacity, it involves the reaction of the Organism as a whole
in its play with time, tone, and intensity of Sounds. In
general we may sample the prevailing type of capacity for
feeling by three fundamental aspects: musical taste, which
is the naïve and immediate natural response to certain kinds
of musical situations; emotional expressiveness; and the
ability to convey emotional effects to others through the
art of music.
The inventory of capacities a classification for the Science
12
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
of the musical mind. Such in brief is the barest skeletal
outline of a musical mind. It will now serve as a basis for
the classification of our problems and should assist the reader
in maintaining his orientation throughout the details in
the following chapters. Indeed, this inventory becomes
the topical outline of the science of the musical mind.
Mind not a series of compartments. In judging such
an inventory of the musical mind, we must be warned against
the notion that the human mind is made up of faculties,
independent compartments, as it were, which together
form a sort of filing case, storehouse, or source of informa-
tion within which the contents may be shuffled. Some
forms of this theory prevailed in psychology a hundred years
ago; and a very superficial and absolutely absurd offshoot
of that theory is the doctrine and practice of phrenology.
Mind a unit as a whole. The fault of the “faculty psy-
chology '' was that, while the various mental aspects were
more or less appropriately described, it failed to recognize
the inherent unity and the intricate interweaving of mental
powers. We say now there can be no thought without
feeling and action ; there can be no action without feeling
and thought ; there can be no feeling without thought
and action. So there can be no hearing without imagina-
tion and action; there can be no feeling without instinct
and memory. These illustrations suffice to emphasize
the fact that there are no isolated faculties in operation in
the human mind; the mind is always in operation as a
whole.
Use of terms like capacity, ability, trait, and talent.
Yet, we may speak of well-recognized divisions in the human
mind in a very serviceable sense. By these divisions we
mean the dominant traits. When a lover of flowers looks
- 13
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
at a rose and enjoys its sweet odor, he is exercising several
powers of the human mind – the perception of color, the
perception of odor, the action of holding with the hand,
and the feeling of agreeableness. It may well be said that,
in the moment of enjoying the rose, his whole mental or—
ganism is involved directly or indirectly. But it is possible
to shift the point of emphasis from the perception of color,
or the perception of odor, or the perception of touch, or of
temperature. The imagination or memory of each of these
and other qualities, the concepts of beautiful roses unlimited
in number, judgments and reasoning about the value and
methods of producing roses, the intellectual sentiment,
the organic feeling of well-being, the emotional expression
of satisfaction about roses, the habit of holding with the
tips of the fingers, the instinct to draw near to the nostrils,
the automatic tendency to lean toward a beautiful object,
the deliberation and decision to assure oneself of the pos-
session of roses in the future, or to express a sentiment
through the gift of this particular rose – in all these, the
human mind was involved as a whole and yet there were
dominant traits of the mind recognized in each situation.
The achievement of the mind in each of these aspects was
limited by the capacity in these various main channels
of expression. Therefore, when, for our present purpose,
we analyze the musical mind into its component factors,
it is done in this spirit of pointing out the dominant
phases in which the musical mind receives impressions,
re-presents and elaborates them, and responds in feeling
and action.
Capacity, ability, sense. Modern psychology distin-
guishes between capacity and ability. The term “capacity”
has reference to the inborn or native power; the term
14
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
“ability '' is used to designate acquired skill in the use of a
capacity. Thus, each of us has a certain native capacity
for memory, but we develop various kinds and degrees of
ability in the use of this capacity. The term “sense ’’
is here used freely to designate natural fitness in a given
sensory capacity.
The personal equation. The permanent traits of an
individual, as conceived in terms of capacities, are some-
times spoken of as his personal equation. One person is
slow and sure ; another is quick and sure ; one lives in the
world of feeling, another in the world of reflection; one has
a remarkable sense of rhythm ; another is devoid of this
capacity. The knowledge of such traits or capacities can
be built up into a personal equation which will enable us to
predict with reasonable certainty the aptitude and probable
promise of achievement of such a person.
III. RECORDS OF TALENTS
Concrete examples. In order to bring more clearly before
our minds the aim and achievement of this type of psychology
of music, it may be profitable at this stage to present a
few actual cases of records from the laboratory file. The
measurements herein used will, of course, be explained
later in their respective places. Most of the names of the
measurements are, however, self-explanatory to some degree.
All that is aimed at here is to present a bird’s-eye view of
the goal toward which we are working.
Unit of measurement : percentile rank. All records of
measurements are kept in terms of percentile rank, a sort
of universal method of representing the results of very dif-
ferent kinds of measurements in common and comparable
terms. If we have the records of any measurement of a
I5
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
thousand persons or more, we may arrange those records
in the Order of excellence for the purpose of making a meas-
uring scale. If the group has been fairly selected so as to
be representative, we may divide it into a hundred units,
the lowest unit being 1 and the highest 100. All the inter-
vening cases are arranged in the order of excellence between.
these extremes, the average being 50. Since the scale is
arranged in the Order of rank on the basis of 100, we call it
percentile rank. It forms a simple way of judging ourselves
in comparison with others. That is, it enables a person
to say quantitatively that his ability is, for example, average
(50 per cent), is 7 per cent from the bottom, is 7 per cent
from the top, or any other rank indicated. One may even
visualize himself as standing near the head or at the foot
of a line, as the case may be. This simple terminology
relieves parent, pupil, and teacher from the necessity of
thinking in terms of technical and complicated measure-
ments, such as terms of vibrations, seconds, or units of
energy. From such a scale we construct a conversion table
for each and every test, such that it will show directly the
equivalent of any record in that test in terms of percentile
rank. Obviously one must bear in mind that the differ-
ences among individuals are larger near the extreme than
in the middle region. The step 98–99 per cent is larger
than the step 49–50 per cent.
Talent charts. In assembling the records for final report,
it is convenient to represent them in charts, as shown in
the accompanying figures, in which the name of the measure-
ment is given on the left and the percentile rank at the top.
- A chart or graph of this kind enables one who is familiar
with the terminology to see in relief the contour and rela-
tionship of the different talents recorded for an individual.
16
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
The features of talent are seen at a glance just as one sees
the features of the face in a photograph.
Supplementary information. To supplement the records
of quantitative measures we ordinarily collect information
from the person examined, as, for example, in the following
questionnaire : --
I. Musical training
1. In early expression of musical interest
2. In elementary schools
3. Through private lessons
4. Through musical environment in the home, through oppor-
tunities for hearing music, good or bad
II. Musical expression
1. Hours per week (average for last five years) spent in (1) sing-
ing, (2) playing, (3) hearing music
2. The most difficult musical selections you can render reason-
ably well alone or with others
3. Public performances or participation in music
III. Musical appreciation
1. The kinds of music and the elements of music that appeal
to you -
2. The kinds of music and the elements of music that bore
you or give you displeasure
3. Degree and kind of feelings and emotional expressions that
music arouses * *
4. Characteristic rôle of music in your daily thought
5. Devices that you have employed for gaining or avoiding
musical environment
This is further supplemented by notes, observations, or
reports on any mental, physical, or environmental factors
which may be relevant.
Advantage of the scientific examiner in music. The
psychological examiner in dealing with pupils individually
has at his command the information and means of judging
17
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Ordinarily possessed by the music teacher, but he has in
addition his psychological measures and his psychological
technique of observation and description.
Two examples of the psychological description of musical
talents. The first two cases which may serve as illustra-
tions are two little ten-year-old girls who are classmates
and playmates. Let us call the first one Theodora and
the second one Rosabelle.
Theodora. Theodora has a decidedly musical mind.
In the three basic capacities for musical hearing — the sense
of pitch, the sense of intensity, and the sense of time —
she is superior and well balanced. Her sense of consonance
is of a high order. Her acuity of hearing is only average,
but this condition is not of the type which will affect music
seriously in view of her superior sense of intensity. Her
imagery is all of the moderate type. Her auditory imagery
can be developed as an excellent support to her superior
sensory powers and the motor and visual imagery are promi-
nent enough for an emotional background in music. Her
lowest record is on motility, which is characteristic of the
fact that she has a deliberate type of mind and is steady in
her movements. Her physique is average, as indicated by
her grip and ergogram. Her precision of movement and her
simple response to a simple signal are slightly above aver-
age; while her simple response to a complex signal is de-
cidedly better. Her capacity for serial association of
sound and action is good; whereas her association for visual
impressions and action is barely above average. Her timed
action and her rhythmic action are both good. Her general
motor reliability is superior. She sings in key with remark-
able ability and reproduces the interval with Superior
precision, although her voice control is only moderately
18
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
3
Sense of Pitch .
Sense of Intensity
Sense of Time .
Sense of Consonance
Acuity of Hearing
Auditory Imagery
Motor Imagery
Visual Imagery
Motility .
Grip .
Ergogram . . . . .
Precision of Movement
Simple Reaction .
Complex Reaction
Auditory Serial Action .
Visual Serial Action .
Timed Action .
Rhythmic Action.
Motor Reliability
Singing Key
Singing Interval .
Voice Control .
Register of Voice.
*Quality of Voice
Tonal Memory
Visual Motor Learning .
Auditory Motor Learning .
*Musical Association
Intelligence Quotient
*Emotional Reaction to Music .
Fig. I. — Talent Chart of Theodora.1
* The items marked with an asterisk in the charts represent mere esti-
mates in the absence of norms.

19
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
good for nuances of pitch. She has a good voice register
and an excellent voice quality. Her tonal memory is de-
cidedly superior. She gives superior promise for speed
and reliability in the acquisition of skill in music. Her
associations are highly versatile and remarkably well
balanced, but not peculiarly musical. Her mental age is
fully two years in advance of the normal. Emotionally,
she is cool and undemonstrative, but capable of deep feeling
for music.
Generalizing from the above, we observe that Theodora
has a rare balance of high sensory capacities for music, that
she is of the strongly intellectual rather than of the motor
type of mind, and that, therefore, she is not so skillful in
performance as she is in hearing, appreciation, and intel-
lectual control. Her motor responses are of the slow, de-
liberate, and reliable type. -
Theodora belongs to a decidedly musical family and is
given excellent musical advantages. On account of her
remarkable versatility in other respects, she approaches
music, like other interests, in a matter-of-fact attitude.
Rosabelle. Rosabelle is not of the musical type of
mind. She has an average sense of pitch and an inferior
sense of intensity, but a rather good sense of time. She
possesses but a slight sense of consonance. Her acuity
of hearing is below the average. She has but little auditory
imagery, but her motor imagery is pronounced and her
visual imagery average. She has good general motility.
Her physique is slightly above average. In precise move-
ments and in simple reaction she is about average, but her
complex reaction is superior. Her auditory serial action
is below average, while her visual serial action is very good.
She is decidedly inferior in timed action and poor in rhythmic
20
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
c
sh
3
3
2
3
sº
Sense of Pitch .
Sense of Intensity
Sense of Time".
Sense of Consonance
Acuity of Hearing
Auditory Imagery
Motor Imagery
Visual Imagery
Motility .
Grip .
Ergogram e e e
Precision of Movement .
Simple Reaction .
Complex Reaction
Auditory Serial Action .
Visual Serial Action .
Timed Action .
Rhythmic Action.
Motor Reliability.
Singing Key
Singing Interval .
Voice Control .
Register of Voice .
*Quality of Voice.
Tonal Memory
Visual Motor Learning .
Auditory Motor Learning .
*Musical Association
Intelligence Quotient
*Emotional Reaction to Music .
Fig. 2. — Talent Chart of Rosabelle.
3

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
action. In general motor reliability she is superior. Her
capacity for striking the pitch of a note is inferior although
she sings the common intervals with a moderate accuracy
and her voice control of pitch is fair. She has a fair register
of voice, but the quality is inferior. Her memory for tones
is not quite up to the average. Although she has very good
capacity for visual-motor learning, her auditory-motor
learning curve is below average. Her musical associations
are superficial, although she has a fertile mind and her men-
tal age is above normal. Although otherwise quite emo-
tional, she is but slightly moved by music.
Summarizing the characterization, we find that Rosa-
belle is of the intellectual-motor type, normally emotional.
She is but slightly ear-minded and does not live in a tonal
world or respond effectively to musical sounds and asso-
ciations. -
Rosabelle takes a superficial interest in music and asso-
ciates with musical children but her musical reactions are
scarcely emotional or artistic.
Comparison of three grades of talent. The next three
cases are taken from a collection of three hundred and eight
records of this type on university students. The first
represents a decidedly musical type of mind, the Second,
a decidedly unmusical, and the third, what is commonly
called an average musical mind. All have had musical
advantages. Let us call them Mr. White, Mr. Black, and
Mr. Gray, respectively.
Mr. White. Mr. White's sense of pitch is superior ; his
sense of intensity is good ; his sense of time is excellent. His
sense of consonance is superior. His acuity of hearing is
also superior. He has good tonal imagery and Superior
tonal memory. His general motility, timed action, and
22
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
rhythmic action are quite good. He has superior capacity
for singing in pitch, sings intervals well, and has good voice
control for pitch. He has a superior register and good
quality of voice.
In general, Mr. White has an unusually strong and well-
balanced musical mind, ranking in this respect within the
best three per cent in a normal community. He has always
C C C C C C C, c c c C
– c. co - to so tº oo c. 3
Sense of Pitch .
Sense of Intensity
Sense of Time.
Sense of Consonance
Acuity of Hearing
Auditory Imagery
Memory
Motility
Timed Action.
Rhythmic Action
Singing Key
Singing Interval .
Voice Control.
Register of Voice.
*Quality of Voice
Fig. 3. – Talent Chart of Mr. White.
manifested great interest and activity in music, but has
had only a Small amount of formal training. He lives in
a tonal world and is emotionally responsive to music.
Mr. Black. Mr. Black is decidedly inferior in all the
basic capacities for music. The three capacities in which
he ranks best – general motility, acuity of hearing, and
timed action — are therefore of scant musical significance.
So far as musical resources are concerned, his record is
remarkable for its uniform inferiority. He has taken music

23
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
lessons but has met with failure. He shows only a per-
functory interest in music. This record removes all neces-
sity for uncertainty and pretense.
Mr. Gray. Mr. Gray has a fairly good sense of pitch,
very poor sense of intensity, and poor sense of time. His
sense of consonance is below average. His acuity of hearing
is exceedingly fine. He has good tonal im: ;ery, but de-
cidedly inferior tonal memory. His gen motility is
superior and his timed action is good, but nis rhythmic
action is poor. He sings in fairly true pitch and reproduces
intervals fairly well. He has a very wide register of voice
but poor quality. In general, Mr. Gray is a fair type of
what is popularly called “average '’ musical ability, that
is, he ranks high in some talents and low in others." He
has had little musical education, but possesses a decidedly
artistic type of mind and lives much in musical feeling and
vital artistic appreciation.
Two talented schoolgirls. The next two cases are taken
from a collection of twenty-five hundred records of this kind
on school children in school Surveys, and are among the
best that we have found. They are girls twelve years old.
Let us call them Viola and Jean, respectively. These records
were made in school during school hours and the experi-
menter did not know any of the children personally. It is,
therefore, interesting to find that, when report to the School
authorities was made and these girls were pointed out as
exceptionally fine, Viola proved to be a girl who had enjoyed
most excellent musical advantages, came from one of the
best families of the city, and was scheduled for a public
recital for the following Sunday afternoon.
1 While this well represents the common type, in its difference in the
talents, it also exposes the fallacy of calling such diversity “average.”
24
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
c c c c c c c c c
r— CŞ co -h \O cc OO Co
3
C
N-
Sense of "Pitch .
Sense of Intensity
Sense of Time.
Sense of Consonance
Acuity of Hearing
Auditory Imagery
Memory :
Motilit
Timed Action . .
Rhythmic Action
Singing Key y
Singing Interval .
Voice Control.
Register of Voice
*Quality of Voice
- Fig. 4. — Talent Chart of Mr. Black.
§
S.
3
3
E
3
3.
3
Sense of Pitch
Sense of Intensity
Sense of Time.
Sense of Consonance
Acuity of Hearing
Auditory Imagery
Memory
Motility
Timed Action.
Rhythmic Action
Singing Key
Singing Interval .
Voice Control.
Register of Voice.
*Quality of Voice
Fig. 5. —Talent Chart of Mr. Gray.


25
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
The musically unknown and uneducated. When Jean
was picked out as having the best record found in her grade
in the survey of her town, it was discovered that she was
c c c c c c c c c C
E 5, 3 S 3 3 Sº 3 3: 3
Sense of Pitch.
Sense of Intensity
Sense of Time.
Sense of Consonance
Memory
Imagery
Brightness .
Singing .
Training
Fig. 6. — Talent Chart of Viola.
the daughter of very poor parents, had enjoyed no musical
advantages, and, indeed, had been irregular in much of her
school work on account of her poverty.
c c c c c c
T-
c c C c
CN CO ~H \O co D- CO CS
3
Sense of Pitch .
Sense of Intensity .
Sense of Time.
Sense of Consonance
Imagery
Memory
Brightness .
Singing .
Training
Fig. 7. — Talent Chart of Jean.
Brightness, training, and singing. According to the
teachers' estimate, Viola was rated as average in general
brightness (C), and Jean was rated as decidedly below aver-
age (D). The teachers also rated Viola's ability in singing


26
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
as very good (B) and Jean's as superior (A). The musical
training is expressed in terms of number of hours of private
lessons.
IV. THE VALUE OF A TALENT INVENTORY
Known and unknown talent. Consider the last two cases
and their meaning to parents and teachers. Viola, who
has already found herself in music, took deep satisfaction
in having this objective and impartial evidence of her Su-
perior promise for future achievement. Her parents were
encouraged to spare no effort in her musical education and
her teachers delighted to have this quantitative record of
the rare qualities of her musical mind. From every point
of view it was cheering and reassuring, although her ability
had already been demonstrated in achievement.
Jean, on the other hand, was clearly a discovery. While
the teachers reported, after she had been found, that she
had been singing unusually well in school, no one had paid
any attention to her as a musically talented girl. The re-
port went not only to her parents, but, through the super-
intendent, to a woman’s club which expressed its willingness
to guarantee that Jean should have the Opportunity of try-
ing herself in a musical education. Although not notably
bright, her organism is so decidedly musical that she is
likely to distinguish herself, if given the right opportunities.
It is no sacrifice for a music teacher to foster a charity pupil
of that caliber.
Value of the search for and identification of talent. When
surveys of this kind are made a part of the regular work
in music in the fifth grade of the public schools, as is recom-
mended, we shall have a sort of universal “dragnet ’’ for the
preliminary discovery of rare talent which would otherwise
27
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
be wasted. For the youth who contemplates a serious
musical career, a thorough inventory may be of untold
value in furnishing a quantitative indication of the probable
prospect of achievement in music.
Value to music pupils. The music teacher may or may
not be interested in making actual tests of talent a condi-
tion for admission to the conservatory, but, when once the
pupil has entered, there can be no debate as to the desir-
ability of a quantitative analysis and rating of talents
for the purpose of determining the type of musical education
for which the pupil is best fitted.
Value to teachers and patrons: diagnosis of difficulties.
These tests also serve a sort of clinical purpose in that
persons who have entered seriously upon a musical educa-
tion and have struck difficulties may have the situation
analyzed and diagnosed so that the exact nature of the diffi-
culty may be known, and the teacher may proceed with
knowledge, not only as to what the difficulty is but also as
to whether or not it can be remedied.
Development of a scientific attitude. Studies of this
kind must inevitably lead to the development of a scientific
concept of the musical mind and therefore to a science of
musical talent. They should lead to concrete and accurate
observation and terminology of the musical life. It is not
unreasonable to suppose that, as the result of an insight
into the nature of the musical mind, there should gradually
be built upon this a sound theory and art of musical edu-
cation.
The psychological attitude. The author has elsewhere
pointed out that, after all, psychology itself will be the
chief gainer. One cannot observe under controlled condi-
1 “Psychology in Daily Life,” Appletons, N. Y., 1913. -
28
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE MUSICAL MIND
tions in a field so rich and unworked without gathering new
facts, correcting errors, broadening views, and deepening
insight into the nature of the mental processes in music.
In giving and taking advice of this sort we must not
forget the enormous resourcefulness of the human will,
and the possession of latent powers. A one-legged man
may become a rope dancer, a blind man a guide, a man with
wretched voice an orator. Furthermore, art is possible
only where there is willingness to overlook faults. A singer
may be permanently lacking in some fundamental capacity
and yet have such merits in other respects, or have such
exceptional ability in covering faults, that he may be suc-
cessful in spite of an Overt handicap. But even then psy-
chology has warned and explained.
29
*
CHAPTER II
THE SENSE OF PITCH
I. INTRODUCTION
Nature of pitch. Pitch is the essential medium of musical
appreciation and expression. The experience of tone is
the experience of pitch. This experience of pitch may come
to us in varying force, duration, purity, complexity, com-
bination, and meaning; it may break forth in endless vari-
eties of memory, imagination, thought, feeling, and action;
but all these have reference to the basic experience of tone—
pitch. As color is to the color artist, so is pitch to the musi-
cian; it is his medium of expression. Be it ideas or ideals,
moods or passions, technique or sentiment; be it real sounds
or imaginary; be it appreciation, execution, or composi-
tion ; the essence, content, or plastic medium of music is
pitch.
Limits of this chapter. Pitch is involved, directly or
indirectly, in each and all the talents enumerated in the
preceding chapter. The present chapter will be limited to
a study of the hearing of pitch, as such. From the point
of view of the psychology of the musician, as distinguished
from the psychology of music, this becomes a study of the
sense of pitch.
The present chapter will be comparatively long, not only
on account of the relative magnitude of the Subject, but
30
THE SENSE OF PITCH
also because it will be convenient to discuss in detail
methods of procedure and facts of general significance which
are equally germane to the subjects in following chapters,
but which may be stated once for all in this first context.
Principal topics. To study the nature of this capacity,
its variability, and musical significance, it will be necessary
for us to consider briefly the physical and physiological
basis of tonal hearing and then to examine in detail its
chief psychological aspects, such as tonal limits, methods
of measuring pitch discrimination, individual differences,
variation with age, sex, training, and intelligence, heredity,
defects, place in music, and norms for vocational and avoca-
tional guidance.
II. THE PHYSICAL BASIS OF PITCH
Vibration frequencies. Pitch depends upon the frequency
of vibration in the sounding body and is designated with
accuracy in terms of the number of vibrations per second.
Thus, aſ, international pitch, is 435 double vibrations per
Second. There has been much confusion in terminology
from the fact that the French have used the term “vibration’’
to designate a phase of a vibration, whereas the more gen-
eral practice, which is that followed here, is to make it
represent a double vibration – that is, the complete oscil-
lation of the sounding body both to and fro. This is usually
abbreviated d. v.
The tuning fork. The physical basis of pitch may be
illustrated with a tuning fork, which is the most accurate
means we have for the production of a tone. A good tuning
fork, under favorable conditions of temperature and ener-
gizing, has an accuracy that is fine enough for all purposes
of pitch investigation and will hold its pitch indefinitely.
31
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
The graphic record. For many purposes it is convenient
to use a graphic tracing of the vibration. By drawing a
vibrating fork with a fine point attached to one prong over
-
º
º
- s
º
º
º º
º: sº
º
º - º º - -
-
- - - - - -
- - -
- - -
- -
--
Fig. 1. – How to Make a Graphic Record of the Vibration of a Tuning Fork.
A glazed paper coated with candle smoke revolves at a uniform speed on the
phonograph. The electrically driven fork is mounted on an endless screw, which
may be turned by the crank wheel at the corner so as to spread the record over the
disk. This fork is 100 d. v.
a sensitive surface we can secure a wave-tracing in which it
is possible to measure the form, the amplitude, and the num-
ber of waves per second, or rate. In making such a graphic
32





THE SENSE OF PITCH
record it is customary to drive the fork electromagnetically
and to make the tracing on a moving Smoked paper. Figure 1
shows such a tracing on a smoked paper revolving on the
phonograph table. We may here count the number of
waves per second, either roughly by timing the machine to
exactly one revolution per second and counting the number
of waves per revolution; or, more exactly, by passing an
electric spark through the tracing point so as to make dots in
the wavy line exactly one second apart. To get a correct
idea of the sound wave from this fork, we should think of a
prong of the fork as a pendulum suspended before the ear
and causing air vibrations in the Outer ear by its swinging
to and fro.
All tones may be recorded. All tones can be studied
objectively by recording, through various means, the rate,
the amplitude, and the form of the physical vibration, but
it is not necessary to discuss here the methods employed in
the recording, measuring, objectifying, and magnifying of
the vibration from string, reed, pipe, vacuum, membrane,
voice, or other means."
We hear pitch, not vibration. While all music is objec-
tively due to physical sound waves, we must bear in mind
that we can never be directly aware of the rate of vibration —-
as such, for we hear it as musical pitch. This is one of the
wondrous transformations “from matter to mind.” Out
of mere vibration is built a world of musical tones which
do not in themselves suggest vibration at all. Yet the
human ear may be So keen as to detect in nature a difference –
of one-fifth of a vibration in terms of pitch. It is fortunate
* Those who are interested in this aspect of the subject will find “The
Science of Musical Sounds,” by D. C. Miller, The Macmillan Co., a most
excellent recent treatise. -
33
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
that we can live in a world of music without thinking at
all of the physical counterpart; still for the science of music
and for the study of musical talent such reference is neces-
sary.
III. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF PITCH
Two groups of theories. No theory of the anatomy and
physiology of the pitch-differentiating mechanism in the
ear has been fully established. There have been until
recently two divergent types of pitch theories. One has
maintained that there is a mechanism in the ear which
differentiates pitch ; this is often spoken of as the harp the-
Ory. The other has denied the existence of such mechanism
and asserted that the differentiation ſtakes place in the
brain ; this is generally spoken of as the telephone theory.
The harp theory. The former of these two theories now
prevails. But there are many divergent theories as to the
location and the mechanism of such harp structure. Early
investigators maintained that the basilar membrane serves
this purpose ; but, in recent years, a tendency has developed
to ascribe this function to the tectorial membrane. In
both cases we find divergent opinions as to the actual method
of functioning in these harp structures. All the harp the-
orists are agreed that one of these structures (and some
maintain both) is capable of being tuned to as many pitches
as the human ear can hear; so that, when a particular vibra-
tion frequency is conveyed to it by the liquid of the inner
ear, a particular film or segment of it will vibrate because
tuned to that frequency, and other parts will remain quies-
cent. All theorists are also agreed upon the fact that the
end organ of hearing is the spiral layer of hair cells which is
so located that it will be physically stimulated either by
34
THE SENSE OF PITCH
the fibers of the basilar membrane acting through the rods
of Corti, or by the strands on the tectorial membrane, act-
ing by the leverage of the hairs projecting from the hair
cells. The mechanical shaking produces a chemical change
in the cell, which results in a nerve impulse that is trans-
mitted over a special nerve fiber from that cell to a par-
ticular part of the brain.
The essential assumption. The ear is a most wonderful
mechanism with its membranes, levers, and liquid conduc-
tors carrying the vibration to the harp structure, its means
of analysis of all pitches in that structure, and its means of
transmission of each pitch over its particular line to the
brain. We cannot here undertake to discuss the structure
of the ear, its physiology, and the numerous technical prob-
lems or theories of hearing. The reader who is interested
in this phase of the subject must turn to books on the anat-
omy and physiology of the ear. But for psychological
purposes it is necessary to make certain assumptions, of
which the essential one is that there is a pitch-differentiating
mechanism in the ear which is so organized that it is capable
of serving as a physical basis of the sensory phenomena
with which we deal in the psychology of hearing : namely,
pitch, intensity, timbre, volume, fusion, and consonance,
and their derivatives or variants. For pitch, the harp
theory furnishes at least a good analogy.
IV. THE LOWEST AUDIBLE TONE
Upper and lower limits of tone. Sound waves are merely
waves, not sounds; they may be of so low a frequency that
they do not produce sensations of tone, or of so high a fre-
quency that the ear does not respond. We must examine
these two limits of the ear in turn.
35

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
How to measure the lower limit. To measure the lower
limit of tonality we employ an adjustable fork, Figure 2.
The disks are made of hard rubber or of asbestos board 100
mm. in diameter and 7 mm. thick. The quality of the
material and the thickness of the disk insure real smooth-
ness and regularity of the waves. This size and shape have
been found by experiment to produce the most favorable
form and volume of the wave. The large size of the fork
makes possible a large amplitude of vibration which is
necessary at the lowest limit. To vary the pitch, we may
vary the position of the disk which acts as a weight, or we
may use a series of forks per-
manently tuned. The latter
method is preferable.
© Variables. The lowest audi-
ble tone (the slowest vibration
Fig. 2. — A Lower Limit Tuning frequency that will produce 8.
Fork. tone) varies with the intensity,
*** * * Pitch from ten the duration, and the timbre of
to thirty vibrations. y
the tone. In terms of a sound-
ing instrument, such as the tuning fork, the principal
conditions are essentially the amplitude, or extent of oscil-
lation of the disk, the size and shape of the disk, its
proximity to the ear and its position before it, the length
of time it vibrates there, and the form of the vibration.
In making measurements we aim to select the most favor-
able conditions and to control these by keeping them
constant. Thus, a standard procedure would maintain
the standard fork vibrating for five seconds with an ampli-
tude of 10 mm., the center of the disk being as close to the
opening of the ear as is possible without touching the lapel of
the ear.
36 -
THE SENSE OF PITCH
Character of lowest audible tone. Under these condi-
tions the normal ear in good condition can hear a tone of
14 d. v., and in rare cases as low as 11 or 12 d. v. This
tone seems very massive and distant and is Ordinarily ac-
companied by overtones which one must learn to eliminate in .
listening. Below this limit one hears individual puffs which
refuse to blend into a tone. Just above this limit one still
hears these puffs. And at the same time one hears the tone
quite as if the two experiences came from different sources.
Some laws. It has been shown by experiment that
this limit varies inversely with the area of the vibrating sur-
face ; that is, if smaller disks were used the tone would have
to be higher in order to be heard : the necessary amplitude)
of vibration varies inversely with the area of the vibrating
surface. The limit varies inversely with the amplitude of
vibration ; that is, if the amplitude is less than 10 mm.
of the standard disk, the vibration must be more rapid to
produce a tone. The necessary distance varies directly
with the pitch ; it also varies directly with the area of the
vibrating surface. The lowest audible tone can be heard
but momentarily, usually not before
one or two seconds after the exposure
and then only for a second or two. cº
Dependence upon wave form. How
this limit may be varied by the alter- | | |
ing of one of these conditions may be Fig. -i. Significance
illustrated by the fact that the wave of Wave Form in Low Fre-
form produced by a spark, for ex- quencies.
ample, may not lead to tonal fusion at less than 100 d. v.
The reason for this is shown in Figure 3, in which A repre-

1 Thomas F. Vance, “The Lower Limit of Tonality,” Univ. of Iowa,
Stud. in Psychol., 1914, VI.
37
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Sents the wave from the tuning fork that can be heard at
14 d. v., and B the wave from the spark that does not
fuse completely into a toné even at 100 d. v. Musical tones
are usually of the first order. Indeed the slow rolling
wave form of the long pipes of the organ and other strong,
low vibrations are very favorable for fusion into tone. As a
matter of fact, in the large organ and the large horn, tones
as low as sixteen vibrations can be depended upon for musi-
cal effect. Tones below the limit of hearing, for example,
8 d. v., may be used for musical effect on account of their
enhancement of the tactual impression as well as for their
overtones and, possibly, difference tones, which may be
heard.
Effect of age. There is no experimental evidence to show
that the lower limit of tone hearing varies with age. The
experimental observation of these tones requires a certain
amount of information and development of understanding
and power of application which comes with age. But this
does not signify that the ignorant and immature do not
actually hear these tones and are not musically affected by
them precisely as in the practical use of language they are
guided and affected by fine distinctions without being
conscious of them as such. The individual differences in
the lower limit of tonality are traceable to lack of informa-
tion and of training in observation, and, in many cases, to
the lack of a musical mind rather than to any structural
condition in the ear. Many bright, normal persons cannot
make any intelligent observation of musical tones of any
pitch. There is no evidence to show that musicians as a
class have any marked superiority or ability in hearing low
tones on account of their training in music.
38
THE SENSE OF PITCH
V. THE HIGHEST AUDIBLE TONE
The Galton whistle. The Galton whistle, Figure 4, is
a piston pipe which Sir Francis Galton first devised for the
testing of the hearing of animals in the Zoëlogical gardens.
He attached the piston to his walking stick, pushed it into
the cage, and, by squeezing an air bulb, produced a tone
higher than he himself could detect, and then
observed whether or not the animal responded
to it. He learned that animals could hear
Not yet reliably measured. Measurement
of the upper limit of pitch is as yet very
unreliable. No one has succeeded in deter-
mining under ordinary conditions the maxi-
mum efficiency in form, volume, amplitude, Fº wº al-
and duration of vibration for the highest
audible tones; and we know now that the upper limit
varies with each altered conditions within wide limits.
Intensity seems to be the chief variant ; the louder the
tone, the higher it can be heard. As in the lower limit,
the form plays a rôle, but we do not know in what direc-
tion. It is probable that the highest tone, like the lowest,
can be heard only momentarily. Various types of instru-
ments have been tried, such as the tuning fork, the
tuned cylinder, and the reed, but none of these is entirely
Satisfactory. The Galton whistle, though not the most
reliable, is still the most common instrument used. It
will be necessary to employ some other means of sound
production, probably the speaking arc, the induction wave
from a high-frequency oscillator, or some similar form of
loud- and high-tone producing instrument, in which the

39
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
factors can be varied and controlled to meet the situation.
Experiments on these principles are now in progress. Al-
though there is wide disagreement, it may be safe to esti-
‘mate from the data available that the very good human
ear can hear a tone as high as thirty or forty thousand
vibrations, or more, when young; but in support of this we
have as yet no reliable measurement. The latest experi-
ments reported place the limit at twenty-four thousand
vibrations, but they are probably not reliable.
Decline with age. It is certain that this upper limit
varies greatly with age and with individuals of the same
age. Roughly, it may be said that, if the upper limit is
30,000 d. v. for a person of sixteen, it is quite probable that
it will be reduced to 15,000 d. v. by the age of sixty. This
decrease with age seems to be quite independent of training
and of the use of the ear. It is undoubtedly in accord with
the biological law that the most delicate structures are the
first to suffer decline with increasing callousness from age.
This law of decline applies also to other weakening forces
than age, such as disease, or injury, and therefore accounts
in large part also for the great differences we find among
different persons of the same age.
Quite independent of musical training. This upper
limit probably does not depend upon musical training to
any great extent. It is a direct function of the structure
of the inner ear, depending upon the condition of the part
corresponding to the short strings on the harp, which are
the first to harden or get injured because they are the most
delicate.
Some personal experiences. The author has had a very
interesting personal experience with this in teaching. In
his earlier years he could usually hear as high a tone as any
40
THE SENSE OF PITCH
of the students in the room when demonstrating with the
Galton whistle before a class; but now he has reached the
humiliating stage of hearing nothing while perhaps four-
fifths of the class hold hands raised to signify that the tone
is heard, this notwithstanding the fact that he has the
advantage of sounding the tone near to his ear. The same
situation arose in a rather embarrassing episode when one
of the greatest singers in the country was being tested in
the laboratory with her young daughter. The daughter
was responding to higher and higher tones, and the mother
not hearing anything was astonished and could hardly be
made to believe that her comparatively untrained daughter's
ear should hear so many high notes which she, the great
singer herself, could not hear. A distinguished organist
was present at the demonstration of the highest audible
tone by means of the speaking arc, and was baffled by the
fact that the majority of the audience gave evidence of
hearing clearly the high tones which were being demon-
strated while he with his superior musical ear could hear
none. He was sixty-five years old. Here was a crucial
test of what may actually happen and does happen in lis-
tening to music. That the highest pitch level is ordinarily
the first to be injured in cases of ear troubles is shown in
our diagnosis of hearing defects in the otological clinic.
Musical significance of this change. Musically, the
significance of the variation in the upper limit is of far-
reaching consequence. Few instruments employ these
high notes in themselves, but, as we shall see later, the
character of musical tones is determined by the presence of
overtones and the number of overtones one can hear varies
with the upper limit of tonal hearing; that is, the lower the
upper limit, the more high overtones are eliminated by this
41
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
limitation. For this reason, rich tones, such as those of
the human voice or of the violin, produce a different clang
for young and old according as one can hear the high com-
ponents and the other cannot. The fact that we fail to
hear very high tones in old age or in the decline of the upper
limit from other causes, is, therefore, quite insignificant
in comparison with the fact that under this condition all
tones Sound different from what they would if the high
Overtones were perceptible.
VI. THE MEASUREMENT OF PITCH DISCRIMINATION
Pitch discrimination. The capacity for the hearing of
differences in pitch is called pitch discrimination. This is
a fundamental capacity in musical talent, and upon it rest
most of the powers of appreciation and expression in music.
One must hear pitch differences in order to appreciate
tones. One must be guided by such hearing in playing and
singing. The imagining, the remembering, the thinking
about, and the arousal of feeling for tones are all limited
by the capacity for hearing differences of pitch. Knowl-
edge about pitch discrimination is, therefore, one of the
most basic facts in the psychology of music, certainly the
most important factor in the hearing of pitch. Ordinarily,
this is what we have in mind when we speak of “tonal
hearing.”
The pitch-discrimination forks. The sense of pitch, in
terms of pitch discrimination, can be measured by means
of a series of tuning forks like that in Figure 5, used with
the resonators. These forks are of a high grade of work-
manship and are tuned in a differential series in which the
standard is a', 435 d. v., which is known as the standard
in international pitch, and the ten increment forks vary
42
THE SENSE OF PITCH
from this and are higher in pitch by the following steps:
#, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 17, 23, and 30 d. v., respectively. For
very precise work a special set of forks with increments of
.2, 4, .6, and .8 d. v., respectively, is used. It is well to
remember that at this level, aſ, 435 d. v., one vibration is Tº
equivalent to one fifty-fourth of a tone. The measurement -
may, therefore, be thought of as stated in fifty-fourths of
a tone.
||| |\\
Fig. 5. — A Set of Pitch-Discrimination Tuning Forks with Resonators.
Procedure. The standard fork and one increment fork
are sounded in quick succession in front of a resonator,
the order in which they are to be taken being determined
by chance. It is best to use two resonators, one for 12 d. v.
and the other for 17–30 d. v. The problem of the listener is
to tell whether the second tone was higher or lower than the
first. Thus, the problem is reduced to its simplest form;
the listener simply has to record H or L according as he
43


THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
thinks the second is higher or lower than the first ; and, if
he does not know, he is required to guess, because all the
methods now employed in measurements of this kind take
into account the operation of the laws of chance.
The technique of procedure in the measurement is de-
scribed fully by the author elsewhere." Those who propose
to use this test should consult the former of these reports,
which is a report of a committee from the American Psycho-
logical Association on the standardizing of ment ~!
The group method. There are various m
cedure depending upon the facilities for exper
purpose to be served. The following method .
testing of groups of individuals, for example, a -
a schoolroom, or even a whole assembly ro chool
children en masse.
The trials are made, one for each increment in the Order
of magnitude from the largest, 30 d. v., to the Smallest,
, d. v. This series is repeated at least twenty times, yield-
ing two hundred trials in all. The record is then checked
by a key showing what the answer should be for each trial.
The number of mistakes is counted and this is subtracted
from the total number of trials to obtain the number of
right answers. The number of right answers reduced to
a percentage gives the “per cent right.”
Norms. This original record in itself would have but
little meaning, but we may interpret it in several Ways to
give it meaning and objective reference, particularly,in terms
of percentile rank, vibration difference, fraction of a whole
tone, and frequency of distribution. An example of norms
1 “The Measurement of Pitch Discrimination,” The Psychol. Mono-
graphs, 1910, No. 53, Princeton, N. J.; also “The Measurement of
Musical Talent,” The Musical Quarterly, 1915, I.
44
THE SENSE OF PITCH
for each of these interpretations is given in Table I, which
is based on the records of 1265 university students in or
above the sophomore class.
TABLE I. NoFMs of THE SENSE of PITCH For ADULTs
PER CENT RIGHT | PER CENT RIGHT VIBRATION PART OF TONE PER CENT
For Ks DISKS DIFFERENCE DIFFERENCE RANK
100 94 0.25 .005 100
95 - 90 1 .02 97
90 86 2 .04 80
85 81 3 .05 52
80 77 5 .10 32
75 71 8 .15 18
70 66 - || ". 12 .22 10
65 62 18 .33 6
60 - 57 25 .46 3
55 | 53 . 34 .63 1
Table I. Table I gives a comparison of certain items of
per cent right, least perceptible difference, and rank. For
example, if a man has 100 per cent right in the record with
pure tones, or 94 per cent with rich tones, he is capable of
hearing a difference of one-fourth of a vibration, or .005
of a tone at a' under most favorable conditions with these
tones in 75 per cent of all trials, and his rank is 100. Each
of the remaining lines of the table may be read in the same
way. By reference to this table one can tell at a glance
what a given per cent right in a record means in terms of
vibration difference or difference in part of a tone as expressed
in columns 3 and 4 respectively. Detailed tables for con-
verting per cent right into rank are furnished with the
instructions accompanying the phonograph disks.
Comparison of pure tones and rich tones. The first
two columns show that with a given block of differences
45
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
it is possible to get a higher per cent of right answers when
the tones are produced with tuning forks before a resonator,
than when produced by the phonograph; that is to say,
the phonograph test is more difficult than the tuning fork
test. This may be due to several factors which have not
yet been analyzed. Of these the difference between the
pure tone and the rich tone is probably primary, but further
experiment will undoubtedly reveal other factors. This
difference does not, however, invalidate either test material
So long as we use separate norms for the two kinds of tones.
In other words, a person will get the same rank whether
measured with pure tones or rich tones, provided the appro-
priate norm is used.
Percentile rank. Since, by the method employed, one-
half of the answers will be right by chance, our per cent
right may occur from 50 to 100, as listed in the first column
of the table. The percentile rank, as given in the last
column, is found by arranging all the records in the order
of excellence from the best to the poorest and dividing these
into one hundred groups, as described in Chapter I. This
percentile rank becomes the record for general use in report-
ing measurements and is very valuable because it enables
us to interpret our own achievement in comparison with
those of others of our own kind. The record is expressed
objectively as “the least perceptible difference,” “thresh-
old,” or “increment ’’ in terms of vibrations in the third
column, and in terms of fraction of a tone in the fourth
column.
Standard of certainty. In determining the least percep-
tible difference it is conventional in psychology to use
the unit at which we can make 75 per cent of Our
answers right as a standard; that is, we assume that We
46
THE SENSE OF PITCH
perceive, the difference when we are able to give a correct
report in 75 per cent of the trials. Thus, when we
say in Table I that the threshold for 90 per cent right
is 1.0 d. v., or .02 of a tone, this means that we can perceive
the stated difference in approximately 75 per cent of our
trials with the disks.
Table I and Figure 6. The data of Table I are represented
graphically in Figure 6, in which, for the sake of clearness,
Only every fifth step is given. Such picture conveys at
40
Sº..., | | ........“f************-----......
* * * * • . . . . . . . . . . . . ***
*
S N" * - - - ** = -
75 70 65 60 55 50
Fig. 6. — Distribution of Capacities in the Sense of Pitch.
Based on the phonograph record Number A7536.
Solid line, adults; dashes, eighth grade children; dots, fifth grade children. The
numbers at the bottom denote per cent right; the numbers at the left the per cent
of cases for each level.
a glance the relative distribution of capacities and the
relative difference in the magnitude of these capacities for
different age levels. Table I with Figures 6 and 7 are here
given as typical forms for the representation of norms in
all our talent tests.
Figure 7. It is convenient to represent the conversion
of records in terms of an ogive as in Figure 7, in which the
conversion from per cent right to percentile rank is given
in a single picture for three norms. In this figure we may

47
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
obtain the equivalent percentile rank in any of the norms
for any per cent right by running the eye vertically from
the given per cent right indicated at the bottom to the norm
desired and thence horizontally to the scale in the left mar-
100
95
90
85
80
75
*70
35
&O
55
50
45
40
35
30
la
10
5
O
1OO 95 90 85 80 75 76 65 60 55 50
Fig. 7. — Norms for the Converting of Per Cent Right into Rank. |
The middle norm represents eighth grade children; the one above, fifth grade
children; the one below, adults.
gin which indicates the percentile rank. Thus, a ten-year-
old child in the fifth grade, who has 80 per cent right, gets
a percentile rank of 86, whereas an adult with the same rec-
ord would rank 46.

48
THE SENSE OF PITCH
Norms for other ages estimated as proportional. Chil-
dren of the sixth and seventh grades may be assigned pro-
portional rank between the fifth and eighth grades. Like-
wise high school students may be assigned proportional rank
between the eighth grade and the adults; for example, in
pitch 75 per cent right for the sixth grade would be a rank
of 63; for the seventh grade 54 ; for high School freshmen
about 39; and sophomores 33. High School juniors and
seniors may rank as adults.
The advantage of such norms. The advantage of such
norms is clear : whenever and wherever we measure any
person under the conditions which the norm represents,
we can tell instantly what his rank is in a community of
his kind and what the rank means in terms of vibration
difference, tone difference, or commonness of occurrence.
“Smoothing.” In the above table and graphs, the figures
and curves have been “smoothed ” in the conventional
manner in order to correct for irregularities which occur in
a finite number of cases.
The individual method. If we are examining a single
individual, the test may be made more intensive and exact.
In that case we first skirmish about to find for what differ-
ence the observer is likely to get about 75 per cent right.
We then take a large number of trials at that step and use
conversion tables ' by which we may convert the record on
that step into a step which will yield 75 per cent right ;
for example, 69 per cent right for 1.0 d. v. means that, to get
75 per cent right, the difference must be 1.3 d. v. This is
the principle on which the data in columns three and four
were obtained. The record in terms of vibrations is abso-
1 E. B. Titchener, “Experimental Psychology,” Qualitative, Instructor’s
Manual, p. 288, The Macmillan Company.
49
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
lute; that in terms of a fraction of a tone is relative. Thus,
1 d. V. at a' is ºr of a tone; at a” it is rās of a tone; at a”
it is sha of a tone.
This procedure typical. This measurement of pitch
discrimination may be regarded as typical of what we do or
aim to do in the scientific study of talent by the experimental
methods in the psychology of music and musical guidance.
The measurement is quantitative. It is accurate enough
for all practical purposes, and it can be repeated, described,
and controlled, and the degree of its reliability can be stated
quantitatively. The result can be shown in a simple pic-
ture. Comparison can be made for the same individual
under different circumstances, and with different individuals
under the same circumstances. The record may then be
used as a basis for practical guidance. It will, therefore,
be of interest to treat it in some detail as an example of
what may be done in each of the other measurements which
follow. The fullness of this discussion will enable us in
later sections to pass with a mere mention the things which
other tests have in common with this one.
VII. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Magnitude of differences. With this technical compre-
hension, we are now in a position to understand the interest-
ing and realistic story of the distribution which Figures
6 and 7 tell so graphically. “Ears ” may vary from the
extremely good to the extremely poor. One person may
hear a difference of + d. v., less than 1/200 of a tone, whereas
another may not be able to hear any smaller difference than a
half tone, or even more ; counting # d. v. as the best and 50
d. v. as the poorest case observed, it appears that one may be
at least two hundred times as keen as another in this capacity.
50
THE SENSE OF PITCH
This magnitude of differences becomes more striking
as we compare it with physical differences such as differences
in height, weight, form, strength, and color. If one man is
twice as tall as another that is regarded as a remarkable
difference. By the very magnitude, these differences in
pitch discrimination must play an important rôle.
Comparison of group and individual records. The dis-
tribution in Figure 6 is based on group measurements under
favorable conditions in a single one-hour test of a class.
Such group tests are used as “dragnets '' for preliminary
and rough work. One cannot expect, of course, to get
so fine or so reliable a test in a class as in an individual test.
The norm for individual tests is, therefore, somewhat
lower than that here given, but the general form of the dis-
tribution of cases is the same.
VIII. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL VERSUS THE COGNITIVE LIMIT
Nature of the physiological limit. The bed-rock limit
of a natural capacity of this kind we call the physiological
limit. We always aim to reach this physiological limit;
but it is not always possible to attain it, and we must con-
tent ourselves with the cognitive limit, which means an
inferior record due to some difficulties or disturbances, such
as distraction, ignorance, and lack of power of application.
We designate the limit as cognitive, because these difficulties
are essentially of a cognitive nature — difficulties in know-
ing rather than lack of capacity. Since the physiological
limit is one which cannot be reached in all trials, even under
favorable circumstances, we usually content ourselves with
a “proximate physiological limit ’’ which means that it is
near enough to be of service.
Reaching the physiological limit. A successful experi-
51
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
menter can reach the proximate physiological threshold in
this measurement within a half-hour's trial in about three-
fourths of all cases. In the remaining one-fourth, he must
either suspend judgment or proceed with special methods
to eradicate the difficulty, which can be done with all per-
sons reasonably well developed mentally, although the
process often requires great patience and ingenuity. As a
rule, those who have keen ears for pitch discrimination re-
veal the physiological limit at once, regardless of age, train-
ing, or general brightness.
Limit not a sharp line. The conventional threshold
here used is based on a record of 75 per cent right when the
observer is allowed to guess if in doubt. This means that
in some cases the answer was right by chance, and in other
cases he could possibly have heard smaller differences on
account of the fluctuation of attention to liminal sounds.
Fifty per cent right would mean “no ability to hear the
difference.” We must not, therefore, think of threshold as
a sharp or invariable limit. It is a scientific convention
to denote a defined degree of certainty.
IX. RELATION TO AGE
The physiological limit does not improve with age. The
physiological limit of pitch discrimination does not vary
with age. This is a far-reaching statement, but it bears
out the popular adage that if a person is to have a fine ear
he must be born with it. Indeed, as we have seen for
upper limits, it is probable that the neural apparatus for
pitch discrimination actually declines with age on account
of the growing callousness of tissue, but of this we have no
experimental proof within the middle tonal range.
Comparison with vision. This fact of absence of improve-
52
THE SENSE OF PITCH
ment with age is quite analogous to the situation with keen-
ness of vision. The child at five can see as far and as keenly
as his father can, provided the test is not one of information.
The child can tell as well as the father can, for example,
whether the object in the distant road is one horse or two
horses; that is, his eye is likely to be as keen as the father's
or keener in a fair test of keenness of vision. But if, as the
horse approaches, one ask him to see if it is a roadster, of
what breed, of what gait, of what defects, – any one of
scores of points which the father who is an expert judge of
horses can see, – the child would bear no comparison.
He has not yet secured the information or developed skill
in the recognition of fine distinction; yet one may rightly
say that the child has as good vision, or “eye,” as he will
ever have. With this eye his intellect may learn to do won-
ders. Eyes differ; even in childhood they may vary from
the perfect to the blind. The degree of vision determines
to a large extent the character of intellectual acumen.
What this means. Exactly so it is with hearing. There
are differences in the quality of the psycho-physic ear for
pitch. So far as ear is concerned, the child at five can
probably hear as well as he ever will, and one important
element in hearing is pitch. If we test pitch hearing with-
out testing range of information or special skill, we find that
the child can hear pitch as well as the adult. But if we test,
or inquire about, pitch complexes, he cannot compare with
the educated adult. A child can tell as well as an adult
which of two tones is the higher if he understands what is
meant by higher; but ask about the pitch of overtones,
and the young child would be comparatively helpless.
Nature of training. In other words, there are countless
things to learn through the Sense of pitch; there are count-
y
53
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
less possibilities for the acquisition of skill in the art of an-
alyzing pitch complexes and in the ability to use the ear in
tone production. The possession of a fine ear in early child-
hood offers no excuse for omitting ear training; but we
should perhaps call it mind training, if there is any danger
of thinking that we are improving the ear. At best, the
~ear is like a violin ; it is good for it to be in artistic use, but
the range of improvement must be small. What the violin
shall do depends upon the master stroke ; so what the ear
shall do depends upon the musical “soul.”
Cognitive limits. There are, indeed, marked variations
in age among children as to the ability to give evidence of
this capacity. The old records of pitch discrimination made
it appear that this capacity improves with age. But those
records dealt with the cognitive limit ; the variation was due
largely to inadequacy of measurement and lack of skill on
the part of the experimenter. With a child who has a musi-
cal ear one may obtain a reliable measurement as early as
the age of five, and even earlier. Mental dullness and pos-
session of a relatively poor ear requires more maturity for
the reliability of the measurement. At least 90 per cent
of all children can be measured satisfactorily by individual
| tests at the age of eight.
Ingenuity in testing young children. In testing young
children one must show ingenuity in adapting the test to
the child's knowledge or skill. We often, for example, find
that it is difficult to make him understand what is meant by
high or low. We may then resort to the device of asking
him to sing the tone he hears. He will, as a rule, exaggerate
the differences, which makes it easy to hear whether he is
trying to sing high or low.
School grade rather than age. The grade in the public
54
THE SENSE OF PITCH
school rather than age is used in our norms, because the
reason for variation with age lies not in chronological age,
but rather in school age, or stage of advancement, which
is perhaps fairly represented by school progress. The
average age for the fifth grade in our records is 10.1
years, the youngest being 7 and the oldest 17. For the
eighth grade it is 14.2 years, the youngest being 10 and
the oldest 20. *-
Summary. The differences we find for age in the above
records, Figures 6 and 7, are accounted for by the handicap
the younger child has in responding to the conditions of the
tests in a group. When we test children individually and
are in a position to simplify the conditions, we obtain practi-
cally the same norm for children as for adults. That is,
they distribute like adults, provided they are old enough
to understand the test and sufficiently developed to apply
themselves to the task.
“Reduced to its lowest terms, the question of variation
with age may be interpreted to mean that we have no evi-
dence of improvement in physiological limit of pitch dis-
crimination with age ; a young child of school age and even
younger, can hear pitch fully as keenly as an adult. The
amount in favor of the adult shown in all group statistics
is amply accounted for by the difficulty in making a reliable
test on the young and by their lack of information. This
statement is based primarily on two lines of evidence, —
the common occurrence of fine, irreducible records among
young children, and the character of the conditions which
are Ordinarily overcome by instruction and training.”"
* F. O. Smith, “The Effect of Training in Pitch Discrimination,”
Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol., 1914, VI.
55
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
X. RELATION TO SEx
Boys and girls about equal. Pitch discrimination does
not vary with sex. The following quotation summarizes
the result of our investigation on this point. “Pitch dis-
crimination does not vary with sex to any significant extent.
In the records here reported and in many hundreds of other
records in this laboratory, in which comparisons may be
made for sex, certain tendencies are shown in groups of
records, sometimes in favor of one and other times in favor
of the other sex; but, on the whole, it seems certain that
such differences, except so far as they are due to selection
in grouping, may be accounted for as due to the conditions
of the test rather than to the sex difference in the psycho-
physic capacity of pitch discrimination. Thus one of the
most consistent and striking differences reported above,
that of the superiority of elementary schoolgirls over elemen-
tary schoolboys, may probably be fully accounted for by the
prevailing trait of aloofness of the preadolescent boy toward
music. These boys often regard music as a sort of frill for
girls and, therefore, enter the test with less fervor than do
the girls. Such interpretation is supported in part by the
fact that in the high school and in the university, where the
girls have had far more advantage of training than the
boys, the records reveal no appreciable difference for sex.” "
XI. RELATION TO INTELLIGENCE 4;
Slight dependence upon intelligence. Pitch discrimina-
tion can in no sense be used as a test of intelligence, for the
physiological limit of pitch discrimination, the “ear, ” does
not vary with intelligence for normal individuals. The
1 Smith, op. cit.
56
THE SENSE OF PITCH
extremely dull person is, of course, more likely to give a cogni-
tive limit than the bright person in the first measurement,
but keen intelligence is by no means a guarantee of keen
tone discrimination. This agrees with the fact that some
of the most sensitive and responsive musicians find but
little interest in intellectual pursuits; and that some great
intellects are notoriously devoid of a “musical ear.” Pitch
discrimination is not a matter of logical judgment. It is
rather an immediate impression, far more primitive than
reflective thought, and dependent upon the presence or
absence in various degrees of the sensitive mechanism in
the inner ear.
Evidence in school children. This statement is based
upon evidence from various angles in many thousand cases
of examinations. One illustration may be given. In
surveys of children in the public schools the teachers best
acquainted with the children were asked to confer and to
grade the children in brightness, which was defined as “the
average natural ability to do school work when favorably
disposed and under favorable conditions.” That is, the
grade was not to be based upon School records but upon
estimate of ability to do the work “if he had a mind to,”
that is, tried. The grading was done on the following
scale :
A, the best 10 per cent.
E, the poorest 10 per cent.
B, the 20 per cent just below the best 10 per cent.
D, the 20 per cent just above the poorest 10 per cent.
C, the remaining 40 per cent.
Table II. The records on pitch discrimination were then
arranged on the same scale and the two were combined into
a quintile table, as in Table II. This table shows to what
57
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
- extent brightness is related to pitch discrimination. The
Small figures in italics show what the distribution would
have been in the long run if there were no relationship be-
tween the two factors. The black-faced figures show what
the distribution would have been if there were complete
correlation between brightness and keenness in pitch. A
comparison of the actual figures shows that there is a slight
TABLE II. CORRELATION OF THE SENSE OF PITCH AND BRIGHTNESS
Pitch
% RANK A B C D E
100–93 94–79 78—55 54–13 12–1
r (10) 1 2 4 2 I
A 1.9 2.1 5.0 2.1 .2
2 (20) 8
% B 2.1 5.1 8.4 2.3 1.1
§ 4 (40) 16
s, C 4.2 8.7 14.4 7.1 2.4
§ 2 8 (20)
D 1.4 3.0 7.6 5.3 3.3
1 4 (10)
| E .2 1.1 4.4 3.2 2.8

The black-faced figures show what the distribution should be if pitch
discrimination were exactly proportional to “brightness.”
Italics show what the discrimination should be if there were no agreement
between these two factors.
tendency toward relationship. This may, however, be
accounted for by the fact that, in a group of this sort, Some
children are so backward mentally that they are not able
to do credit to their actual psycho-physic capacity. We
have also to take into account the fact that, if a child is
bright in music alone, this consideration would tend to
improve his rating on general intelligence.
58
THE SENSE OF PITCH
XII. THE EFFECT OF TRAINING
The physiological limit does not improve with practice.
The sensitiveness of the ear to pitch differences cannot be ~ *
improved appreciably by practice. When a person shows
a cognitive threshold, practice ordinarily results in a clear-
ing up of the difficulties which are in the way of a true
measure of discrimination by information, observation,
and development of interest, isolation of the problem in
hand, and more consistent application to the task in hand.
This is, of course, not improvement in the psycho-physic
ear but merely a preliminary to a fair determination of the
psycho-physic limit. It follows that instruction in regard
to the nature of the test and individual help in adjustment
to the test are important for the lowering of the cognitive
limit and that mere practice for this purpose is a poor and
uncertain makeshift. It also follows that a “cognitive ’’
threshold is no measure at all but rather a confession that
the measurement has not yet been successfully made.
“Training in pitch discrimination is not like the acquisi-
tion of skill, as in learning to read or to hear overtones.
It is in the last analysis informational, and the improvement
is immediate in proportion to the effectiveness of the instruc-
tion or the ingenuity of the observer and the experimenter
in isolating the difficulty.” +
Evidence. The evidence for this position is cumulative
from different sources. If we take one hundred parents
and compare them with one hundred of their children from
eight to twelve years of age, the children will do fully as
well as their parents in pitch discrimination. We find that,
aside from the operation of selection, the musically unedu-
1 Smith, op.cit.
59
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
cated reveal as keen a pitch discrimination as the musically
educated. In so far as it has been possible to carry the
test over several years the records show that if an accurate
expert measurement of the pitch discrimination of a pupil
before entering upon musical education be made and
repeated annually, the record will not change materially
with training.
First proof. This surprising fact was first established
by Buffum," who classified twenty-eight eighth-grade
pupils in a preliminary fifteen-minute individual test for
each one and then proceeded to train them by requiring
forty minutes of the most specific and intensive prac-
tice under favorable conditions for twenty successive
days, recording the average achievement for each day.
The result was greatly surprising. Instead of showing
progressive improvement with practice, each child remained
as rated in the preliminary test, with only two exceptions,
and the average ability for the class was the same at the end
of the twenty days of this intensive practice as at the begin-
ning.
Summary of training. On the basis of such evidence in
experiment the author published, in 1910, the following sum-
mary :
“At this preliminary stage, the following general con-
clusions may be stated :
“ (1) When the proximate physiological threshold has
been reached, practice is of no avail. (2) So long as a
cognitive threshold prevails there is prospect of improve-
ment by practice to the extent that the cognitive is above
the physiological limit. (3) This improvement is usually
1 As reported by the author in “The Measurement of Pitch Discrimi-
nation,” Psychol. Monog., No. 53.
60
THE SENSE OF PITCH
very rapid, often immediate and can usually be traced to
the acquisition of knowledge, through experience or informa-
tion about what pitch is, as distinguished from other attri-
butes of tone. (4) In the majority of cases it is possible
for the ingenious experimenter to discover the proximate
physiological threshold to a fair degree of certainty in a well-
planned half-hour individual test, or in one heterogeneous
and One homogeneous group test of one hour each ; and,
for most of the cases in which this fails, the same tests
demonstrate positively that the threshold is only cognitive.
(5) The possibility of reaching the physiological limit in a
single test depends to but very slight extent upon whether
or not the person tested has had musical education ; it is
mainly a matter of expert skill and ingenuity on the part of
the experimenter. (6) Ordinarily musical education is
not effective as a means of improving pitch discrimination.”
Sense of pitch instinctive. This absence of improvement
with practice in ordinary musical education finds explana-
tion from two points of view. In the first place, hearing
of pitch is an instinctive capacity which comes into function
very early in infancy and develops quickly in the individual
On account of the biological function that it has served and
now serves. It is well known that basic powers which are
instinctive develop so quickly in the individual that this
has often been taken as evidence of their being inherited
as such.
Develops early in speech and other vocal expressions.
Furthermore, the sense of pitch develops in speech and, as
children ordinarily have more exercise in expression through
Speech than through music, the development of this mental
capacity takes place through speech rather than through
* “The Measurement of Ph, º Discrimination,” Psychol. Monog., No. 53.
61
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
music. Observe with what graceful musical inflection of
pitch the little child of five says, “Peek-a-boo,” “I see
you,” “Yes, father, please do.” All this wonderful con-
trol of pitch in the speaking voice is of course conditioned
upon the presence of capacity to hear pitch whether it is
ever thought of consciously as such or not.
Ordinarily before music is taught. On the other hand,
much of our musical instruction, both vocal and instru-
mental, does not furnish effective training and refinement
of pitch hearing, as we ordinarily deal with the large inter-
vals and, in the piano and similar instruments, with mechani-
cally fixed intervals. Training with voice or violin may be
more specific in pitch training than is training in speech;
but, at any rate, pitch discrimination is usually developed
to its full capacity before formal musical instruction is
begun. The training in agreeableness of speech may fur-
nish more refinement of the sense of pitch than instruction
in the piano does.
Bearing on training. What about the nature and need
of training then in the face of this scientific fact of the fixity
of pitch discrimination? Two things are certain : first,
knowledge of the actual, natural capacity of a child in this
respect should be taken into account in determining the
kind and extent of musical training the child should attempt ;
and, second, other things being equal, the better the ear,
the more profitable and the larger the range of possibility
in musical achievement, in So far as the appreciation of pitch
is concerned. The training is a training of the mind in the
power to use an instrument of fairly fixed capacity, that of
the pitch-differentiating mechanism of the inner ear.
Slight tendency to give musical education to those who
possess good sense of pitch. Another question arises in
62
THE SENSE OF PITCH
this connection: Are the children who, at the present time,
get formal training in music those who have a keen sense of
pitch? On this issue the evidence, which has been col-
lected from a great variety of sources, is surprisingly nega-
tive. Thus, a correlation of the sense of pitch and the
amount of training for the same five hundred and sixty-three
children as in Table II, by the same method as in that
table, gave a result as nearly negative as that for brightness,
in Table II. That is, the tendency to give the musical
education to those children who have a keen sense of pitch
is very slight. We are almost as likely to find the fine ear
among those who have had no training as among those
who have had training. Although absence of concrete
information is the main cause, this situation is undoubtedly
due in large part to the prevailing false theory among music
teachers in regard to what training can accomplish in this
respect.
We must not jump at the conclusion that this absence of
correlation is all wrong; for the sense of pitch is only one
of the many factors involved in musical talent, and selection
for training should be based upon knowledge of all the factors
as viewed in a composite whole. A large majority of normal
persons have a sufficiently good sense of pitch to justify
Some degree of musical education.
Superiority in sense of pitch related to superiority in
singing. But what is the result if we compare ability in
pitch discrimination with some spontaneous evidence of
musical interest and achievement? The teachers’ rating
of children in singing in school is a typical illustration. The
children referred to above were classified by the teachers as
to ability in singing, as for brightness, into the five grades:
A (10 per cent), B (20 per cent), C (40 per cent), D (20
63
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
per cent), and E (10 per cent).
there is a considerable agreement.
We should of course not look for complete agreement,
for pitch discrimination is only one of the very many condi-
tions of success in singing ; a person with a poor ear may have
a beautiful voice or other mark of good singing; and the
best ear may be associated with a helpless voice. Further-
more the ratings of the teachers are here, as elsewhere,
Open to certain sources of error.
Table III tells the story:
TABLE III. CORRELATION OF THE SENSE of PITCH witH TEACHERS’
ESTIMATE OF ABILITY IN SINGING
Pitch.
A B C D E
% RANK 100–93 93–79 79–55 55–13 13–1
º (10) 1 2 4 2 1
A 3.4 2.3 3.7 1.6 O
2 (20) 4 8 4 2
s, B 2.3 5.5 9.1 2.3 1.1
‘s. 4 (40) 16 4
.s C 2.8 77.5 16.1 6.2 2.8
CO Ø 8 (20) 2.
D 1.1 3.0 6.6 6.4 3.0
1 2 4 2 (10) 1
E .3 1.6 4.4 3.4 3.0


The black-faced figures show what the distribution should be if pitch
discrimination were exactly proportional to “singing.”
Italics show what the discrimination should be if there were no agreement
between these factors.
Significance for training. We may, therefore, sum up our
statement of the effect of training by saying that the physio-
logical limit for pitch is set early in infancy, and that the
mental capacity for using the sense to this limit develops
very early, chiefly through speech, but also through other
64
THE SENSE OF PITCH
forms of intonation in play and singing. As was found for
age, if the child is bright so that he can understand what is
meant by pitch at the age of, say, five to ten, before musical
education has been begun, he will be able to make as good
a record as he will after an extensive musical education and
arrival at maturity. But training in the use of the sense
of pitch offers unlimited avenues for aggression and mastery
of new situations which represent the accumulation of
information and the development of skills in the art of hear-
ing the intricacies of music as well as the exquisite pitch
complexes in nature.
XIII. CAPACITY ELEMENTAL
We call the test of a mental capacity elemental when it is
so simple and natural that the resulting record does not vary
with training, intelligence, or age after the child is intelli-
gent enough to observe. We are now in a position to see
that pitch discrimination is an elemental capacity in this
sense. This is of great practical significance in view of
the fact that it enables us to make this test early in child-
hood before musical education is obtained and, within
reasonable limits, on persons who differ greatly in the
degree of general information, intelligence, and training.
It must be remembered, however, that the test is elemental
only in so far as we deal with the proximate physiological
threshold. In this characteristic of being elemental it
differs radically from tests of the ability to hear overtones,
timbre, and other complexes of musical pitch.
XIV. BASIC NATURE OF THE TEST
This test is basic in the sense that many other aspects
of musical capacity rest upon the capacity here measured.
65
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
|
f
I
Thus, tonal memory, tonal imagery, the perception of timbre,
singing and playing in true pitch, and to a certain extent,
the perception of harmony, and the objective response in
pitch are qualified by any limitation that may be set in
pitch discrimination. The evidences for these facts are
the result of both theoretical analysis and cumulative .
experimental record. If the pitch discrimination is poor,
We can predict, at least, a corresponding inferiority in the
derived factors. On the other hand, excellence of pitch
discrimination does not necessarily insure excellence in
these factors, since it is only one element in them.
YV. NoFMS FOR WOCATIONAL GUIDANCE
Norms for interpretation. In all measurements of talent
we must first develop the technique and means of measure-
ment, and establish norms of fact such as the distribution
curves, Figures 6 and 7. But this is only halfway, for it
remains to establish norms for the interpretation of the sig-
nificance of these measures. This must necessarily proceed
empirically in so far as it involves very complex problems
which it will take many years of experience and technical
skill to evaluate. In so far as this particular capacity is
concerned, it is perhaps fairly safe to apply the following
principles which the author proposed in 1901," and does
not see any reason to modify in the light of extensive experi-
ments since that time. They are as follows (assuming that
the test is reliable and represents the proximate physiologi-
cal threshold):
Below 3 d. v. : May become a musician.
3–8 d. v. : Should have a plain musical education.
1 “Suggestions for Tests on School Children,” Educ. Rev., 1901, XXII.
66
THE SENSE OF PITCH
9–17 d. v. : Should have a plain education in music Only
if special inclination for some kind of music is shown.
18 d. v. and above : Should have nothing to do with music.
More than pitch in music. It will be observed here that
the first group, those who may become musicians, includes
more than half of all normal persons. That is, a person
may gain the highest proficiency in some kind of music
without ranking very high in pitch discrimination. But
achievement in certain kinds of music depends upon the
degree of excellence of the ear. Thus, the violin demands
a far finer ear than a horn, and a horn a finer ear than a
piano. It is very interesting to study objectively the
practical turn of activity on the part of successful musicians
with reference to this limit of pitch hearing.
An inferior ear for pitch may serve well for music in which
rhythm is the dominating feature. One need not neces-
sarily have a fine ear to appreciate melody and harmony
as rendered by others or by keyed instruments. A certain
well-known singer has a pitch discrimination of 6 d. v.,
which is very poor for a musician, but she sings “ songs ’’
in which her exquisite tone quality, graceful rhythm, and
beautiful figure and expression of face cover the defect,
and one feels that she is taking liberties with pitch for in-
tentional effect. She glides in graceful flights of pitch
without sustaining any fixed level in particular.
A more general standard. A more flexible way of stat-
ing rules for guidance would be to say that, other things
being equal, and due allowance having been made for this
record in relation to all other records of musical capacity,
the advice should be as follows:
Best 10 per cent : stimulate enthusiastically.
Next 20 per cent : encourage freely.
67
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
|
Next 40 per cent : encourage. -
Next 20 per cent: question.
Next 10 per cent : discourage.
Further discussion of the matter must be reserved until
We come to consider guidance in general, remembering that
One should never guide on the information of a single factor
by itself but must always take the whole into account.
XVI. HEREDITY
Inheritance of sense of pitch not proved. As was pointed
out in the general discussion of inheritance of musical talent,
the massive literature on that subject is very crude in the
light of the new possibilities of scientific isolation and meas-
urement of specific factors. If asked whether the specific
| capacity of pitch discrimination as a factor in musical talent
is inherited, we can answer in general on the basis of the
old literature that it is. But the only experimental evidence
available on the inheritance of the sense of pitch is nega-
tive. Smith measured accurately the pitch discrimination
of 1980 school children and worked out the correlations for
this capacity (1) between brothers and sisters, and (2) be-
tween members of the same family and members of different
families. To quote his conclusions: “ The coefficient of
correlation between brothers and sisters on the basis of
| pitch discrimination is not higher than between other
children.” I
This finding, which, so far as the writer knows, is the
only available specific evidence on the inheritance of pitch
discrimination, seems rather surprising and should be con-
sidered as tentative, because, while the measurement of
pitch discrimination can be vouched for, the treatment of
1 Op. cit.
68
THE SENSE OF PITCH
relationships under these circumstances requires a more
favorable selection of groups in large numbers.
Many musical capacities unrelated. The more recent
studies of inheritance would make it reasonable to suppose
that there are several factors in musical talent, of which
pitch discrimination is one, that should be inherited accord-
ing to the Mendelian laws. On the other hand, there is
no reason for assuming that there is any necessary relation-
ship between, for example, sense of pitch and sense of time.
Organically, these are as unrelated as height in stature and
ability in mathematics. When we realize further that
memory, imagination, thought, feeling, and action as em-
ployed in music, are quite specific powers which may vary
quite independently of one another, the situation grows
complex.
Scientific study of musical inheritance. The compara-
tively large, though scattered, literature on the inheritance
of musical genius is of little value because it does not deal
with tangible fact. It merely essays to determine whether
or not the ancestors of a given musician were or were not
musical, on the whole. The scientific study of musical in-
heritance must begin with questions like these : How far
can we trace in a given lineage a marked development (or
absence) of the sense of pitch; the sense of rhythm ; the
Sense of intensity; auditory imagery, creative imagination,
musical memory; absolute pitch; musical intellect ; musi-
cal feeling; execution of pitch; execution of time; execu-
tion of expression? Such distinctions are, of course, involved
in embryo when biographers attempt to show that a given
trait of musical power, such as the logically creative, the
romantic, or the blindly impulsive, is inherited, but from
that point of view we have no statistics.
69
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
The analysis of musical talent into isolable factors, and the
development of the technique of measurement compel us to
make a fresh startin the study of inheritanceof musical genius.
One factor at a time. Pitch discrimination may now be
measured quantitatively from generation to generation in
musical or unmusical families; its relation to other factors

5
4
/
.N. 2"
2 z
1
c-64 c 128 c 256 & 512 c 1024 c 2048
Fig. 8. — (Vancel). Variation of Pitch Discrimination within the Tonal Range.
This figure is expressed in absolute terms, i.e., the pitch discrimination for each
pitch in terms of vibrations. In Figure 9 the same data are expressed in relative
terms, i.e., in terms of fraction of a tone. In Figure 8 the numbers at the left
denote vibrations; in Figure 9, tenths of a tone. In both charts the pitch level is
given at the bottom.
in musical talent may be submitted to experimental tests
by the application of the technique and theory of interpre-
tation now coming into biology, particularly genetics.
The way is clear and there is promise of results of value,
not only to music but, on account of the tangibility of musi-
cal talent, through music to genetic theory in general.
1 Thomas F. Vance, “Variation in Pitch Discrimination within the
Tonal Range,” Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol., 1914, WI.
70
THE SENSE OF PITCH
A scientific attitude. Aside from scientific measurement,
the emergence of a concrete analysis, such as that here at-
tempted, should do much to give critics and biographers a
point of view which will enable them to observe and record
musical traits with such discrimination and in such detail
as to throw much light on the problem of inheritance of
musical talent.
XVII. TONAL RANGE
Relative discrimination at different pitch levels. Figure 8
shows the relative keenness of the sense of pitch for the
range of pitch most used in music. These curves are based
upon the average for fifty-five observers selected without
reference to musical ability. The measurements were made
by the latest refinements of method and with great care.

|N
| \
Y
C–l 64 C 128 Cl 256 C2 512 C3 1024 C4 2048
Fig. 9. — Variation of Pitch Discrimination in Terms of Fractional Parts of a Tone.
We may divide the curve roughly into three sections:
(1) one octave, 64 to 128; (2) two octaves, 128 to 512; and
(3) two octaves, 512 to 2048 d. v. In the first section the
curve drops rapidly, indicating greater keenness with the
rise of pitch ; in the second section it remains comparatively
level, indicating almost equal keenness throughout these
71
-
*
--
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
two Octaves; while, in the third section, there is a rapid
rise, indicating a corresponding loss of keenness with rising
pitch. But these statements have been made in terms of
vibrations, that is, absolute terms. If, however, we express
the same data in terms of fractional part of a tone, the curve
will take the form of Figure 9, in which we see that keenness
in the sense of pitch increases rapidly within the first octave
and remains approximately constant for the highest two
Octaves.
Further interpretation. It requires some effort to see
the relations thus expressed from the two points of view in
these figures, but it is worth the effort. The application is
clear: if we can hear a difference in pitch 1.5 d. v., at c,
128 d. v., then we can hear a difference of about 1.5 d. v.
an octave higher, c' 256 d. v.; but, in relative terms, this
means that we hear the lower tone with only half the pre-
cision that we hear the upper, because 1.5 d. v. at the lower
note denotes Tº of a tone, while 1.5 d. v. at the higher note
equals ºr of a tone. Or, since the general trend of the curve
is the same for men as for women, when, conventionally, a
man and a woman sing the same note, the woman sings
an octave higher than the man, and we can detect an error
in the woman's singing with twice the precision that we can
detect it in the man's. We shall see later in the discussion
of the singing of pitch that the woman also sings the note
with double the precision that the man can attain when she
sings an octave higher than he does. Vance found that,
on the whole, pitch discrimination within the tonal range
shows the same character for men and women, that is, al-
though they sing differently, they hear alike.
The record of Stumpf. The most exact record we have
on a highly trained musician and reliable observer is per-
72
THE SENSE OF PITCH
haps that made by Meyer 1 on Stumpf. He found that
in the range from 100 to 1200 d. v. a difference of approxi-
mately one third of a vibration could be perceived; that is,
within this limited range the absolute differences of pitch
discrimination tended to remain constant, and the relative
discrimination doubled for each octave.
/ / /
TABLE IV. THE PITCH DISCRIMINATION OF HIGHLY TRAINED
MUSICIANS
No. d—l C0 Cl al a? a 3 g4 c5 gº C6 gº
1 0.07 0.1 13 60
2 || 0.04 || 0.2 0.6 0.8 | 1.3 5 22 || 130 830
3 || 0.13 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4 | 1.8 69
4 || 0.08 || 0.13 0.3 || 0.7 15 41 470 | 630 || 2500
5 0.25 || 0.3 0.5 16 44 | 195 || 830 5830
6 || 0.07 || 0.13 || 0.21 | 0.3 0.5 | 1.0 2 8 44 || 265
7 || 0.33 || 0.3 0.4 0.6 | 1.3 || 4.1 | 21 60 260
8 0.17 | 0.2 0.3 0.5 | 1.1 | 2.6 7 10 39 43 138
9 || 0.53 || 0.27 | 0.16 || 0.4 19 28
10 || 0.10 0.2 0.5 1.1 2.8 7.6 26 || 110
11 0.17 | 0.3 0.5 0.8 | 1.4 || 2.7 5 20 | 102 || 200 525
12 0.08 || 0.13 || 0.20 || 0.2 0.5 | 1.3 3 4 || 113
13 | 1.00 | 1.0 0.9 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.4 2 6 56 93 252
14 | 1.2 0.9 0.4 0.2 0.5 | 1.4 4 16 413
15 || 0.5 0.4 1.1 | 2.0 16 40 || 351 | 830
16 || 0.9 0.9 0.9 | 1.1 5 12 84 590


Records of trained musicians. The best collection of
measurements on the pitch discrimination of highly trained
musicians is that of Stücker * who examined members of
the Royal Opera in Vienna, and other highly trained per-
sons. His most significant records are reproduced here as
Table IV. Examination of this table shows the great diver-
sity of capacity of different musicians. He gives a similar
1 Max Meyer, Ztschr. f. Psychol., 1898, XVI.
* N. Stücker, Ztschr. f. Sinnes physiol., 1908, XLII.
73
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
table for great singers. Numbers 1–8 were composers and
conductors, 9–11 pianists, 12–13 violinists, 14–17 oboe
players. Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 12 were prominent in the
direction of the Royal Opera. The figures in the table rep-
resent the least perceptible pitch differences, in terms of
vibrations. Recent criticism of methods has demonstrated
that some of the extremely fine records given in this table
are unreliable : we have no unmistakable evidence that any
human ear can hear any difference finer than one tenth of
a vibration, or even as fine as that." -
Difference due to talent, not training. As a rule the
records in this table are very much finer than those given
for unselected observers. With unselected observers,
Stücker finds about the same distribution as is given by
Vance. This difference between musicians and others is
not because the musical are trained, but because they are
musical ; that is to say, persons who have been born with a
high order of the sense of pitch have survived in music
and may have had an opportunity to distinguish themselves
in this respect.
Certain interesting phenomena of pitch defects which
are due to partial loss of hearing will be discussed in the
chapter on intensity. Among these are the phenomena
of tonal gaps and tonal islands.
XVIII. PITCH DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO EARS
Ears tuned to different pitch. There are, of course,
numerous pathological conditions and gradual transitions
of these into the so-called normal condition in which the
pitch mechanism in one ear is entirely destroyed, or may be
in any stage of impairment ranging from normal condition
to complete disability. If the other ear be normal, this
74
THE SENSE OF PITCH
defect will perhaps not be observed. It is generally stated
in the textbooks that frequently the two ears seem to be
tuned to a different pitch; for example, so that a tone of,
say, 435 d. v. in One ear may sound of the same pitch as a
tone of the pitch of 430 d. v. in the other ear. This matter
has not yet been treated adequately by experiment. It
presents an important field for further investigation be-
cause it would seem reasonable to suppose that if the pitch-
differentiating mechanism in One ear is entirely independent
of that in the other, there might be physical conditions
which could develop a permanent difference in the two ears
and develop acute changes which would cause temporary
differences in the registering of pitch.
May have theoretical bearing. No exact measurements
have been made or statistics collected to show to what ex-
tent the two ears tend to differ in pitch discrimination.
Theoretically, it would seem probable that there should be
very large differences in the power of discrimination of the two
ears, and since we do not ordinarily isolate one ear from the
other, either in hearing music or in ordinary experiments in
the hearing of tones, such differences might pass undetected.
Careful study of that problem might, however, throw impor-
tant light on the pitch-differentiating mechanism in the ear.
XIX. ILLUSIONS OF PITCH
Normal illusions. Like all our other sensory experiences,
pitch is subject to a great variety of so-called normal illu-
sions; i.e., illusions which are predictable, relatively con-
stant, and traceable to specific factors in the sensory
mechanism, subjective or objective. One of the most be-
wildering experiences of a trained observer is to find that
he is subject to very strong illusions of difference.
75
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Must be eliminated in measurement. Similar to this
are the illusions due to the differences in intensity, timbre,
pitch level, location, etc., of the tones. All such errors
must be eliminated. It would be no test at all merely to
ask the observer if he heard a difference, as the early ex-
perimenters did ; he must be required also to give the
direction. By virtue of the illusions we often vend to hear
two tones of the same pitch as different and. Sometimes
feel a higher degree of certainty in a judgment which is
Wrong. -- - -
Very much depends upon the direction ºf e, ectant at-
tention. Listening to two tones physically of the same
pitch one can make either tone seem higher or lower at will.
This introduces a very serious difficulty in tho periment.
It is exceedingly difficult to keep the observer from directing
his expectant attention in favor of one tone or the other.
'Great ingenuity and watchfulness on the part of the ex-
perimenter is necessary in order to keep the observer as
neutral as possible.
May be measured. Many of these illusions of pitch have
been identified, isolated, measured, and expressed in terms
of mental law. Among these is the illusion of anticipation,
or expectant attention. If one consciously or unconsciously
anticipates that the second of two tones in a small interval
is to be the higher and it really is the higher, the difference
will seem greater than it really is; but if, on the other hand,
it is really lower, there are two possibilities: if it is relatively
a little lower, it will still be heard as higher; whereas, if it
is distinctly lower, it will be heard as lower, and the interval
will be overestimated.
76
THE SENSE OF PITCH
XX. THE SENSE OF PITCH IN ANIMALS
Early experiments. Much interest has been aroused in
recent years in the investigation of the tonal hearing of
animals. Earlier experimenters rejoiced in being able to
demonstrate that it was possible to measure the tonal hear-
ing of vari as animals, but a more careful critique of these
methods tends to demonstrate that the response was prob-
ably not to the sounds used but rather to some other activity
on the part of the experimenter who was present in the room.
On the ot ha d, it was a matter of everyday observation
that animals respond to sounds and that they seem to recog-
nize differences in pitch; and the argument has seemed
plausible . * since animals are capable of producing sounds
of a great range and striking characteristics of pitch, they
should be able to appreciate these quite as it is believed
that animals appreciate decorative coloring.
Method of conditional reflex. The method of the “con-
ditioned reflexes '' strikes the musician as weird ; but the
fact is, it works. For example, the animal is trained to
respond to a certain tone and be rewarded by food, and he
learns not to respond to other tones which do not bring
food, but punishment. A tone of, for example, 256 d. v. is
Sounded and learned as a signal for the receiving of food and
One or more other tones differing in pitch are sounded under
similar conditions except that they are not associated with
food. The theory is that, if a dog hears the differences in
pitch, he will learn when to get his food and when to avoid
punishment by recognizing the proper signal.
Higher animals have good sense of pitch. By such
methods results have been obtained on higher animals,
particularly the dog and the monkey, showing that they
77
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
may have a good pitch discrimination and that it can be
measured. In a short time we shall undoubtedly have in-
teresting and accurate data on the pitch discrimination of
different types of animals under conditions which may be
verified under exactly the same control with human beings
and thus compared with conscious reaction.
78
CHAPTER III
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
Hearing ability and intensity discrimination. There are
two fundamental aspects of the hearing of intensity : first,
the hearing ability, or acuity, which is measured in terms
of the faintest audible sound ; and, second, the ability to
hear differences in the intensity of sounds, which is measured
in terms of the least perceptible difference and is usually
*T*-------------
called intensity discrimination.
I. THE PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS
The intensity mechanism. We found the pitch-differ-
entiating mechanism limited to a harp structure, enor-
mously intricate and yet one continuous gamut. But,
when we come to the physiological basis of intensity, the
situation grows even more complicated ; for, not only does
the intensity of a sound depend upon each and every part
of this harp structure, but it depends also upon each and
every part of the conducting mechanism from the external
ear to the final discharge in the auditory cells, as well as
upon the nerve and the complicated brain connections.
Explanation of Figure I. The mechanism in the ear for
the transmission of intensity differences in sound may be
represented in a very schematic way in Figure 1. This
figure should be studied with the aid of a good textbook on
79
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
the anatomy of the ear. A represents a tuning fork, vibrat-
ing in front of the external ear, B. The amplitude of the
vibration determines the loudness of the sound at its source.
The vibrations are transmitted through B and taken up
by C, the tympanic membrane. C, D, E, F represent the
chain of three bones in the middle ear which constitute
A a COmpound lever; this does in a small
ſ Pºm `--> Space what a simple long lever, C E, would
B YC do when acting in the fulcrum D. It re-
_* duces the amplitude of vibration and in-
creases its force at E because the fulcrum
is near E. F is the stirrup which acts as a
plunger into the bony labyrinth, G, of the
inner ear, in which the liquid (perilymph)
is caused to vibrate under the forced vibra-
ſ tion of the stirrup F. M is a compensating
Fig. 1. — A Schematic Representation of the Structures in the Ear for the Register-
ing of Intensity of Sound.
membrane (the round window) which bulges out and
retracts for every vibration of the liquid in G. I is an
inner tube (membranous) in which the liquid (endolymph)
vibrates transversely under the impulse of the lengthwise
oscillation of the perilymph. H represents the harp struc-
ture, which, with all its superstructure, floats in the liquid
within the membranous tube, I. J represents a trestle-
work acting as a sounding board (the rods of Corti), one

80
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
such standing on each of the thousands of fibers. K is a
nerve cell which lies in such a position against the trestle-
work that it can be so violently shaken by the vibration
as to cause a chemical change. L is a hair which projects
from the cell and acts like a lever, mechanically aiding in
the shaking of the cell. N is a nerve fiber which conducts
the nerve impulse from a particular cell toward the brain.
Purpose of the figure. Complicated as this is, it is vastly
simplified from the actual facts as revealed by the micro-
scope. The purpose of the illustration is to show that the
keenness in the perception of differences in the intensity
of sound depends upon the faithfulness with which the
strength of the nerve impulse going out over N corresponds
to the strength of vibration of the tuning fork, A, and that
this mechanism is extremely complex and, therefore, sub-
ject to many sources of defect. It would be marvelous if
any two human ears should be equally sensitive. Indeed,
one of the wonders of nature is that we are so nearly alike
and so reliably sensitive as we are. The ear as an instru-
ment for transmitting and registering the amplitude of
sound waves faithfully and with fine differentiation is sub-
ject to an enormous number of disturbances which may
modify the sensitiveness to sound, the sensitiveness to the
character of sound, and the sensitiveness to differences in
the loudness of Sound.
Nature of impediments. The hearing of loudness of a
sound may be modified physically by disturbances in the
tympanic membrane, the bones of the middle ear, the tube-
linings, the cavities surrounding the middle ear, and all
the parts of the labyrinth accessory to the organ of Corti.
The disturbance in each of these places may be of various
kinds. It may be a clot of wax on the outer surface of the
81
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
tympanic membrane; it may be a ten-fold thickening of
the footplate of the stirrup; it may be a calcifying process
on any of the movable parts; it may be a softening process
in any of the parts which transmit waves under tension;
it may be a malformation in the structure of any of these
accessory parts; it may be inflammation of the membrane
in or around these accessory parts. Indeed, the location
of trouble may be in the nerve itself beyond the ear, or in
any part of the basal ganglia of the brain, from the medulla
upward to the cortex. Some of these disturbances may be
hereditary; some may be due to injury; others may be the
result of disease, such as Scarlet fever, measles, influenza,
pneumonia, typhoid fever, Smallpox, whooping cough,
tumors, blood clots, bone fragments due to breaks, or rup-
ture of the membrane. Others may be due to temporary
inflammation or Suppuration, or stoppage of air passages,
filling of cavities, blood pressure, etc.
Significance of kind of impediment. The kind of diffi-
culty which may appear in the sense of intensity depends
upon the location and extent of the obstruction. Thus,
for example, if the disturbance is in the middle ear, there is
ordinarily a loss of hearing for low tones, whereas if the
disturbance is in the inner ear, the highest tones are the first
to be lost; so that we find, not only a flat “hardness of
hearing ” varying in degrees from normal hearing to deaf-
ness, but also a variation in hearing ability for different
pitches, timbre, or tone quality both in music and in speech.
Vocational significance. For an effective knowledge
about these conditions, one must turn to the textbooks on
otology and particularly the most recent research mono-
graphs in this branch of medicine. But, for Our present
purpose in the psychology of musical talent, it is only essen-
82
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
tial that we shall realize the concreteness of the physical
fact that keenness of hearing depends upon the fitness and
normality in the transmitting and converting mechanism of
the ear and its accessories, and that there are physical reasons
for large and significant differences in this capacity. It is
not for us to diagnose the location of the trouble or to go
into detail about psychological phenomena which depend
upon endless varieties of conditions in the ear. Let us
simply, frankly, and fairly face this fact, that the sensitive-
ness to sound and sensitiveness to the difference in intensity
of sound, or loudness, vary within a very large range in SO-
called normal hearing. We may then seek to learn some-
thing about the bearing of this upon musical talent.
Effect on overtones. For the purpose of guidance in
music we are concerned, not so much with the mere difficulty
in hearing of sounds as with the fact that to the person who
has a defective ear for intensity, music does not sound the
same as to the normal person. What may seem a deli-
cately faint sound to him may be to the normal ear a com-
paratively loud one. Distinctions in intensity which are
of the utmost importance for the control of musical expres–
sion may be lost to him, because radical changes (defects)
in tone quality may result from defective sensitiveness to
different levels of overtones.
II. TONAL GAPS AND TONAL ISLANDS
Nature of gaps and islands. The pitch discrimination
of a student was measured at the level of a', 435 d. v.,
in the laboratory and she proved quite helpless, being unable
to detect differences of a half tone or even a whole tone at
that level. As she thought herself capable of appreciating
music, she was asked to return and be tested for other ranges,
83
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
and it was found that she had exceedingly fine sensitiveness
to pitch except for about ninety vibrations about a'. She
seemed insensitive to pitch differences, even by the keys of
the piano, for aſ and a”; although she heard the tones, she
- could not distinguish one from
the other.
c5 4096 Examples. We speak of a
tonal gap when there is a defect
C4 2048 in tonal hearing which is due to
C3 1024 | the loss of functioning power of
- certain segments of the harp
C2 512 r structure in the ear. When
| the range of hearing is reduced
Cl 256 | at either or both ends to a rem-
nant as Small as two octaves,
C 128 We speak of the remnant as a
tonal island. We can picture
C-1 64 this to ourselves concretely if
we think of the bank of strings
C-2 32 in a piano as exposed and a
child throwing things in upon
Fig. 2.-(After Bezold). Tonal Islands them — a marble, a building
and Tonal Gaps. block, a ball, or even a large
The first eighteen represent islands; º e
the last seven, islands with gaps. The box or a pillow. If we strike
heavy line shows for each case the the keys affected, they will
register of the tones that can be heard. ©
have lost their power to re-
spond in the natural way. Let us carry this analogy into
our interpretation of tonal islands and tonal gaps.
“Patches of hearing.” Figure 2 shows graphically a
group of eighteen tonal islands and seven types of tonal gaps.
These cases were all found in an institution for deaf-mutes,
1 Fr. Bezold, “Textbook of Otology,” E. H. Colegrove Co., Chicago.

84
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
who often have what is called a “patch of hearing,” usually
in the region of the high notes. The point emphasized by
this figure is that loss of hearing, when due to injury in the
inner ear, may occur independently at any pitch level.
Effect on speech and music. In modern instruction of
the deaf, this “patch '' is taken advantage of by teaching
them to make use of the range of hearing they have. If a
person has an island running from b' to g”, he can learn to
hear ordinary speech well, because the most salient char-
acteristics of speech sounds fall within that range; but
varied or rich musical tones do not sound to him as they do
to a person with normal range, because the high overtones
are lost. Ordinary cases of persons “hard of hearing,”
when analyzed, prove to begin with the loss of certain speech
sounds, such as the sibilants, s, z, sh. On the basis of exact
analysis of sounds lost, one can diagnose to some degree
the exact pitch level of the lesion in the inner ear. The
same can be done for the musical sounds.
Limits not always abrupt. In the diagram, the gaps and
islands are shown as abrupt breaks, but in fact they should
be represented in most cases in terms of the degree of loss
of hearing as was illustrated in the case of throwing objects
upon the piano strings. Some strings might be entirely
broken ; others might simply be damped.
Frequency. We have no satisfactory statistics to indi-
cate to what extent tonal gaps occur in so-called normal
hearing. A very careful examination of the tonal range
of fifty-five university students by Vance 1 revealed no case
of complete gap for any one, but demonstrated one case of
a relative gap in the region 60–90 d. v., in which the pitch
discrimination rose suddenly at 90 d. v. from less than 1
1 Op. cit.
85
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
to about 8 d. v. This seemed to affect pitch only, as there
was no loss in intensity or richness of the tones in that gap.
The subject was no more aware of this defect through
hearing than the color-blind can perceive his color blindness.
Some factors involved. The whole problem of how these
gaps occur in one ear and not in the other, and of how the
good ear “covers up” the defect in the other ear remains to
be investigated. We shall probably find that gaps in one ear
are common, but unless the other ear is similarly affected
the defect will not be noticed. The accurate knowledge of
these conditions involves measurement of, first, sensitive-
ness to tones or acuity of hearing; second, the pitch dis-
crimination; and, third, the intensity discrimination for
each and every level of pitch within the tonal range.
III. ACUITY OF HEARING
Physiological and mental aspects. There are two aspects
of acuity of hearing, the physical and the mental. Ordi-
narily defective acuity is regarded as a measure of the
condition of the ear; loss of hearing is attributed to deteriora-
tion or to an undeveloped structure of the middle or inner
ear. On the other hand, the acuity of hearing reveals the
power of application in the perception of Sound. A person
of low mentality gives unreliable and widely varying re-
sponses in a test, and this variability is likely to be an index
to the character of the individual in his responses to all
sounds; that is, a person may have a keen physical ear but
lack the power of concentration and accurate observation.
A test of hearing should, therefore, show us two things:
the average faintest sound that can be heard, which is in
general an indication of the condition of the physical ear;
and the variation in a number of records on the same point,
86
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
which may be regarded as an index to stability or instability
of intellect.
An audiometer. Acuity of hearing, or threshold of hear-
ing, is measured in terms of the faintest sound that can be
heard. This may be most conveniently done with an instru-
ment known as an audiometer, Figure 3, which is essentially
a telephone connected with a tuning fork and batteries,
with devices for standardizing the current and varying the
Fig. 3. – An Audiometer.
strength of the current, and therefore the intensity of
the sound, in a definite scale of units of sound running,
e.g., from 0 to 20. The principle of this test is the same as
that employed by the aurist when he uses a watch to find
out how far away the ticking can be heard, only far more
accurate.
If a single test of hearing is to be made, as in civil service
examinations or for pedagogical purposes, a mere click
is used instead of a tone. But if we aim to make a thorough
87

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MIUSICAL TALENT
examination for musical purposes, tuning forks of any
pitch from fifty to five hundred vibrations are connected
With the audiometer, so that the measured sound is a tone
of a specific pitch.
Method of measuring. In making a test with the audi-
Ometer the observer holds the telephone receiver to the ear
to be tested, and the experimenter produces the sound by
pressing a button at regular intervals and varies the strength
of it by sliding a rider along the audiometer scale, beginning
with a Sound which is easily heard and continuing downward
until the observer ceases to hear the sound. The last sound
- that was heard is recorded as the threshold of hearing. This
test is then repeated a large number of times, and from the
record we obtain the average and the mean variation, which
is illustrated in Table I for three observers. These records
were made with an audiometer in which the “normal ’’
was 15 units in the scale.
TABLE I. DIFFERENCES IN MEAN VARIATIONS
OBSERVER A OBSERVER B OBSERVER C
T V T V T V
15 O 15 O 18 3
14 1 13 2 11 4
16 1 18 3 20 5
15 0 17 2 12 3
15 0 13 2 9 6
15 0 12 3 10 5
16 1 17 2 21 6
15 0 13 2 9 6
14 1. 18 3 16 1.
15 0 14 1 12 3
Average 15 0.5 15 2 15 4
T, the threshold or faintest Sound heard.
V, the deviation of each record from the average of all the records.
88
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
Mean variation. The mean variation, it will be observed,
is the average deviation of a series of records from the aver-
age of that series. The three cases given in Table I are
selected to illustrate the significance of difference in mean
variation as a measure of reliability. Although all three
records have the same average, 15, observer A manifestly
has the poorest ear and the best mind in the matter involved.
He is accurate, showing but a very slight mean variation,
which means that he uses his actual physical capacity to
best advantage. Observer C undoubtedly has the keenest
ear but the poorest mind in this respect. He is very erratic,
as is shown by the large mean variation, and this large vari-
ability prevents him from getting as low an average record
as his actual psychophysic capacity warrants. Observer
B occupies a middle ground in both respects.
In interpreting these figures the threshold, representing
acuity of hearing, should, therefore, always be taken with
its mean variation; because, as is shown here, the actual
threshold is probably lower than the average given, some-
what in proportion to the magnitude of the mean variation.
A personal equation. On the other hand, the mean varia-
tion is an important measure in itself, namely, a measure
of the personal equation as to uniformity and reliability
in hearing in general. It is a matter of great consequence
in music whether a pupil’s mind is of the A type, the B type,
or the C type. This personal trait, or equation, may be
measured in any of the quantitative tests but need not be
repeated in every test, because it represents a general trait
of mind in the measurement of talent. A mind that is
erratic in listening to a faint tone is quite certain to be equally
erratic in observing fine distinctions of any kind in hearing.
Instruments not always necessary. For the purpose of
89
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
rating musical talent, defects in acuity of hearing can ordi-
narily be detected without any instruments because they
appear in ordinary conversation. If a person's defect is
not sufficient to be traced in conversation, it should not be
regarded as a serious obstacle in music.
In the medical clinics and in the public school where tests of
hearing are made, they generally use what is known as the
whisper test, naturally of course very crude and yet valuable.
We shall not here discuss the details of norms and technique
as they must vary for the various instruments and methods.
IV. ACUITY OF HEARING THROUGHOUT THE TONAL RANGE
The pitch range audiometer. Since the sensitiveness of
the ear varies for different pitches, and irregularities of this
kind in the form
of tonal gaps are
much more fre-
quent than is or-
dinarily supposed,
it is important to
measure hearing
at all pitch levels.
- Fortunately, an
Fig. 4a. — An Early Model of the Pitch Range Audi- instrument has
Ometer.
recently been de-
vised which measures acuity of hearing at each and
every pitch level for relatively pure tones, in an extraor-
dinarily simple and quick way. The first model of this
instrument is shown in Figure 4a.” The tone is produced
1 A good account is given in Whipple's “Physical and Mental Tests,”
Warwick and York, Baltimore.
2 This Pitch Range Audiometer is being developed by Mr. Cordia C.
Bunch, and has not yet been technically described.
90

THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
|
in a telephone receiver by rotating a cogwheel in front
of a magnet. The pitch of the tone depends upon the speed
of rotation, which is measured either stroboscopically or by
means of a frequency meter. The intensity is varied by
moving the magnet to and from the revolving wheel by means
of the long lever. In the new models, now in process of
construction, certain important modifications have been
Fig. 4b. — The Latest Model of the Pitch Range Audiometer.
made, but the general principle is the same. By gradually
speeding up the motor which drives the wheel, we can raise
the tone from the lowest to the highest audible pitch as
rapidly as we please. This may be repeated for any desired
number of intensities. In this way tonal gaps will be located.
In the same manner the acuity at any pitch may be meas-
ured by starting with the loudest tone and turning the
91

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
magnet lever gradually until the tone at that pitch dis-
appears. -
Just before this book went to press, the pitch audiometer
had evolved into the form shown as Figure 4b. Here, in-
stead of having one two-pole magnet as in 4a, the lower
wheel is built into a magnet with as many poles as there
are teeth. The principle of tone production, however,
remains the same. For each time that the teeth of the
upper wheel coincide with the teeth of the lower wheel,
which is stationary, an electric pulsation will be sent into
the telephone receiver producing the sound. The pitch, as
determined by the speed of revolution, is here measured by
means of an electric speedometer which consists essentially
of the globe generator seen at the top and is read in terms
of the galvanometer at the left. Instead of varying the dis-
tance of the magnet, the intensity is here varied by means
of a shunt resistance in the audiometer seen at the right.
Figure 5. The result of such measurements may be illus-
trated as in the charts of Figure 5, which gives the hearing
charts of the first four men in the S.A.T.C. who came up
to be examined for admission into the radio service. Since
these four men were unselected cases, and yet represented
persons who were going to depend upon the sensitiveness
of their ears in an important way, the differences among
them are significant. The pitch levels are indicated roughly
in terms of vibration frequency at the base. The intensities
are indicated by the letters A, B, C, etc., - the loudest
tone, A, being so loud that it was on the verge of being pain-
ful to the sensitive ear, and F, so faint that only keen ears
could hear it. The ability of a very good ear is represented
both in pitch and in intensity by a rectangle. Deviation
from the rectangle shows a corresponding defect.
92
THE SENSE OF INTEN
*
|
t
SITY
Right ears
Left ears
DO29:
-p012
–! OO!,2
-; OO23
–|OOŁT
--| 0021
_] 00},
002
022
-HOO!,3
O022
-400 \,\!
–ļOO2T
O029
-I OO!,2
- OO22
--|OOŁT
-; OOZT
+ 00'ſ,
002
O03
paes
OO!,2
OO22
OOŁT
OO2T.
00!,
003
OO22
OO!,2
OO22
OOLT
OO2T
00ſ,
QO2
F
OO22
OOŁĮ.
0029
001,2
OO22
OOŁT
OO2T
00},
OO2
OO29:
001,2
O02'ſ.
00ſ,
OOº.
Fig. 5. — Charts of Tonal Hearing.

93
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Uses. The significance for music of such differences
is self-evident. We can here speak, in very concrete terms,
of what the musician can hear and what he cannot hear in
pitch, intensity, and timbre of sounds.
Other uses of this measurement. This instrument has
found a most vital place in otology. It has been demon-
strated that it is of inestimable value in the diagnosis of
hearing troubles. It has also been found that, by making
these surveys of children, incipient ear troubles may be dis-
covered before they have become acute, and may, therefore,
be warded off. There are also many phases of industry, such
as radio work, in which the elimination of those persons who
cannot hear essential pitches, may be a means of great saving.
V. PERIODICITY IN SOUND
Rhythm in attention to sound. All our mental life works
rhythmically, that is, by periodic pulsation of effort or
achievement with unnoticed intermittence of blanks. This
is most easily observed in an elemental process such as the
hearing of faint sounds. To demonstrate it in a simple
way, proceed as follows: hold a watch a distance from the
ear and then move it toward the ear until you can just
hear it ; then keep it in this position for two or three min-
utes and observe that you hear it only intermittently.
To indicate this, raise your finger when you hear the sound
and lower your finger when you do not hear it. Do not be
influenced by any theory, but act with the keenest decision
for every second. You will then find that the hearing and
silence periods alternate with fair regularity, the periods
varying from two to eight or ten seconds in the extreme.
This periodicity is primarily a periodicity of attention and
reaches out into all our mental processes, being one of
94
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
nature's contrivances in the interest of the conserving of
nervous energy. In tests of hearing it is evident that this
periodicity is a disturbing factor and accounts for a certain
part of the mean variation which we find. -
VI. THE MEASUREMENT OF INTENSITY DISCRIMINATION
Nature of measurement. Technically, the sense of inten-
sity is measured in terms of the least perceptible difference
in the intensity, or loudness, of a standard sound. We speak
of it as intensity discrimination. This measurement may
be made by determining the smallest number of units of dif-
ference on the audiometer, Figure 3, the observer can hear.
A record of audiometer sounds for this purpose is now avail-
able on phonograph disks adapted for use in group testing.

40
30
2.
- * | * ~
,” ^ -
2O A’ TS
/ ... • “*s... ** * * , , ,
/ ... • * º ~, “. ...
Z J. ** SS ***...
Z .."] N S S "* ...
Z .." *- * ~ ** ..
l O .* N "s.
/ .."' S. SJ “...
* ... }.” ~ - | | | ***..
.* ... •" - T ~ J *** ... . . . . . • * ****
2 * ...” T- T - - - - *- -
0 ºn - - - sle" ======
100 95 90 85 8O 75 70 65 50 55 50
Fig. 6. — Distribution of Capacities in the Sense of Intensity.
Based on the phonograph record Number A7537. Notations the same as in
Figure 6, Chapter II.
To make a group test, we ordinarily take at least two
hundred trials evenly distributed on five steps, and require
the observer to say in each trial whether the second of two
tones, the standard and a variable, sounded in chance order,
is weaker or stronger than the first. From this we find the
percentage of right cases, as above for pitch.
- 95
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Figures 6 and 7. The distribution of capacities in the
Sense of intensity is shown in Figure 6 in terms of per cent
right. Figure 7 contains norms for the converting of per
cent right into rank as in Chapter II. These norms are
100
95
90
85
8O
75
70
65
60
55
50 H
45
40
35
3O
25
100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 &Q
Fig. 7. — Norms for the Converting of Per cent Right into Rank.
Notations same as in Figure 7, Chapter II.
based upon the phonograph records, but these records are
so faithful a reproduction of the original audiometer tones
that for adults the norm for the records is exactly the same
as was found for the audiometer.

96
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
Individual measurement. For more exact measurement
we take an individual at his particular level of ability,
for example, two units of difference as established in a
preliminary test, and determine the exact threshold by an
intensive series of trials at this point.
VII. RELATION To AGE
The apparent differences. The norms show that, in
group measurements, the older children do slightly better
than the younger, and adults do better than the older chil-
dren. Children are undoubtedly subject to more acute
interferences with hearing than are adults; stoppage of
the Eustachian tube, and “running” ears are common.
On the other hand, permanent injuries are cumulative in
all ages. On these points we have no exact information to
show whether the situation would tend on the whole to
favor children or adults. -
Little real difference. If we take children and adults
individually and adapt the rigor of the test to the age, the
difference which is due to age or mental development in
group tests tends to disappear. In other words, if we make
measurements for vocational guidance in the schoolrooms
or other assemblages of children upon whom a single test
is made, we must make an allowance for age, according to
norms for different ages; but if we take children individually
and make the tests short and maintain a sustained interest,
the average child at ten or above will be able to make approxi-
mately as good a record as the adult. That is to say, in
his natural reactions to the environment, within the realm
of his acquaintance with sounds, a child has as keen ear for
intensity as the adult. The explanation of this age dif-
ference is, therefore, probably to be found essentially in
97
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
the presence among young children of a considerable num-
ber who have not developed the power of concentration
or application to a task in hand.
VIII. RELATION TO INTELLIGENCE
Sense of intensity not closely related to general intelli-
gence. This test has often been used as an intelligence
test; but that cannot be justified because we find very little
agreement between excellence in this test and brightness of
children as ordinarily estimated. This is illustrated in
Table II, which is based upon records of five hundred and
tWenty-two children in the seventh and eighth grades. If
TABLE II. THE RELATION OF INTENSITY DiscRIMINATION To GENERAL
BRIGHTNESS OR INTELLIGENCE
Intensity

OZ A B C D E
% RAN's loºz, 72–47 47–20 20–12 12–1
| A (10) 1 2 4 2 1
.7 3.8 5.0 1.7 .6
B 2 (20) 4 8 4 2
% 2.3 4.4 7.4 4.0 1.7
§ C 4 8 (40) 16 S 4
is, 4.4 6.1 15.1 7.4 3.1
§ |D 2 4 8 (20) 4 Ø
1.1 4.0 7.6 4.8 2.7
E 1 2 4 2 (10) 1
1.3 1.7 4.6 2.1 1.9
The black-faced figures show what the distribution should be if intensity
discrimination were exactly proportional to “brightness.”
Italics show what the discrimination should be if there were no agree-
ment between these two factors.
- (For further interpretation of the plan of this table, see explanation of
Table I, Chapter II.)
98
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
there were close agreement, the bright children should tend
to make the good records and the dull children the poor
records in intensity discrimination, but a perusal of the table
shows that there is no clear tendency in this direction.
Nature of variation with intelligence. The chief reason |
for this absence of correlation lies, of course, in the fact
that intensity discrimination rests mainly upon delicacy.
of structure in the ear, which has no relation to intelligence.
There are, however, two other elements in the situation.
Ear-mindedness is a type of mind, or a mental set which
is especially favorable to the best exercise of the sense of
hearing. It is an instinctive responsiveness to sound result-
ing in efficiency, which is, of course, a sort of brightness.
Then, again, a person may be keen in sensory observation
and yet not have the qualities which are necessary for suc-
cess in school studies. Strictly speaking, we are dealing
here with two kinds of brightness: the keenness in sense
discrimination is actual brightness of a specific type, whereas
that measured in ability to carry school work is a sort of
ensemble of brightness such as excellence in memory, imag-
ination, reasoning, and will power of various kinds.
In normal hearing, intensity discrimination is, therefore,
a clear-cut test of intellectual capacity (brightness) for
accuracy in the observation of a sound and is the best index
to such ability. Other things being equal, the person who
has good intensity discrimination makes a reliable observer
of sounds, but we must not confuse such specific aptitude
with general brightness or intelligence.
IX. EFFECT OF TRAINING
Most people would assume that differences in this capacity
would be largely a result of training, but on this point we V
99
g
• * * *
©
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
• * ~ * ,
©
have negative results from three independent types of
experiments."
Evidence: extended training. Fourteen observers were
selected regardless of initial ability and subjected to a pro-
longed series of specific and intensive practice of from four-
teen to thirty periods of one half hour each, and a record
Was kept of performance from day to day. The general
conclusion from this experiment was that systematic prac-
tice under the most favorable conditions did not result
in a change of the record. On the whole, the achievement
of these fourteen observers was practically the same at the
end of the practice periods as at the beginning.
Evidence : the case of the blind. It is generally sup-
posed that, since the blind guide themselves by hearing so
extensively, they must have more highly developed sensi-
tiveness to Sound. To test this we took fifteen students
in the School for the Blind who had been blind from early
infancy and were normal in other respects, and had acquired
skill in various kinds of work and ability to orientate them-
selves without sight. We compared the achievements of
these with the achievements of fifteen seeing high school
pupils selected under similar conditions, and the result of
this, the most careful test of its kind, was to show that the
average for fifteen blind and fifteen seeing persons is approxi-
mately the same. This means that the intensified training
which the blind have had since childhood has not tended
on the whole to make them keener in this specific sensory
capacity.
1 Seashore and Ling, “The Comparative Sensitiveness of Blind and
Seeing,” Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol., 1918, VIII; Seashore and Tan,
“The Elemental Character of Sensory Discrimination,” ibid.; Seashore,
.* Elemental Tests,” Jour. of Ed. Psychol., 1916, VII.
100
THE SENSE OF INTENSITY
We found the same true of the hearing of direction,
the sense of pitch, the sense of touch, and the sense of weight.
This goes to show that the fundamental capacities of the
senses are early developed to their maximum and that further
development takes place not in the fundamental capacities
but in the use of these capacities in more complex forms.
Evidence : the case of musical training. To these strik-
ing testimonials to the elemental character of intensity
discrimination, we may add the records of children of the
seventh and eighth grades who were classified on the basis
of the amount of training, as above, and on the basis of
intensity discrimination. In this we find a trace of agree-
ment in the form of a tendency for those who have had
extensive musical training to rank higher than those who
have not. But the tendency is slight and is easily accounted
for on the theory that those who have a keen appreciation
of sounds have gravitated toward the opportunities of
musical training.
An elemental capacity. If we take these three lines of
testimony together, what do they mean? They mean that
this intellectual capacity which we have measured is, in
this form, relatively simple and direct, so that the most
efficient exercise of it may be gained through the ordinary
experience of everyday life to such an extent that specialized
training after early childhood would not result in improve-
ment. On the other hand, just as in the case of the sense
of pitch, this capacity is one of the basic elements with which
learning begins. Training in the hearing and execution
of music, in so far as it comes through variation in intensity,
offers an unlimited field for acquisition of insight and mas-
tery through training in the complexes of intensity. The
blind, who are thrown upon the auditory resources as a
3- 101
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
substitute for the visual, find marvelous avenues for ad-
Vancement in their power to guide themselves by intensity;
but by so doing, they do not improve appreciably their
native sensory capacity; they simply learn how to use it
in progressively more complicated and meaningful forms.
X. MUSICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Factors involved. What is, then, the meaning of these
tests for guidance in music? Partial deafness presents
countless phases in respect to its significance for music.
In diagnosis and prognosis, we must take into account
the degree of insensibility; the variation of this for each
and every segment of the pitch range ; whether it is loss
of acuity or loss of discrimination, or both ; whether it is
acute, chronic, or permanent ; what relation the defect
will have to the demands of the musical situation under
consideration; and what relation this talent holds to meas-
ured or observed capacity in other musical talents. A
person who has once heard and has become deaf has stored
up sound imagery which may enable him to live in music
to a surprising degree. But a congenitally deaf person
cannot acquire any adequate conception of music.
The limitation it sets. Musical hearing, like the appre-
ciation of painting, is essentially reconstructive imagina-
tion which merely gets its cue from the sensory impressions.
One who hears musically may be fantastic and fastidious
in the differences of intensity he attributes to Sound and
yet be inferior in the actual observation of such differences
when they really exist; but, when it comes to singing or
playing, this artistic license ceases and the effective per-
former is limited by his capacity ſy precision in the hear-
ing of the shades of stress which by seeks to convey.
102
CHAPTER IV
THE SENSE OF TIME
I. INTRODUCTION
Time in musical hearing. Time enters into music in
two forms, the apprehension of time and the expression of
time. Of the former we have all kinds and degrees, from
distinct consciousness of specific time intervals or duration
to the most diffuse ramifications of time as undifferentiated
elements of feeling. The latter also runs the gamut from
consciously time-controlled action to the diffuse temporal
reverberations of a large variety of organic reactions and
other bodily movements in the emotional expression of
rhythm.
Timed action. The capacity for keeping time manifestly
rests upon the capacity for sensing time, but it also posits
other powers, such as motor control and motor impulse.
Possession of a keen sense of time is no guarantee of ability
to sing or to play in time; but defective sense of time must
result in corresponding defect in marking of time in any
form. -
Feeling of time. Sense of time is a basic condition of the
perception of rhythm and rhythmic action, which are both
complex and involve other factors as basic as the sense of
time itself. However, as will be pointed out later, precision
in the sense of time is not essential to the feeling of rhythm,
103
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
which may be very pronounced without involving any
marked power of precision in the apprehension of time.
Judgment of time. Perception of short and regular inter-
vals of time as in music is an immediate impression, whereas
the estimate of longer intervals of duration is a matter of
inference on the basis of a very complex set of associations.
We must distinguish the process involved in the sense of
musical time and that involved in the estimate or judgment
of the time of longer periods, as these represent different
capacities.
Restrictions. For the present purpose we must dis-
tinguish the sense of time particularly from the ability to
keep time, from the feeling of time in rhythm, from rhythmic
performance, and from time estimate or the ability to judge
duration of prolonged intervals, such as minutes or hours.
II. NATURE OF THE SENSE of TIME
Definition. With these demarcations in mind, we may
say that, musically, the sense of time is the natural capacity
for precision in the hearing of the duration of tones or
short time intervals. As will be shown in this chapter,
there are large individual variations in this capacity. What
is the cause of these variations? What is it that varies?
Manifestly it is not the sensory mechanism of the ear as in
the case of the sense of pitch and the sense of intensity.
So long as the physical ear registers sounds, one ear probably
receives and registers as accurately as another in time.
We must, therefore, seek explanation of the capacity else-
where.
A motor theory of time. The perception of musical time
is usually of a motor nature. That is, when we hear the
first interval, we respond to it by projecting ourselves into
104
THE SENSE OF TIME
the thing heard in some form of real or imaged action, and
when the following intervals occur, we either repeat the
same real or imaged movements or match them, as it were,
with the one which is being produced. That is, the per-
ception of equality or difference in two successive time in-
tervals is not a process of matching the objective tones or
their demarcations, but a matching of Our present produc-
tion of a tone with a repetition of the tone previously pro-
duced. If our actions in this matching coincide, we say the
intervals are equal; if our internal repetition of the first
member ends before or after the one with which it is matched,
we remark a corresponding difference. Perception of equality
or difference in musical intervals is not a passive, cold, or
quietly cognitive process, but Ordinarily a rather complex
process of parrying in action either real or imaged. The
experience of time, whether in the measured flow of succes-
sive quarter notes in the stately chorale or in the empty
intervals marked by dripping water, is a balancing of move-
ments in ourselves rather than a mere purely cognitive
inspection of time or duration in the source of sound.
Nature of movement. These movements may be real
or imaged, usually both. Real movements may be either
inceptive or complete. The most characteristic inceptive
movements are the innervation of the vocal cords and of
accessory parts of the vocal apparatus for the vocal expres–
sion of the thing heard and the inceptive movements of
finger, lip, or any other muscle involved in the instrumental
reproduction. These inceptive movements may, of course,
be actually executed, as in humming or whistling with a
tune that is being heard ; but ordinarily they do not result
in Sound and their existence is not noted. Indeed, some
reader at this point may question the very fact of their
105
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
existence. That they do exist can be demonstrated by
attaching a sensitive tambour to the throat or to some other
moving part of the speech mechanism, and allowing a per-
son to listen to the musical time without being aware of
the object of the recording instrument. If properly ad-
justed, the sensitive lever of the instrument will beat the
time that is being heard.
Degree of movement. The real movements may be gross,
such as the stamping of the foot, the nodding of the head,
the Swing of an arm, or the beating of the time with the
tongue. Far more numerous, and perhaps even more
significant, are the actual sequences of stress and release
in the muscles of the throat and tongue, even the deep-seated
muscles of the chest and the abdomen, or the larger muscles
of the thigh or the upper arm. The swaying of the body
as a whole is merely an extreme form of the sympathetic
action of the whole musculature of the body in the response
to time. Like the inceptive movements, these larger move-
ments are usually relatively unconscious. A person may beat
time with some part of the body without being aware of it.
Imaged movement. The imaged movement which we
shall discuss later under the head of motor imagery, is a
mental picture of movement, either an exact reproduction
of a past movement or an imaginary production. In listen-
ing to the chorale, for instance, the image of the motor pro-
cesses which took place in listening to the first note is repro-
duced in the listening to the next simultaneously with the
present response to the note which is being sounded. What
actually happens then is that we are matching an imaged
movement with an actual movement which is being per-
formed, and if the two synchronize, we call the time equal.
Time imagery complex. The image is ordinarily complex,
106
THE SENSE OF TIME
combining motor, auditory, visual, and other content.
What actually happens in recalling the hearing of the first
note when listening to the second, is that we feel Ourselves
producing or responding to the note which is heard and we
see the setting and the visible actions going On. In listen-
ing to the second tone, the first is present as an image,
usually a very complex image produced through different
senses in which the representation of the listener as acting
is the dominant feature.
Effect of other imagery. Relative prominence of the
motor, auditory, and visual imagery depends partly upon
the type of the individual and partly upon the character
of the time-marking instrument. If, for example, the
time is marked by a metronome, the listener may be influ-
enced most by the visual representation. But, in general,
as we shall see later, whether the thing shall be seen, heard,
or felt depends upon the imaginal type of the individual.
Immediate experience. In listening to time, we are quite
unaware of such processes as have been described. We
have rather the attitude of a child, who, in answer to the
question, “How do you see?” says, “I see with my eyes.”
The general feeling we have in listening to time is that of
receiving immediate impressions through the ear without
being conscious of why or how we receive them. Unless
we are trained in psychology, we may not note the inceptive
movements or even the complete movement ; much less do
we realize that the images exist or play any rôle. It is the
business of psychology in a case like this to deal with the
concrete elements. The component features here pointed
out constitute a means of self-expression, and the perception
of time is an evaluation in terms of our own self-expressive
movements, real or imaged.
107
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Nature of individual differences. The significance of
this analysis for the psychology of musical talent is evident.
When we find individual differences, we are to explain these,
not in terms of differences in the ear, but rather in terms
of a characteristic set or predisposition of the individual,
resulting in a particular degree of favorableness for the
grasping of time intervals in terms of his own action.
III. MEASUREMENT OF THE SENSE OF TIME
Time discrimination. The sense of time, or time dis-
crimination, may be measured in terms of the least percep-
@ tible difference in
ºf FGs: ſº- || || the duration of mu-
s: 5 * - êi-l sical tones, or of
T-T) D time intervals.
The apparatus.
For this purpose, the
best available in-
strument is the
Synchronous motor
with the time-sense
attachment, Figure
1." The character-
istic of a synchro-
nous motor is that it
runs at a Constant
s=
tº-
tº-
SE
º-
|
2 hi €
Fig. I. — The Time-Sense Apparatus on a Synchronous speed. This on 2
Motor. controlled by a tun-
1 F. B. Ross, “The Measurement of Time-Sense as an Element in the
Sense of Rhythm,” Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol., 1914, VI.
* A high-grade phonograph motor is an excellent and convenient sub-
stitute for the Synchronous motor (see Chapter VIII). A well-con-
structed pendulum also answers the purpose.

108
THE SENSE OF TIME
ing fork, runs one revolution per second within an accu-
racy of = .0008 sec. The time is measured on the scale
at the side, which is divided into hundredths of a second.
A telephone receiver with battery is so connected with the
apparatus that whenever the pointer projecting from
the balance wheel at the top of the motor touches the
downward projecting contact from the lever, a click is
heard in the telephone receiver. The pointer on the bal-
ance wheel revolves one revolution per second, but the
lever is free and may be held at any point on the scale by the
hand. To secure accuracy of position, the two clamps on
the scale plate are used as stops. The clicks begin when the
lever is lowered and, if it is held against one stop, the appa-
ratus will continue to mark exact seconds. To shorten an
interval the hand swings the lever in a direction opposite
to the revolution of the disk; to lengthen the interval it
moves the lever in the other direction.
The group method. In testing a group of persons of dif-
ferent and unknown abilities, two time intervals are marked
off by the sounding of three clicks. The problem is to tell
whether the second time interval is longer or shorter than
the first. The standard interval is 1.00 sec., and the varied
interval is, in turn, 1.02, 1.05, 1.09, 1.14, and 1.20 sec.
Whether the standard or the longer interval shall be sounded
at first is determined by chance for all the trials in the test.
Usually a test consists of two hundred trials, that is, forty
trials for each increment. The record is kept in terms of
per cent right answers for this entire block of trials. This
per cent right is then treated as in the case of pitch in Chap-
ter II, Table I, Figures 6 and 7. Norms are established by
finding for each possible per cent right its equivalent per-
centile rank, its objective measure in terms of the least
109
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
perceptible difference stated in hundredths of a second, and
the distribution or frequency of each measure.
Figures 2 and 3. The distribution of capacities in the
Sense of time as measured by the group method is shown in
Figure 2. The norms for converting per cent right into rank
are contained in Figure 3.
Individual differences. The individual variation in time
sense is not so great as for pitch. A threshold of .01 sec.
is an extraordinarily fine record in the sense of time. An
40
3O.
20
lo
O - * = *
100 95 90 85 80 75 7 O 65 60 55 50
Fig. 2. — Distribution of Capacities for the Sense of Time.
Based on phonograph record Number A7538. Notation same as for
Figure 6, Chapter II.
equally rare poor record is about .50 Sec. That is, in such
extremes, one has fifty times as good capacity as the other,
Between these extremes, capacities range approximately,
as shown in Figure 2.
IV. RELATION TO AGE
The age factor. In general, children do not do so well as
adults in this test. Among the factors which account for
this are numerous conditions which are different in the group
of children from those in a group of adults, such as the strain

110
THE SENSE OF TIME
of attention, the excitement, fluctuation of interest, and
novelty, which tend to operate more adversely for children
than for adults. But these are factors which need not so
100
95
90
85
BO
75
70
65
6C
55
30
45
40
35
80
25
20
15
l()
5
O
100 95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50
Fig. 3. — Norms for Sense of Time.
Notation same as in Figure 7, Chapter II.
operate in the ordinary spontaneous hearing of children, as
in play and other acts of skill.
Explanation of this variation. As to variation with age,
our general opinion on the ground of experimental evidence
is that the Sense of time is developed early in childhood
















111
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
through the instinctive responses in play and other common
activities, quite apart from music. At any rate, a naturally
keen sense of time will manifest itself early in the life of a
child, and the possession of it results in early exercise of this
power and the formation of habits of precision
}
W. RELATION TO TRAINING .
Nature of gain in training. As in pitch training in the
hearing of musical time is largely a progressiº gaining of
knowledge about the time forms and the development of
habits in grasping more and more rich complexes of temporal
forms. We have reason to think that the promise of gain
through practice is in some degree proportional to the
natural capacity as measured in the above test. If so, a
person who ranks 10 per cent may earn a small increment
with his talents, whereas a person who ranks 100 per cent
may earn a proportionally larger increment. -
Relation to music lessons. A comparison of the amount
of musical training and the sense of time, on the same prin-
ciple as for pitch in Table II, Chapter II, shows only a slight
correlation. This may be interpreted in either of two ways:
musical training does not seem to improve the elemental
sense of time as measured in this test ; or, there is but slight
evidence to the effect that those who have a good sense of
time are selected for musical education. In either case the
musical educator will find a poser.
Relation to ability in singing. On the other hand, correlat-
ing the rating of the children in singing, as judged by their
teachers, with measured capacity in time sense, we find a
fairly marked tendency toward agreement. That means
either that singing develops the sense of time or that those
II 2
THE SENSE OF TIME
who have a good sense of time tend to sing — unquestion-
ably both.
VI. RELATION TO INTELLIGENCE
The elem ntal sense of time varies slightly with intelli-
gence. T is shown by correlations of capacity in time
sense with “brightness '' as described above for pitch.
This tendency toward agreement is accounted for largely
by the fact bat nersons who are so dull as to lack power of
concentrate-le Flication will make a poor record in the
test altheºry, they may actually have a keen sense of time
in their or "nary perception.
VII. RELATION OF SENSE OF TIME TO SENSE OF PITCH
In elaborate studies on this point, both among children
and adults, we find but little correlation. Pitch and time
may be regarded as fairly independent variables. The
characteristic relationship expressed in the Pearson coeffi-
cient 1 amounts to r = 17, p. e. .04.
VIII. MUSICAL SIGNIFICANCE
This talent in related activities. It has been pointed out
that this test is basic in that the real appreciation and expres-
sion of music presupposes such a power. Accurate deter-
mination of differences in this ability, therefore, point
toward corresponding effects upon the power of appreciation
and the expression of music, and it should not be limited
to music alone, or even to hearing, for the time sense operates
in many other adjustments, as through sight and touch,
and individual differences in this sense may be of very far-
reaching consequence in regard to the fitness of individuals
for different kinds of occupations involving other senses
1 See Brown, Wm., “Mental Measurement,” Cambridge Univ. Press.
|
113 -
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
than hearing. It is a well-known fact that the person who
has trouble with time in music is, as a rule, a poor dancer,
awkward in military drill, and defective in many other types
of skillful movements which depend upon precision in time.
Need of precision. It has been said that the appreciation
of good music does not necessarily involve a keen sense of
time because musical expression takes liberties with exact
time; but the response to that is that it requires a keen
sense of time to appreciate fully the graceful and artistic
deviation from right time. Indeed, it requires a higher
power than that of being merely mechanically exact. Mis-
takes in time, neglect of time, or irregularity of time cannot
per se be regarded as beautiful. The sense of time is taxed
particularly hard in the larger units of complex rhythms
where artistic balances are sought.
Music classified on this basis. More stress is laid upon
time in some forms of music than in others, and this is sig-
nificant for vocational guidance in that we may find oppor-
tunities in music for those who have an inferior sense of
time but possess other capacities. No place can be found
in the orchestra for a person with a defective sense of time,
while there is abundant room for a vocal solo and other
rendition in which the performer is relatively free from the
necessity of synchronism.
Significance of early rating. For purposes of guidance,
the main thing of import is that the inborn, elemental sense
of time is discoverable early in childhood; that there are
large and fairly fixed differences in this endowment; that
this talent as a basic capacity is relatively independent of
age, training, and intelligence; and that the chances of
musical achievement, so far as hearing of time is concerned,
are probably roughly proportional to the natural talent.
114
CHAPTER V
THE SENSE OF RHYTHM
I. THE NATURE OF RHYTHM
Definition. The sense of rhythm is an instinctive dis-
position to group recurrent sense impressions vividly and
with precision, by time, or intensity, or both, in such a way
as to derive pleasure and efficiency through the grouping.
A complex process. Rhythm is, thus, not an attribute
of sensation, like time and intensity. It is a complex pro-
cess and involves literally the whole organism in the form of
responsiveness to measured intervals of time or tone.
Rhythm as a whole presents two fundamental aspects,
the perception of rhythm and rhythmic action.
Subjective rhythm. The perception of rhythm may be
either subjective or objective. Subjective rhythm is the
grouping of tones or time intervals which are absolutely
uniform in time and intensity, quite as though certain of
the notes were actually accented. This is a universal
tendency which may easily be verified. If, for example,
a series of tones of absolute uniformity in every respect
be played, the listener will inevitably hear time in measures,
for example, # or 3 time, and will actually hear the appro-
priate notes accented. A good illustration of this is found
in a very crude way when one is lying in a Pullman sleeper
* Essentially as printed in The Musical Quarterly, Oct., 1918.
115
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
and the successive beats from the crossing of rail joints
Set up a rhythm which carries tunes that come into one's
head. The rails seem, as it were, to beat the time emphati-
cally into measures. The writer recalls once being haunted
by the plantation melody, “What kind o' a crown you
gwine to wear? Golden crown?” As he allowed the
imagery of the melody to flow, the accentuation of the click
of the rails became very prominent and insistent as a rhythm.
One who has a highly developed sense of rhythm may, even
in eating soup, feel the various movements divided into
measures with their artistic grouping of long interval and
short interval, some objectively and others only subjec-
tively marked, with occasional cadences; yet a person
watching the movement might not be able to see any rhythm
in the actual movements. -
Objective rhythm. The objective rhythm as we find it
ordinarily in prose and poetry is marked by emphasis of
time or intensity, or both. Occasionally it may be also
through pitch, although that always involves intensity.
It is probable that it may also come through other senses
than hearing.
Rhythm personal. Subjective rhythm is more funda-
mental than objective rhythm and always plays a large
rôle in the objective. This is the reason why we find rhythm
more essentially a matter of personality rather than a matter
of objective grouping. All rhythm is primarily a projection
of personality. The rhythm is what I am. For him who
is not endowed with this talent the objective workings of
rhythm in nature and art are largely wasted.
Free and regulated rhythmic action. Rhythmic action
we shall find divided into two large groups, frce cºnd regu-
lated. Free rhythm is the temporal or intensive stress which
II6
THE SENSE OF REHYTHM
One naturally makes in free movements, whereas regulated
rhythm requires, either consciously or unconsciously, the
stressing by time or intensity in synchronism with set stand-
ards of time, or in conformity to set standards of stress.
Five basic capacities. While the perception of rhythm
involves the whole organism, it requires primarily five
fundamental capacities. The first two of these are the
sense of time and the sense of intensity, corresponding
respectively to the two attributes of sound which consti-
tute the sensory media of rhythm. The third and fourth
are auditory imagery and motor imagery, that is, the capac-
ity for reliving vividly in representation the auditory expe-
rience and the motor attitudes respectively. The fifth is
a motor impulse for rhythm, an instinctive tendency chiefly
unconscious and largely organic. These five factors may
be said to be basic to the sense of rhythm. Other general
factors, such as emotional type and temperament, logical
span, or creative imagination, are intimately woven into
the warp and woof of rhythm, but we shall probably find
that these are secondary to the primary and basic forces
named.
II. WHAT RHYTHM DOES
Process of analysis. To gain some insight into the
actual nature of rhythm, it may be well to point out some
of the things that rhythm does on the side of perception
as distinguished from action, which will be the equivalent to
pointing out the sources of pleasure and means to efficiency
in rhythm.
Rhythm favors perception by grouping. It has been dem-
onstrated that under happy grouping one can remember
approximately as many small groups as one can remember
117
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
individual objects without grouping; for example, in listen-
ing to a series of notes, one can grasp nearly as many meas-
ures, if they are heard rhythmically, as one could grasp
individual sounds, if they were not heard rhythmically.
This is a principle which is involved in all auditory percep-
tion. Individual sounds are grouped in measures and
phrases, phrases and periods, periods and movements, etc.
The ability to grasp in terms of larger and larger units is
a condition for achievement. The development of this
ability results in power to handle vast numbers of sounds
with ease, and such success is a source of pleasure. This is
true not only in poetry and in music but in our natural
hearing, even under primitive conditions. Thus, rhythm
has become a biological principle of efficiency, a condition
for advance and achievement and a perpetual source of
satisfaction. This satisfaction need not be conscious.
The rhythm need not be conspicuous in order to be effective.
In music and poetry we play with rhythm, as it were, and
thereby develop it in expansive and artistic forms.
Rhythm adjusts the strain of attention. In poetry and
music, for instance, the rhythm enables us to anticipate
the magnitude of units which are to be grasped. This in
turn makes it possible to adjust the effort in such a way as
to grasp the unit at the strategic moment and to relax the
strain for a moment between periods. Of this, again, we
may not be immediately conscious, but it may be readily
demonstrated by experiment, as, for example, if we should
break up a measure as in going from # to # time without
warning. The ordinary measure in poetry and music is
determined by what is known as the attention wave. Our
attention is periodic. This can be demonstrated in a variety
of ways and reveals a characteristic of all our attention,
118
THE SENSE OF RHYTHM
namely, that it flows not in a steady stream but by jets.
This is a principle which is made use of in nature and in
industry, as, for example, the lighting current. The current
which energizes our lamps, is not, as a rule, a steady So-called
direct current, but is “alternating,” that is, coming in pulsa-
tions, usually about sixty a second, which is frequent enough
to give us the impression of continuous illumination. Mov-
ing pictures illustrate the same principle. The rhythmic
measure, then, is simply a taking advantage of nature's
supply of pulsating efforts of attention. And when the
measure fits the attention wave it gives us a restful feeling
of satisfaction and ease. This in turn results in what is
known as secondary passive attention, which is more econom-
ical and more efficient than voluntary attention. Thus,
it comes about that we acquire a feeling of ease and power
and adjustment when we listen to rhythmic measures
because we get the largest returns for the least outlay, and
the tendency to seek this assumes a biological importance
because it tends to preserve and enhance life. \
Rhythm gives us a feeling of balance. It is built on sym-
metry, and when this symmetry involves within itself a
certain element of flexibility which is well proportioned,
we have grace. When we read an ordinary prose sentence,
we pay no attention to the structural form ; but when we
scan the dactylic hexameter, we fall into the artistic mood,
distinctly conscious of a symmetry and beauty in form, and
in this sense rhythm becomes a thing in itself. Poetry may
contain ideas and music may represent sentiment ; but the
rhythmic structure is in itself an object of art, and the placid
perception of this artistic structure takes the form of the feel-
ing of balance under various degrees of delicate support. Chil-
dren sense the rhythm of poetry before they do its meaning.)
119
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Rhythm gives us a feeling of freedom, luxury, and expanse.
It gives us a feeling of achievement in molding or creating,
of rounding out a design. This sense of freedom is in one
respect the commonplace awareness of the fact that one
is free to miss the consciousness of periodicity in countless
Ways, yet chooses to be in the active and aggressive attitude
of achievement. As our eye scans the delicate tracery in
the repeated pattern near the base of the cathedral and then
sweeps upward and delineates the harmonious design con-
tinued in measures gradually tapering off into the towering
spire, — all one unit of beauty expressing the will and imagi-
nation of the architect; so in music, when our ear grasps
the intricate rhythms and follows them from the ground-
work up through the delicate tracery into towering climaxes
or clustered pinnacles of rhythmic tone figures, we feel as
though we did this all because we wished to, because we
craved it, because we were free to do it, because we were
able to do it.
Rhythm gives us a feeling of power. Rhythm carries.
It is like a dream of flying; it is so easy to soar. One
feels as if he could lift himself by his boot straps. The
pattern once grasped, we have an assurance of ability to
cope with the future. This leads to a disregard of the ear
element and results in a motor attitude, a projection of the
self in action; for rhythm is never rhythm unless one feels
that he himself is acting it, or, what may seem incongruous,
that he is even carried by his own action.
Rhythm stimulates and lulls. Pronounced rhythm brings
on a feeling of elation which not infrequently results in a
mild form of ecstasy or absent-mindedness, a loss of conscious-
ness of the environment. It excites and it makes us in-
sensible to the excitation, giving the feeling of being lulled.
120
THE SENSE OF RHYTHM
This is well illustrated in the case of dancing. Seated in
comfort and enjoyment in pleasant conversation, the strik-
ing up of a waltz is a call which excites to action. It starts
the organic, rhythmic movements of the body the moment
it is heard and one is drawn, as it were, enticingly into the
conventional movements of the dance. But no sooner is
this done, in the true enjoyment of the dance, than one
becomes oblivious to intellectual pursuits, launches himself,
as it were, upon the carrying measures, feels the satisfaction
of congenial partnership, graceful step, freedom of move-
ment, action without any object other than the pleasure
in the action itself. There comes a sort of auto-intoxica-
tion from the stimulating effect of the music and a successful
self-expression in balanced movements sustained by that
music and its associations. The same is true of the march.
When the march is struck up, it stimulates tension of every
muscle of the body. The soldier straightens up, takes a
firmer step, observes more keenly, and is all attention ;
but as he gets into the march, this passes into its opposite,
a state of passivity, obliviousness to environment, and
obliviousness to effort and action. The marked time and
accent in the music of the band governs the movements of
all parts of the body in happy adjustment. He can march
farther than without the music, in better form, and with
less fatigue.
Rhythm is instinctive. As we saw above, the grouping
into natural periods of the flow of attention is a biological
principle of preservative value. It is likewise true that
the tendency to act in rhythmic movements is of biological
value, and for a similar reason. If one does not know where
to put his hand or foot in the next movement, he is ill at
ease and will be inefficient in the movement ; but if move-
Wh oA’
YA Y.
Fre
121
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
ments may be foreseen and even forefelt, and an accom-
panying signal sets off the movement without conscious
effort, then results a greatly lessened expenditure of energy,
!, a more effective action, and a feeling of satisfaction. Any-
thing that accomplishes these ends in the life of a species
will tend to become instinctive, to develop a natural tend-
ency always to move in rhythmic measure; and, when
Our movements are not actually divided into objective
periodicity, it tends to appear in a subjective rhythm. We
cannot have adequate perception of rhythm without this
motor setting. The bearing of this instinctive motor
tendency on the perception of rhythm lies in the fact that
with the motor instinct goes an instinct to be in a receptive
attitude for the perception of such rhythms, both subjective
and objective. -
Rhythm finds resonance in the whole organism. Rhythm
is not a matter of the ear or the finger only ; it is a matter
of the two fundamental powers of life; namely, knowing
and acting. And, therefore, indirectly it affects the cir-
culation, respiration, and all the secretions of the body in
such a way as to arouse an agreeable feeling. Herein we
find the groundwork of emotion ; for rhythm, whether in
perception or action, is emotional when highly developed,
and results in response of the whole organism to its pulsa-
tions. Such organic pulsations and Secretions are the
physical counterpart of emotion. Thus, when we listen
to the dashing billows or the trickling raindrops, when we
see the swaying of the trees in the wind, the waving of the
wheat fields, we respond to these, we feel ourselves in them,
and there is rhythm everywhere, not only in every plastic
part of our body, but in the world as we know it at that
moment.
122
THE SENSE OF RHYTHM
Rhythm arouses sustained and enriching association.
One need not saunter through the woods where the Wag-
nerian scenes are laid in order to experience the rich flow
of visual association with a rhythmic flow of music in Lohen-
grin. In most persons it comes irresistibly through free
imagination. Our consciousness of pleasure in music is
often a consciousness of Seeing and doing things rather than
a consciousness of hearing rhythm, the tendency being to
project ourselves through the sensory cue of hearing into the
more common fields of vision and action.
Rhythm reaches out in extraordinary detail and com-
plexity with progressive mastery. Rhythm makes use of
novelty. The simple rhythms soon become monotonous,
but one can find endless opportunity for enrichment by the
complications of which the measure, the phrase, or the
more attenuated rhythmic unit is capable. This is true
both for perception and for action. A rhythmic nature
tends to live more and more in the exquisite refinements
and far-reaching ramifications of rhythmic perceptions
and rhythmic feelings of movements, real or imagined.
This power to encompass may be vastly enhanced by train-'s
{
ing in the rhythmic arts. The sense of rhythm is like the
instinct of curiosity: it takes one into wonders after won-
ders. Curiosity asks one question of nature and nature
asks her two. One degree of rhythmic perception acquired
becomes a vantage ground from which we may approach
higher levels, and each of these traversed in turn leads to
higher vantage grounds, level after level, vista after vista.
Rhythm a primary motive for play. The instinctive
craving for the experience of rhythm tends to result in play,
which is the free self-expression for the pleasure of expres–
sion; or, as Ruskin puts it, “exertion of body or mind,
123
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
made to please ourselves, and with no determined end.”
It makes us play, young and old. It determines the form
of play, in large part. Through play it leads to self-realiza-
tion by serving as an ever-present incentive for practice.
Aim of the inventory. This inventory of the sources of
pleasure in rhythm is fragmentary and inadequate, but it
should at least accomplish two ends. It should dispel the
notion that the perception of rhythm is a simple mental
process or action, and should make us realize that to the
person who is endowed with this gift in a high degree, it
is one of the great sources of pleasure, not only in music
and art, but in the commonplace humdrum of life. To
a person who is not so endowed this rôle of rhythm may be
no more concretely patent than the ever-presence of color
is to the color blind.
III. MEASUREMENT OF THE SENSE OF RHYTHM
Three methods of approach. That enormous individual
differences in this endowment obtain is a noted, if not
notorious, fact. There are three ways of approaching the
problem of concrete analysis or measurement for the pur-
pose of securing reliable information about the relative
presence or absence of this talent.
First. The capacity for rhythm rests upon certain funda-
mental powers which can be measured serviceably in various
forms. Of these we have already indicated the method
and the significance of the measure of the sense of time and
the sense of intensity. These are measures of capacity
for precision in the perception of rhythm. Auditory imag-
ery and motor imagery, as we shall see later, may also be
measured serviceably. These two are measures of the
capacity for realistic vividness, one of the flow of sound,
124 --~
THE SENSE OF RFIYTHM
the other of the motor response to that Sound in the percep-
tion of rhythm. These two measures of basic capacities
taken together constitute a fair index to the degree and type 2.
of rhythmic sense present. While we have no TFESTreas-
ure of the motor impulse, which is the motive power in the
perception of rhythm, there are serviceable methods of rating
it. The motor.aspects will be discussed in a later chapter.
Second. There are a number of tests which measure
actual precision-ºrthe perception of rhythm. Perhaps the 2.
best of these is one which is analogous to the sense of time
test, described above. The same instrument and the same
method may be employed as in time sense except that,
instead of having uniform time intervals, we have the
rhythmic divisions into long and short, for example, two
quarter notes and a half note. Four such measures may
be given as a standard and, in the fifth, the half note may
be made either too long or too short, the test being to deter-
mine the accuracy in the perception of the long intervals.
This is a specific measure of precision in temporal rhythmic
perception. Similar tests may be made for the attribute
of intensity, but it must be remembered that these tests are
merely measures of precision and not measures of the rich-
ness of rhythmic experience. *
The methods to be explained for the measure of auditory
and motor imagery may also be extended in such a way as
to give us tests for the capacity for vividness, stability,
and fullness of the rhythmic representation in actual rhyth-
mic setting. For experimental purposes many of these
measures are serviceable, and may be valuable ; but, for
the discovery of individual differences in guidance, they
probably take us too far into detail, unless we are to make
a very exhaustive analysis.
125
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Third. A musician, who knows his own capacities in
rhythm, ranks high in sensitiveness to rhythm, and has a
psychological insight into the nature and structure of the
Sense of rhythm, has in music itself abundant means for
observing the child's capacity and, indeed, abundant situa-
tions which should enable him to analyze the talent for
rhythm into its chief components and enable him to rate
the various traits for practical purposes. In fact, he need
not wait for music, but he may analyze these powers as they
are revealed in the spontaneous play of the child.
Vividness and precision. For guidance in music there
are, then, two fundamental kinds of rhythmic perception.
One is vividness and the other is precision. A person
may have effusive rhythmic feeling in the perception of
music and live himself into it most realistically and yet
not have any capacity for precision. Likewise one may
have fine capacity for precision in rhythmic perception and
yet not have the vivid emotional experience of the rhythm.
Between these extremes we have many types of rhythmic
hearing, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Significance in musical rating. Although the sense of
rhythm responds to training, there are very great individual
differences in capacity for achievement. From the point
of view of quantitative analysis, two factors must be borne
in mind: first, that the relative presence or absence of one
or more of the basic capacities for rhythm determines the
permanent traits of the developed musical mind in rhythm ;
and, second, that the relative presence or absence of such
capacities in childhood may be regarded as a fair index to
achievement, or the ability to profit by rhythmic training.
126
CHAPTER VI
THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
I. DEFINITION OF TERMS
Form of the sound wave. Three preceding chapters have
dealt in turn with those attributes of tone which are due
respectively to the frequency, the amplitude, and the dura-
tion of the sound waves. We shall now turn to those char-
acteristics of a tone which are due primarily to the form of
vibration. These are generally spoken of as the timbre,
Quality, clang tint, tone color, or character of the tone.
Quality and timbre. The term “quality” has been used
in physics, music, and common speech to designate those
tone characteristics which are due to the form of the sound
wave ; but psychologically this is incorrect, because the
quality of a tone is its pitch, just as color is the quality of
visual and taste is the quality of gustatory impressions.
This is merely a statement of fact, showing that the common
use of the word is wrong. The French word timbre, meaning
a stamp or mark, is adopted in the English language as
a more technical and psychologically appropriate substitute
for the term “quality.” In so far as timbre is merely a com-
plex ; pitches, we might speak of simple, or pure, quality
(pitch) and complex quality (timbre); or primary quality
(pitch) and secondary quality (timbre). But, in the inter-
est of science, we must accustom ourselves to the more
general use of the word “timbre” because it is specific.
127
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Nature of timbre. Timbre, then, covers all those tone
characteristics which range through the practically infinite
variety of pitch complexes in a single tone, from the pure
tone at One extreme, through all the degrees of musical
richness of tone, to the noise or toneless sound at the other.
We shall be helped in our orientation in this field if we keep
clearly in mind two concepts: first, that, psychologically,
timbre is to be understood and explained as a complex of
pitches fused into a single tone ; and, second, that, physi-
cally, timbre is expressed in terms of the form of a sound
wave. We may begin our study with the pure tone and
trace from that the gradual building of complex impurities
and richness of tone, even down to the non-tonal charac-
teristics which we call noise.
II. PURITY
Pure tones. A pure tone is one which is caused by smooth,
uniform waves, usually described as a sine-curve, or pen-
dular, because the sounding body, such as a tuning fork,
acts like a pendulum, and a tracing from the tip of its prong
produces the characteristic sine-curve as in Figure 1, Chap-
ter II. Musically, a pure tone is thin, Smooth, stable, and
free from overtones and noises accessory to the fundamental
pitch. It can be defined accurately because it is simple
and constant.
Useful in exact work. In experimental work of physics,
music, and psychology, when it is necessary to define and
control the timbre accurately, the pure tone is used exten-
sively, and should be used wherever possible because it is
the most elementary form of tone character. Pure tones
may be produced by a variety of means available in a techni-
cal laboratory; but the most common means in use is the
- 128
THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
tuning fork with the resonator, as in Figure 5, Chapter II.
The tuning fork of itself emits a relatively pure tone, but
this is further refined by the selecting power of the resonator
which throws the true tone into strong relief and does not
reënforce partial or accessory tones.
Rôle in music. Pure tones are rarely used in music,
partly because they cannot be produced by the voice or the
ordinary musical instruments, and partly because they
are thin, that is, they lack richness and flexibility. But
purity in itself possesses a charm in music and is often an
ideal goal in musical tone production, both vocal and instru-
mental. The choralcello is a new “piano’’ remarkable for the
fact that through the operation of certain magnetic devices
it produces relatively pure tones like those of tuning forks.
III. OVERTONES
Overtones explain timbre. The richness of musical tones
is due to the presence and relative distribution of overtones.
There is no more fundamental and far-reaching principle of
interpretation of tone character than that of the overtone.
The overtone accounts for the production of vowels, for all
timbre differencesininstruments and voice, and for the infinite
variety of possibilities of change in timbre in speech and
music, as well as in the infinite range of sounds in nature.
Nature of overtones. The physical counterparts of the
overtones are called partials. When a string, a bell, a reed,
the human vocal cord, or any other sound-producing body
vibrates, it vibrates not only as a whole but also in parts.
This may be illustrated in the case of a vibrating string, as
in the violin. When the string is bowed it divides itself
into segments, each of which has a vibration frequency of
its own, inversely proportional to its length. It vibrates
129
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
as a whole, yielding the fundamental pitch of the clang;
it, also, vibrates in halves and thirds; each of these seg-
ments also vibrates in halves and thirds; each of the result-
ing segments also vibrates in halves and thirds, and so on.
Consequently, under favorable conditions the string may
be active in from twenty to thirty segments. Each seg-
mental vibration is called a partial and is heard as an Over-
tone. Theoretically there are as many independent tones
as there are segments of the string, aſ ºf experiment,
they may be isolated and heard one at a tºnna. Practically
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TO | | | |2 13 4 5 16 17 18 19 20
129 259,388 57 647 776 905 1035 II64 1293 (423 1552168! IB|| 1940 2069299,232824572586
C C C C E G B C D E Gº G A B* B C C*D D'E
129 259,388, 5.7 652 775 922 IQ35 ||6 |304 1463 1550 (6421843 953 20692922323246 2607
Fig. I. — A Series of Overtones (Miller).
they fuse into one rich tone, because the partials stand in
a harmonic series and are subordinated to the fundamental
which is regarded as the recognized tone or pitch. Such a
series is shown in musical notation in Figure 1.
Analysis of a complex wave. Some really wonderful
work has been done recently in the analysis of tones, in
which it is demonstrated that we can photograph the sound
of any instrument or voice and apply a mechanical analyzer
to the photograph of the wave in such a way as to get an
actual tracing of all the component overtones involved in

130
THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
I
7
6
o
.::
- 7 2. 2O
Fig. 2. — A Complex Sound Wave Analyzed into Its Components (Miller)






I31
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
that tone. Every rich and musical sound wave has a series
of irregularities corresponding exactly to the number and
force of the overtones present. A true photographic or
other form of record of a single wave is, therefore, an accu-
rate representation of the timbre of the tone.
An example. In Figure 2 the complex sound wave of
an organ tone is analyzed into its harmonic components.
The irregular wave at the top is the form of the actual wave
as photographed. By the application of the instrument
known as the “tone analyzer ' ' to the wave, its twelve
component partials may be determined showing the pitch
of each overtone in terms of the length of the wave (or its
reciprocal, frequency), and the relative prominence of each
overtone in terms of the amplitude or height of the wave.
Here 1 is the fundamental, 2 the octave, 3 the twelfth, etc.
Reconstruction of the wave. By a companion instru-
ment, the “tone synthesizer,” the process may be reversed ;
given the number and intensity of each Overtone it is possible
to reconstruct the complex wave. Any number of inde-
pendently determined overtones in a rich tone may be
combined into a single resultant, the exact form of the orig-
inal complex wave such as that at the top of Figure 2.
Proof of this is seen in Figure 3. The light curve represents
a photograph of a sound wave. This was analyzed into its
components as in Figure 2 by the “ analyzer.” Then these
components were recombined by the “synthesizer,” with
the result that the black pen-tracing of the reconstructed
chart practically coincided with the original photograph —
certainly a wonderful achievement in the dissection and the
reconstruction of a tone.
1 For the best illustrations and explanation of this process see D. C.
Miller, “The Science of Musical Sounds,” The Macmillan Co.
132
THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
The proof of division is multiplication. One of the
prettiest proofs of this analysis of tones is found in the
fact that, with a harmonic series of tuning forks or pipes,
it is possible to speak all the vowels. That is, by emphasiz-
ing certain overtones we may get the tuning forks to say,
even more accurately than the human voice, a, e, i, o, u,
and their numerous phonetic variants.
Fig. 3. – The Reconstruction of a Complex Sound Wave from Its Components
(Miller).
The illustrations, Figures 4–9, show how clearly one
instrument or voice is distinguished from another by its
wave form. Each of these wave forms (tuning fork, violin,
oboe, clarinet, bass voice, soprano voice) can be analyzed
into its component partials, as was done for the organ tone,
Figure 2.
* All taken, by permission, from Miller.
133

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Fork (Miller).
In1ng
1e Sound Wave from a Tu
– Photograph of the Simp
18-4
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ſ.
}
ſae.
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iolin
– Photograph of the Sound Wave from a Wi
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iller).
– Photograph of the Sound Wave from an Oboe (M
ig. 6.
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134










THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
Fig. 7. – Photograph of the Sound Wave From a Clarinet. (Miller.)
Fig. 8- Photograph of a Bass Voice. (Miller.)
Fig. 9. – Photograph of a Soprano Voice. (Miller.)
No excuse for vagueness. In view of this clearness of
conception there is no excuse for the almost universal
ambiguity and confusion about the character of tones which
we find in discussions of music and particularly in the practi-
cal terminology of the profession. If the nature of timbre
135



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
is clearly understood, one can speak of it even in exact and
quantitative terms technically and certainly in clear and
constant terms in a general discussion. Timbre is nothing
Vague, but something which can be defined with precision
and spoken of in exact terms, namely, the number and
relative prominence of overtones.
Is there any wonder that there is confusion of theory
about the teaching of timbre in tone-production ?
IV. MEASUREMENT OF THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
Indirect measurement. The sense of timbre involves
primarily a keen sense of pitch because, whether consciously
or unconsciously, the hearing of timbre is the hearing
of a series of overtones present in a clang. But the sense of
* Contrast this with the conception of timbre shown in the following
account of timbre found in a book entitled “Practical Psychology of
Voice and of Life,” recently written by a prominent musician and pub-
lished by one of the best music firms:
“What is the ‘timbre'? It is difficult to describe; as mentioned be-
fore, it arises out of the principle of the ‘liaison’ in the French language.
The old Italians were careful to make all the notes join, but the timbre is
something more; it suggests an enveloping Overtone which comes to a
rounded point in the forward dome of the face, ‘dans le masque,” as the
French say. There is a strong vibration felt in the masque of the face,
at a point immediately back of the nose, just under the eyes. I do not
quite like to call it the hum in the voice, as that rather implies weakness,
while the timbre gives strength ; it is the forward humming ring, or ring-
ing hum, which gives intensity and carrying power Solidity and character,
whether the voice is loud or soft. It is powerful and insinuating, making
it possible for the voice to be heard through a mass of Orchestral sounds.
It is the ring in the voice, the opposite of the shout. It is the natural
overtone which bears the same relation to the fundamental tone as the
spirit does to the body; it is the astral body of a tone which carries the
message from the singer to the audience. It gives the divine Spark which
kindles sympathy in all within hearing, and its presence assures the singer
that there is complete connection between his inner Soul-forces and his
outer means of expression. Without it no really expressive artistic sing-
ing can be done.”
136
THE SENSE OF TIMBRE
pitch does not necessarily guarantee a keen sense of timbre,
because the latter depends also upon the possession of a
certain degree of ear-mindedness. This ear-mindedness
is not a simple or clearly analyzed concept. We shall
discuss it under the head of auditory imagery and must
content ourselves for the present with the mere statement
that it represents a natural bent of mind for attention to
tones and to the analysis of them in a concrete way. The
sense of timbre also posits a certain degree of the sense of
intensity. For most practical purposes we shall have a
correct index to the sense of timbre in terms of the sense of
pitch and the sense of intensity, which we have studied,
together with auditory imagery which we shall discuss
later.
Direct measurement. If, however, we wish to test the
sense of timbre by itself as a complex process, we may
proceed in the following manner. Take a series of five
tuning forks representing the low tones in a harmonic series
and sound them together into a telephone with a person
listening at a receiver in another room. The transmission
through the telephone tends to fuse the five tones into one.
We can then vary the “mixture '' by strengthening or weak-
ening the relative intensity of one of the five forks, which
are being sounded simultaneously, and sound, in a succes-
sion of one or two hundred trials, a given standard about
half of the time, and, in the other trials, a series of incre-
ments in the strength of the varied overtone, so graded as
to be easy enough for a poor ear and difficult enough for a
very good ear. Then we proceed by the method described
above to find the per cent of right cases.
Limitation usually on motor side. As stated above,
given a reasonable Sense of pitch and sense of intensity,
137
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
together with auditory imagery, one may be practically
certain of the natural capacity for the sense of timbre.
Musically, the main crux is on the motor side, that is,
the ability to produce a set tone quality; at least 75 per
*cent in a normal community have a sufficiently good ear,
for practical purposes in music, for the hearing of timbre,
whereas only a small percentage in the normal community
have the capacity of producing good timbre either by voice
or by instrument.
\ Summary. In brief, then, timbre is due to the form of
the sound wave. The form of the wave is due to the num-
ber of overtones and their relative intensity. Each over-
tone may be thought of as an independent tone of a given
pitch, and the effect that each overtone shall have upon the
form of the sound wave depends upon its pitch and its
relative intensity. The hearing of timbre, therefore, gives
no new attribute of sound ; a tone of a given timbre is merely
a complex of a given number of pitches in their respective
intensities, usually blending into the experience of a single
tone.
138
CHAPTER VII
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
WE have seen that what is ordinarily spoken of as a single
tone is really a clang, a very rich complex of tones. When
we pass to the subject of consonance and deal with two tones
sounding simultaneously we introduce certain factors in
addition to that of the harmonic series of overtones. -
I. COMBINATION TONES
Beats. In the first place we have the phenomenon of
beats. When two notes such as c-că are sounded together
they produce a rough combination in which the beats are
conspicuous. These beats are caused by the interference
of one series of vibrations with the other. Thus, if we sound
two tuning forks, one 435 d. v., and the other 436 d. v., the
resulting tone will be a pulsation swelling into a loud tone
once a second and coming almost to silence between these
pulsations. The physical explanation is that during a
part of a second the two wave phases reënforce each other;
and produce a relatively strong resultant ; whereas, in the
other part, they interfere with each other, and this inter-
ference results in relative silence.
The first difference tone. When these beats become
rapid, they gradually fuse and we get what is known as a
difference tone so that, if two tones, from, e. g., c', 256 d. v.,
and e', 320 d. v., we get not only two tones, c' and e', but a
combination tone, the pitch of which is represented by the
I39
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
differences in the vibration frequency in the two tones, in
this case a tone of 64 d. v. This tone, known as the first
difference tone, or Tartini's tone, is illustrated in Figure
1 from Titchener, who furnishes excellent directions for
those who wish to demonstrate these combination tones
experimentally. The first difference tone is expressed by
the formula d1 =h-1, where d' denotes the first difference
tone, and h the higher and 1 the lower of the two tones in
a two-clang.
The second difference tone. For each two-clang there is
another combination tone called the second difference tone.
This is expressed by the formula d” = 21–h. For example,
in the above case the two-clang, 256 d. v. and 320 d. v.,
would yield a second difference tone of 2×256–320, or
192 d. v. Some examples are given in musical notation,
Figure 2. -
Summation. The trained ear may also hear at the same
time a summation tone which is very high, being represented
by the sum of the two vibration frequencies, in this case
576 d. v. Titchener observes that : “Difference tones are
heard best with high-pitched generators, on account of
their depth; summation-tones with low-pitched generators.
Difference tones that fall below the Octave C-C are, however,
intrinsically so weak as to be heard with difficulty. They
are plainest within the limits C-c".
“As a general rule, generating tones (or relatively simple
clangs) give better difference tones than generating clangs
(or clangs rich in overtones). Tuning forks and blown bot-
tles (stopped organ pipes, tubes), sounding at a moderate
intensity, are therefore easier to work with than string or
1 E. B. Titchener, “Experimental Psychology,” Student's Manual,
Qualitative, p. 40 ft., The Macmillan Co.
140
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
2-(N-
2s
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Fig. I. — Illustrations of First Difference Tone.

DISTANCE OF FIRST DIFFER-
ENCE TONE BELOW. Low ER
GENERATOR
Triple octave and major
seventh
Triple octave
Double octave and
major third
Double octave
Twelfth
Major eleventh-
Octave
Major sixth
Fifth
Major third +
Major second-i-
Unison
VIB.-RATIos of
INTERVAls
I 5: 16
5:6
4 : 5
3 : 4
32 : 45
(Titchener.)
141
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Distance of Second DIFFER- 2-/\- Viê-RATſos of
ENCE TONE BELOW LOWER - sū INTERVALS
GENERATOR Cººks Cººk
|| ||
Minor second-H T * \| 15: 16
|
ill lº
Major second-- | T. J. \ 8: 9
|
Major third | N 5:6
Fourth QLL SN 4 : 5
Fifth QLl L NWy 3 : 4
Major sixth-- $|| T sº 32 : 45
\º
Octave Fiºri, Q Q 2 : 3
Octave and major third | Hiſ NR 5:8
six-
Octave and fifth TTUP \ |\ 3: 5
Double octave and ma- SDT Sºs
jor second Ql L N \ 9:16
$ ºr
Triple octave *]+. | | \ N 8: I5
[Tone absent: unison,
I : I, gives II N || 1:2

Fig. 2. — Illustrations of Second Difference Tone. (Titchener.)
142
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
reed instruments. The overtones of clangs generate dif-
ference tones of their own, which serve to distract attention
from the difference tone of the fundamentals.
“In certain cases, however, the secondary difference tones
may reënforce the primary difference tone. This happens
with clangs of shrill, sharp, thin clang tint. Try with toy
trumpet, double bicycle whistle, mouth organ, concertina.”
Resulting complexes. Sizing up the situation, then, we
realize that when two notes are sounded together, each note
consists of a clang of fused overtones and each of these clangs
produces a series of combination tones so that we hear not
Only the first of the two notes sounded, but we hear also a
third note, which is quite distinct in pitch, and possibly a
fourth or fifth. It therefore becomes a perplexing problem
of harmony to deal with harmonic relations between these
combination tones in addition to the actual notes so sounded.
II. SPATIAL FUSIONS
The principle of the telharmonium. On the other hand,
any number of simultaneous tones of the same pitch will
fuse into one, regardless of the direction from which they
come. They will be heard as a single tone located not in
any of the sources, but as a phantom sound in accordance
with very definite laws of localization. This was well
illustrated by the telharmonium, an electric organ, which,
as first set up, had the keyboard two miles down town and
the resonating horns, which produced the tones, scattered
around on top of exhibit cases in all parts of the Museum
of Natural History in New York City. Those who studied
the situation will recall that, no matter how many horns
of the same pitch there were, or how far apart they were
located within hearing distance, they would all result in
143
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
One tone located somewhere in the building, the situation
determined by the relative intensity and distance of all the
COmponent tones.
Many locations of a phantom sound. Our latest investi-
gations prove that this resultant or phantom tone may have
a considerable number of locations, each of which can be
predicted with precision on the basis of wave phase rela-
tions. That is, the phantom sound shifts its position in a
predictable way for different positions of the listener. An-
other expression of the same principle is the phenomenon
that, for a given position of the listener, a phantom sound
will move in a predictable course with variation in its pitch.
When we combine three, four, or more notes into a chord,
the complexity of the situation increases in geometric ratio.
Harmonic blends result in phantom sounds. The most
important integrating tendency is, however, the tendency
of two or more tones to fuse into one undifferentiated clang
in the same manner as a harmonic series of overtones blends
into a unitary, but rich tone.
Summary. Thus, when two violin tones are sounded
together, we encounter, on the one hand, the fact of actual
disintegration by considering overtones, and combination
tones in addition to the two fundamental clangs; On the
other hand, we integrate by accepting the fusion of Over-
tones, the fusion of consonant tones, the unification of
identical tones from various sources, and the tendency to
neglect the combination tones because lacking in objectivity.
III. NATURE OF CONSONANCE
Definition. The sense of consonance is the natural
capacity for hearing differences in consonance and disso-
nance. It is the basic power that underlies the ability to
144 -
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
judge aesthetic effects in combinations of tones, as in har-
mony. It is, therefore, an index to precision in an aesthetic
judgment of sensory impressions. We speak of consonance
and dissonance with reference to two-clangs. A two-clang
is consonant when the two tones tend to blend and to pro-
duce a relatively smooth and pure clang; and, conversely, a
two-clang is dissonant when the two tones do not tend to blend
to produce a relatively smooth and pure clang. We shall pro-
ceed on the assumption that there is a gradual transition from
the purest consonance through the various semi-consonances
and semi-dissonances to the worst dissonances.
Difference of opinion. If one turns to the mathematics,
physics, physiology, psychology, or musical history of the
concept of consonance, he meets with distressing ambiguities
and contradictions. Within none of these fields is there
a general agreement as to what consonance is. This ex-
plains the fact that different investigators come to different
conclusions according as they proceed upon one assumption
or another in regard to the nature of consonance.
Historical. Pythagoras introduced the theory of simple
mathematical ratios which was later formulated by Euler
into the law, “The degree of consonance is in direct ratio
to the magnitude of the common divisor of vibration fre-
quency.” Schopenhauer maintained that, “ music is a
means of making rational and irrational relations of num-
bers comprehensible,” not like arithmetic, by the concept,
but by bringing them to a knowledge which is perfectly,
directly, and simultaneously sensible. Consonances and
dissonances, with their many kinds and innumerable degrees
of variation, portray the differences of the human will in
the essential fields of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
Helmholtz put the matter to experiment and concluded
145
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
that consonance is dependent upon the coincidences of upper
partial tones which result in a relative absence of beats.
He, therefore, made smoothness the criterion of consonance.
To the overtones Tartini and Preyer added combination
tones. Stumpf, taking the purely psychological point of
view, made fusion the criterion of consonance: when two
tones fuse into one they are consonant. Wundt recognized,
from the psychological point of view, four criteria of scon-
Sonance : (1) purity, the number of primary difference
tones of different orders, which combine to give the conso-
nant chords a distinct or individual character; (2) uni-
formity, the uniform relation of the intervals to the compass of
the scale ; (3) the discrimination of consonance by the recog-
nition of the tonal elements, dependent on the direct and indi-
rect relation of clangs; (4) the fusion of tones into a “clang
unity” through the dominance of one of the tonal elements—
the one which arouses the most intensive associations.
º I. It is evident that, with such diverse attitudes
towārd the conception of consonance, the ranking of con-
sonances and dissonances should vary with different investi-
gators. The historical data are summarized in Table I
as given by Malmberg.” It will be observed that some of
these do not admit of a serial order but limit themselves to
five or six instead of twelve distinctions.
Reasons for disagreement. There are several reasons
for the discrepancies. In the first place, we are not justified
in classifying on a mathematical basis of simple ratios or
a simple basis of overtones or combination tones, because
it has been demonstrated that the phenomena which we
call consonance do not conform to any such simple scheme.
1 “Physiologische Psychologie,” II, Leipzig, 1902.
2 “The Perception of Consonance,” Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol.,
1918, VII.
146
TABLE I. HISTORICAL ORDER OF CONSONANCES AND DISSONANCE3
AUTHORS DATE INSTRUMENT METHOD CRITERIA ; §§ º;; º 3. § 5 : 6 5: 8
Franco of | Twelfth Theoretical | Pleasant-
Cologne century I) CSS 1 2 2 3 4 3 4
Euler 1739 Mathemati- | Pleasant-
cal In GSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Helmholtz 1863 Various Coinci- Smooth-
- dences of DGSS 1 2 3 5 4 6 7
upper par-
tial beats
Stumpf 1883 Pipe organ | Analysis Fusion 1 2 3 5 4 6 7
}* (different
5 stops)
Faist 1897 Pipe organ | 1 || Direct Fusion
(different 3) Analysis | Fusion 1 2 3 4 4 4 4
stops)
Meinong 1897 Violin Paired com- | Fusion 1 2 3 5 6 9 4
and parisons
Witasek
Lipps 1899 Theoretical Rhythmic
coinci-
dences 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Buch 1900 Pipe organ | Analysis Tusion I 2 3 3 3 4 4
Tonmesser Smooth-
In GSS
Krueger 1903 Tuning forks Analysis Purity | 1 2 3 4 3 6 5
Pear 1911 Tonmesser Paired Fusion 1 2 3 4. 5 7 ()
comparisons
j.
8
1
f
: : 9 :
c'e)'] c' ap'c' gp'c' bp'
5
5
5
5
5
;
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
In the second place, up to the time of Wundt, the mistake
Was made of assuming that there was only one criterion,
such as Smoothness or fusion. But, in the third place, the
fundamental source of error lies in the assumption that con-
Sonance is to be judged in terms of agreeableness; here we
ss face the difficulty that what is agreeable to one is not agree-
able to another, and what is agreeable to any individual at one
time is not necessarily agreeable to him at another time.
Three criteria of consonance. We are forced, therefore,
to define more precisely our conception of consonance by
basing the decision upon a judgment rather than upon a
feeling and to specify as the basis for this judgment the
criteria which we find involved. As a result of experimental
analysis we find these, tentatively, to be as follows:
S For consonance: For dissonance :
1. Blending — a seeming to be- 1. Disagreement — incompati-
long together, to agree. bility.
2. Smoothness — relative free- 2. Roughness — harshness, un-
dom from beats. evenness or intermittence.
3. Purity – resultant analogous 3. Richness — resultant analo-
to pure tone. (See Wundt.) gous to rich tone.
On the basis of these criteria we derive the definition stated
above: when the two tones of a two-clang tend to blend
and produce a smooth and relatively pure clang they are
said to be consonant. Dissonance is the converse of this.
Agreeableness and disagreeableness. In addition to the
above three criteria, restfulness, a feeling of completeness,
finality or satisfaction with its opposite, disquietude, a
feeling of needing to be resolved, has been thought to be a
fourth criterion; but this must be eliminated on the ground
that it is a variable affective criterion, due to progression
and Sassociation and other variable factors of harmonic
f, 148
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
value. In asking whether a two-clang is consonant or disso-
nant, therefore, we do not ask if it gives an agreeable or dis-
agreeable feeling, or which is the more agreeable or satisfy-
ing, but we require an aesthetic judgment in terms of the
three specified criteria. In so doing, we do not ignore feel-
ing; we simply limit ourselves to those conditions of agree-
ableness or disagreeableness which are constant or inherent
in the isolated two-clangs, in such a way that they can be
repeated under control.
C’C’’ c'g' c'a' c'e' C'f' C'ab' c'eb' c'gb’ C’bb' c’d' C’b' C'db'
Fig. 3. — Consonance-dissonance Rank in Terms of Blending.
The numbers at the left express the relative preference for each two-clang in
terms of the number of other two-clangs to which it is preferred.
Notation : Piano :
Fork : — — — — — —
Organ : — — —
Figures 3 to 6. Working with trained observers in con-
ference for a long period of time, on the basis of these criteria,
Malmberg established the order for the piano (tempered
scale), pipe Organ (stopped diapason), and tuning forks before
resonators (pure tones in just intonation). Figures 3, 4, and
5 show the order of rank of each interval within the octave on
the three criteria, blending, Smoothness, and purity.
1 Op. cit.

149
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Effect of timbre. These data show that the order of
rank varies with different instruments, that is, for differences
11
10 *
9 º
b
8
b
7
D
6
b
5
>
4
y ^-
3 ſº
2 .--
1
C’c’’ cºgſ c'a' c'e' c'f' C'ab' C’eb' c"gb' G' 57 C’. ſ C'db'
Fig. 4.— Consonance-dissonance Rank in Terms - thmess.
Notation same as in Figure 3.
in timbre, so that slightly different norms will be needed
for different instruments.
11
10 *
.
c'c' cºg' cºa' cºe' cºf" cab' cºeo' cºb' cºbb’ c'd' cºb' cºdb’
Fig. 5. — Consonance-dissonance Rank in Terms of Purity.
Notation same as in Figure 3.
Effect of tempered scale. A comparison of pure tones in the
tempered scale with those in just intonation showed that these
differences did not alter the rank of any intervals, although it
did resultinappreciable differences in the degree of consonance.


- - 150
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
Variation with criteria. The order is materially different
for different criteria, and this difficulty we must meet in
some effective way; because, in order to deal with conso-
nance-dissonance as a whole, it is necessary to take into
account at least these three criteria.
Fusion. As Malmberg demonstrated, the ranking on
Stumpf's criterion, fusion, does not agree with the ranking
in the three criteria here adopted. We leave it out of
account her so far as fusion means more than “blend-
c’c’’ cºg' cº aſ cºe' cºf' cab' c'eb' c'gb' cºbo' cºd’ cºb' c'do
Fig. 6. — Consonance-dissonance Rank in Terms of Fusion.
Notation same as in Figure 3.
ing,” it represents the factor of “unanalyzability '' which, in
some cases, contradicts the other criteria ; c. d5, for example,
ranks high in fusion, but low on Smoothness or blending.
Coöperation of criteria. We find that some intervals
are judged predominantly on One of these criteria, and some
on another. It is possible to base a decision primarily on a
single criterion, the appropriate one in each case, by observ-
ing the following rule: “Give the decision on blending alone
if the degree of blending is perceptibly different ; if not,
make the decision on-smoothness; and, if there is no dif-
1 Loc. cit.


151
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALE" T
ference in either smoothness or blending, base the decision
on purity.” Table II indicates the characteristic basis of
TABLE II. BASIS OF JUDGMENT FOR INDIVIDUAL PAIRs
c’ gp’ c' db” c' fº c’ d’ c'e' | c' eb’ c' g’ c' cº c' ab' | cºb' c' a'
C'dp' S
o/f/ b S
C'd’ S S S
G'e' b S D S
G'ep' b S p S p
c'g' b S b S S S
G'G'' b S b S p D b
C’ap’ S S b S b S b b
G/b’ b S b b b b b b |b
C'a' S S S S S S b b S b
C’bb’ b S b S b b b b S b S
NOTATION: b, blending; p, purity; S, Smoothness.

judgment for all the possible combinations of notes within
the octave in such a procedure.
11

Fig. 7. – The Norm for Rank of Consonance and Dissonance.
Notation same as in Figure 3.
1
O
N -
N
-N
C’C’’ c'g'' c'a' c'eſ C'f' C/ab/ C’eb' c'gb' C’bb’ C'd' C'b' C/db/
The norm. Taking the above and other essential factors
into consideration, we obtain Figure 7 as a practical standard
for the order of consonance-dissonance with the piano, well
tuned in tempered scale.
Stumpf's laws.
The two-clangs here selected lie within
152
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
the range of cº-c''. How the order of preference would vary
above and below the middle octave, within which most of
our notes fall, remains to be determined. Stumpf and his -
followers have worked out certain laws in terms of conso-
nance defined primarily as fusion, i.e., the inability to say
whether one or two notes were sounded. Although we can-
not assume that they would hold for Our conception of con-
sonance, it is quite probable that some of them may. Among
them are the following: -
1. “Fusion depends on the so-called ratio of vibrations.”
2. “The degrees of fusion are independent of the tonal
region within the tonal range.” -
3. “The degree of fusion is independent of the intensity,
whether indeed it be the absolute or relative intensity, so
long as the tones remain distinguishable.”
4. “The degree of fusion is not influenced by the addition
of a third or fourth tone.”
5. “Minimal deviations of the number of vibrations from
the ratio create no perceptible difference in the degree
of fusion. If the deviation be increased, the fusion in all
pairs of tones, except the lowest degrees, passes into this
degree without running through the intermediate degrees,
if any. The rapidity of this transition is proportional to
the degree of the initial fusion.”
6. “Fusion remains and retains its degree when the two
tones do not affect the same ear.”
7. “Fusion remains in the mere representation of the
imagination.”
8. “If we proceed above the octave, the same degrees
of fusion recur with the ratio of vibrations increased one or
more octaves.” "
1 “Tonpsychologie,” Hirtzel, Leipzig, 1883.
153
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
IV. MEASUREMENT OF THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
Procedure. If we grant that this order of ranking from
Consonance to dissonance is in accord with the definition of
consonance, we may use that as a norm in testing abilities
in the sense of consonance. Various methods have been
employed. One is known as the method of paired compari-
son. We take all intervals from c." to c'' and compare
each one with every other, requiring in each case that
the decision be made as to which is the better consonance
(or less dissonance) according to the definition stated
above. The observer is drilled on the analysis of this
definition and illustrations are given freely from combi-
nations not to be used. There are sixty-six combina-
tions. For a single group test these should be repeated
about four times. The record may then be kept in terms
of the per cent of right judgments, which may be reduced
to percentile rank.
Precaution. The validity of these tests depends very
greatly upon the precision and effectiveness with which the
conductor states the basis of judgment, and it must be
remembered that the norm here given must not be confused
with various norms which may be recognized for harmonic
values in musical progressions. With such we are not here
concerned. Our object here is to evaluate the capacity
for judging the characteristics of tone clangs quite apart
from the knowledge of the laws of music or training in music.
Since so much depends upon understanding the definition
of consonance, this test must be handled with caution — for
children, because they may not understand, and with musi-
cally trained persons, because it is difficult for them to lay
aside the known functional laws of harmony.
154
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
Metronome . = 60
1 2
** *
zº.

l
5
5
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
A shorter test. These sixty-six pairs are, however, of
different values for rating purposes. We have, therefore,
carefully analyzed the characteristics of each pair of two-
clangs, both theoretically and in various actual experi-
ments," and have selected, from the total number, the twenty-
five which are most advantageous for our purpose. They
represent the eleven degrees of difficulty in judgment, as
well as the main varieties involved, and are so varied as to
break the monotony of using one note, c', in all the two-
clangs. The testing material thus selected is here presented
SO
10
100 95 ©O 85
60 55 50
Fig. 8. — Distribution of Capacities for the Sense of Consonance.
Based on phonograph record Number A7539. Notation same as in Figure 6,
Chapter II.
in musical notation; the starred clang is the one to be pre-
ferred. The listener is required to record in a prepared
blank, b. for better, or w. for worse ; always referring to
the second two-clang as compared with the first. To
make the tests reliable it is necessary to repeat. For
this purpose it is suggested that, for a second series, the
same material be played backward. This will then make
one hundred trials which is adequate for purposes of gen-
eral testing.
The distribution for this shorter test is here given in
Figure 8, and the norms in Figure 9.
1 Esther Allen Gaw, Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol., Vol. VII.

156
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
W. RELATION TO AGE, INTELLIGENCE, AND TRAINING
Age. It was rather Surprising in our first experiments
to find how largely elemental this test is ; that is, to what
extent it embodies a simple direct judgment which is devel-
lCO
95
90
85
8O
75
70
G5
&O
55
50
45
40
35
3O
25
2O
15
10
5
O
IOO 95 90 85 8O 75 70 65 60 55 50
Fig. 9. – Norms for Converting Per Cent Right into Rank.
oped early in childhood outside of specific training. The
“sense of harmony,” which we have defined here more
accurately as the sense of consonance, is undoubtedly a
specific talent which one may have quite apart from special

157
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
education or keen intelligence very early in childhood.
The difference in the abilities of children and adults as shown
in these figures in a group test is really not more than what
would be accounted for by the ordinary advantages under
which a child takes a test as compared with an adult.
SX Training. Training undoubtedly favors improvement
in the capacity here tested, yet not to any such extent as is
ordinarily supposed. As in the capacities before tested,
the child probably very early develops through practice
in ordinary play and other activities the ability to notice
differences in clangs. At any rate, it is astonishing to see
how a small child, even without musical education, will
show great keenness in this test and how among very intelli-
gent adults one often finds incapacity for this test.
Intelligence. Since this is a test of ability in a specific
judgment, it is an intelligence test ; but it is interesting to
find that, as in the case of the sense of intensity, it cannot
be regarded as an index to general intelligence, such as is
shown, for example, in the ability to do school work. Ability
to judge consonance requires a certain degree of general
intelligence not always found among children, and this
results in a low rating of very dull children in consonance.
But the sense of consonance is a gift which reveals itself,
like the sense of pitch or the sense of rhythm, very early in
childhood.
Consonance ultimately feeling. To child and adult
alike, this does not take the form of a judgment in the
spontaneous listening to music. It comes rather as a feel-
ing of like or dislike. We must not minimize the rôle of
feeling, sentiment, and emotion in the “enjoyment " of
consonance and the “jarring ” of dissonance. Harmony
is and should always be experienced in terms of agreeable-
158
THE SENSE OF CONSONANCE
ness or satisfaction. But for psychological purposes it is
quite possible to analyze any agreeableness and identify
what it is that makes it agreeable. If one likes a certain
kind of beefsteak, poetry, or landscape, it is quite possible
to take a cognitive attitude toward this and state that a
beefsteak with stated qualities, a poem with stated qualities,
or a landscape with stated qualities, will arouse in him a
feeling of agreeableness. Such is the course we have here
followed in the treatment of this affective element of music.
We have analyzed situations which are admittedly agreeable
and devised a method of identifying such situations by
the recognized marks, namely, blending, smoothness, and
purity. -
Guidance. The experimental results show clearly that if
we make allowance as indicated in the norms for group tests,
this sense of consonance may be tested early enough for
guidance in music before the child knows anything about
the musical theory involved or has had musical education.
Here is then perhaps one of the important factors of what
we call ear-mindedness.
159
CHAPTER VIII
AUDITORY SPACE
I. THE PROBLEM
Is hearing a spatial sense? If so, is there an original
space attribute in hearing? How do we locate sounds by
hearing? What is the nature of tonal volume? These are
all mooted questions in current psychology. A fair dis-
cussion of them would require a large volume. But since
• Space relations play but a secondary part in the rating of
musical talent we may restrict this chapter to the merest
summary statement of our present view of the situation
in the light of a mass of conflicting data and theories. We
must also refrain from entering upon the large problem of
the function of space relations in musical aesthetics.
II. THE SENSE OF DIRECTION
Hearing direction. Auditory space presents three as-
pects: direction, distance, and volume. It does not involve
true perception of form or relief. The hearing of distance
N is merely a judgment on the basis of intensity and timbre
in the light of a general acquaintance with the relations of
the source. Volume, as heard, is an immediate realistic
experience quite devoid of the exact detail which is char-
acteristic of volume as seen or felt in touch. The hearing
~ of direction is the one rigid space function of the ear. We
can hear the direction of a source of Sound with considerable
- 160
AUDITORY SPACE
precision, quite apart from the use of other senses. As in
vision we have two eyes for the purpose of seeing distance,
so in hearing we have two ears for the purpose of hearing
direction. In addition to these we have two other space
mechanisms in the ear: the funnels of each ear and the
corrugations in the walls of these funnels.
Binaural intensity. The intensity of the sound differs
in the two ears according as it falls more directly into one
ear than into the other. We have thus come to interpret
intensity in the two ears as meaning difference in direction.
Laws of localization. The delicacy of the hearing of
direction varies in accordance with some very interesting
laws for the various directions from the center of the head.
If, for example, sounds are produced in the median plane,
7.e., a plane through the center of the head, at right angles
to the aural axis, it is impossible to distinguish in these
front from back, up from down, or any other radial direc-
tion within that plane ; but right and left deviation from
that plane can be heard with accuracy down to a single
degree of deflection. This is direct proof of the principle
of binaural intensity : the sound is of equal intensity in
the two ears for all directions within the median plane;
but a slight shift to the right or to the left from that plane
results in a distinct change in the binaural ratio of intensity.
The relative accuracy for all other positions has been
measured, platted on charts, and expressed in definite laws."
Monaural intensity. But a person with one ear can hear
direction with surprising effectiveness. This is done partly
in terms of the difference of the intensity of the sound which
-
is determined by the directness with which the sound waves |
1 For a brief survey of auditory space, see the authors' manual “Ele-
mentary Experiments in Psychology,” Ch. V. (Henry Holt & Co.)
16.1
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
enter the funnel of the good ear; the more directly the
Waves impinge upon the ear drum, the more intense the sound
will be ; shadow of the head and reflection from the walls of
the funnel weaken it.
Monaural timbre. Sound also changes its timbre in
accordance with the direction from which it impinges upon
the ear. The ledges, grooves, and curvatures of the outer
ear break up the sound, taking out certain overtones and
reënforcing others in accordance with the direction from
which the sound waves strike.
The long ear and the human ear. There are two kinds of
ears for the hearing of direction ; one is a long funnel, such
as that of the rabbit or the horse. This is movable and aids
the hearing of direction through change of intensity by
- means of motion. The other type is that of the human
ear, which works on an entirely different principle, the
S. principle of timbre. The human ear is not, as is generally
supposed, a degeneration from the long ear and therefore
less efficient. Nature had two means at disposal and tried
both : the long ear in the higher animals, and the corrugated
chiefly in man. The latter is undoubtedly superior.
Wave phase. Extremely interesting laws of the locali-
zation of sound, in terms of wave phase, have been worked
out in recent years. It is a significant thing that most of
the work on this subject was done as purely theoretical
work without any intention or knowledge of practical utili-
zation. Indeed, the work was not only purely theoretical,
= - but it had to do with an illusion, a phantom Sound, a sound
that seemed to be where it was not. Yet, when the sub-
marine menace appeared, the scientists found in this illu-
sion a most serviceable tool, for it was by means of the knowl-
edge of the laws of this illusion that we were able to locate
162
AUDITORY SPACE
the submarine. Thus, from being the object of pure scien-
tific curiosity, the location of sound by means of wave
phase became a most valuable instrument for the protec-
tion of life and property in the great war.
The use of an illusion. In this connection it is also of
interest to note that, in selecting listeners who were to use
these instruments in locating the submarines, it was found
that ability depended largely upon the possession of a musical
ear. It is safe to say that, of the intelligent candidates
who presented themselves for this branch of the service, it
was possible to pick out, by psychological methods, some
who should be more than ten times as capable as others in
guarding life and property, by this instrument. Thus the
antipodes meet — in music and warfare.
Wave phase interpreted in terms of intensity. But the
treatment of the rôle of wave phase in auditory perception
of space must constitute a volume in itself. Suffice it to
say that the experiments now in progress have demonstrated
that all the phenomena of wave phase can probably be inter-
preted in terms of the intensity of sound.
III. THE SENSE OF EXTENSITY
The experience of extensity. If, on a clear day, we
look up into the sky above the horizon with eyes still and
wide Open, we see no form, or movement, or distance, but
simply get one vast impression of undifferentiated bigness
or extensity. So in hearing, if we listen, for example, to
the keys of the piano played in succession from the highest
to the lowest without any reference to the source of the
Sound, its mode of production, or its meaning, we get an
impression of increasing bigness or extensity from the highest
to the lowest tone. It is a purely sensory matter quite
163
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
independent of interpretation. Indeed, some claim that
s we distinguish tones quite as much by their extensity as
by their pitch.
Extensity the spatial attribute of sound. Many dis-
tinguished psychologists doubt the existence of this attribute
of sound. We are, however, at present inclined to believe
that there is such a factor: entirely apart from association
of other senses or with intensity, timbre, or duration there
is, in the hearing of all tones, an inalienable experience of
bigness. This bigness varies directly with pitch. The
high tone is heard as Small, piercing, and thin ; whereas
the low tone is heard as large, massive, rolling, or at least
blunt. -
Correlated with pitch; hence no separat ...ating needed.
Extensity varies exactly parallel with pitch ; there is an
inseparable duality. Physically and physiologically both
~ pitch and extensity depend absolutely upon the wave length,
and may be expressed in exactly the same terms; but
psychologically the two are distinguishable. One experi-
•ence is tonal, pitch; the other is spatial, extensity. For the
purpose of rating talent it is, therefore, unnecessary to
concern ourselves with the isolation of the sense of extensity.
Important factor in music. With some training it is quite
possible to isolate the two so as to ignore pitch and measure
sound discrimination in terms of extensity, quite as above
we ignored extensity and measured discrimination in terms
of pitch. Indeed, in music, we are often in the attitude of
appreciating massiveness, bridging-power, and expansive-
ness of low tones, and concentration, isolation, and pene-
trating-power of high tones quite as much as pitch.
Further limitations. Likewise, we are not here concerned
with the theory of how the awareness of extensity is built
164
AUDITORY SPACE
up through association with intensity and timbre into the
perception of direction and other spatial dimensions in
hearing, as those considerations do not directly affect the
evaluation of talent.
IV. THE SENSE OF WOLUME
Volume a complex. The term “volume,” as ordinarily
used, does not represent a single attribute of sound, but
rather combinations, among which the following are perhaps
the essential components:
Extensity. Tones are small or large according as they
are high or low, as described above. Therefore, to get a
large volume musical effects we choose the low tones.
This does not , sult in loudness, but bigness. The intensity,
or loudness, in the sense of intensity, may be the same for
a high tone and a low tone, and yet the low tone is invariably
bigger than the high tone. It has a different body. This
body is not necessarily thought of as having any particu-
lar shape, relief, or position ; it is merely the immediate
and unmistakable awareness of undifferentiated bigness.
Usually we image and think of it in terms of the known
source, such as the horn or the string — the little horn or
the big horn, the short string or the long string — but that
is a secondary matter and not essential to the experience of
extensity.
Intensity. Volume may also be expressed in terms of
intensity. If we take two tuning forks an octave apart,
the difference in the extensity of tones is fixed, being rigidly
parallel with pitch ; but we may easily strike them so as
to give equal intensity; SO also we may vary the intensity
in any degree without affecting the extensity. Conven-
tionally, we often speak of more or less volume, when actu-
165
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
ally we refer to intensity only; therefore, to secure this kind
of volume, we make the tones intense.
Timbre. Volume is also thought of in terms of richness
Or timbre. The sound of middle C on the piano, for example,
is more voluminous, richer, fuller, than the pure tone of a
tuning fork of the same pitch; therefore, to get this kind
of volume we produce rich tones rather than thin or pure
tones. Richness is favored by low tones; therefore, by
using low tones, we may get volume in extensity, richness,
and intensity combined.
Reduplication and reflection. The rapid repetition or
simultaneous sounding of several tones or tone elements,
as in band music, a strong crash, or a roar, gives the effect
of volume. The same result is produced in reflection; the
more intense a sound is, the more likely it is to reverberate
from the larger number of angles in surrounding walls and
spaces and literally impinge upon the ear from different
sources. That increase of volume also changes intensity
is illustrated, for example, by the fact that the cheering of
the crowd at a football game can be heard at a much greater
distance than the wildest cheering of a single person can be
heard.
Analysis of volume an aid to precision and description.
Volume, then, may be of radically different kinds, such as
extensity-volume, intensity-volume, timbre-volume, and
a duplication-volume. These different kinds may combine
into countless complexes. Yet there is no excuse for vague-
ness in language and looseness of interpretation; for the
critical evaluation and description of volume in music may
be founded upon a clear concept of the components of
volume. -
Significance for music. In view of the above analysis,
166
AUDITORY SPACE
it is evident that the sense of volume does not call for one
specific measurement in our rating for musical talent, as
do pitch and time. It must be rated in terms of the com-
ponent factors: the sense of extensity, the sense of intensity,
and the sense of timbre ; perhaps the most representative
among these is the sense of intensity. Although not rated
separately as a talent, the sense of volume is a most vital
concept in music. Like the play with rhythm, the manip-
ulation of volume is one of the prime factors at which
musicians aim.
167
CHAPTER IX
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
§ º I. INTRODUCTION -
Motor capacities correspond to the sensory. We found
in our discussion of hearing that the mental capacities or
talents correspond to the attributes of physical sounds,
namely, pitch, intensity, time, and extensity; so we shall
find in musical action the necessity of motor control for each
of these attributes, particularly, the capacity for producing
and controlling pitch, intensity, and time respectively.
For the present purpose we may regard extensity as absorbed
in pitch. In addition to these three basic capacities for
action, we must also trace more complex abilities which
operate in the expression of sound complexes, namely,
the capacity for rendering and controlling timbre, rhythm,
consonance, and volume of tones. Since musical action is
more or less a result of special training and, since we desire
to rate natural capacity before musical training is begun,
we lºust analyze the required types of action and trace
briefly the fundamental capacities which may be isolated
and studied under control.
Basic motor capacities. The analysis here to be made
is one which finds application to many other occupations
besides the study and practice of music. Indeed, we shall
deal with a basic series of tests which may furnish some
fundamental information that may be of service in guiding
I68
voLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
a person into any occupation which requires skill in motor
control.
The personal equation in action. It is well known that
persons differ in their natural power of action, and educators
are beginning to recognize that traits which may be dis-
covered early in childhood remain fairly constant into old
age except when these differences are due to acute disease
or temporary injury. Thus, we find among children those
who are slow and sure, slow and erratic, quick and Sure,
quick and erratic ; and no one seriously expects these
tendencies to be altered any more than he expects the leop-
ard to change his spots. These permanent peculiarities
we call the personal equation. Such differences might be
enumerated at great length, but let us look rather for a
basis of classification which may serve our purpose. Such
a classification must take into account speed, accuracy,
strength, endurance, uniformity, reliability, and other
factors; and it must isolate various types of intellectual
control embracing mere movement, response to a simple
signal, the expression of a judgment, and the application to
a continuous work. The essential facts may, perhaps, be
most conveniently set forth in the following items:
I. Time
1. Motility
Timed action
Response to simple signal
Action upon choice
Serial action
:
II. Movement
1. Precision
2. Discrimination
3. Strength and endurance
169
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Elemental factors. These capacities in their vast series
of ramifications condition the rendering of pitch, time,
intensity, timbre, rhythm, consonance, and volume of tones
both vocal and instrumental. In all the tests herein de-
scribed an effort is made to reduce the action to the very
* simplest form of its kind, and to avoid using any particular
'action which is the result of specific training. In so far as
we succeed in this, the test will be equally fair, within reason-
able limits, to trained and untrained, to bright and dull,
to young and old. Both quantity and quality of achieve-
ment must be considered.
II. A CHRONOGRAPH AND A CHRONOSCOPE
The chronograph. The apparatus shown in Figure 1,
Chapter II, may be converted into a chronograph which is
adapted for the measuring of various aspects of time in action.
An electro-magnetic marker is mounted in place of the tuning
fork on the endless screw. This marker consists of a magnet
carrying a fountain pen which writes on a sheet of white
paper revolving on the phonograph disk. The signals and
responses are registered in the form of a jog in the tracing
from the fountain pen. The magnet Operating the pen is
placed in the circuit with signaling devices and response
devices. By turning the endless screw, the pen may be
turned in or out at any desired rate or spacing. By means of
a trigger key, the signals are all given at the same point in the
revolution of the disk. This point is indicated by a straight
radial line across the disk, made by drawing the pen from
the center to the outer edge of the record when the disk is at
the exact stage of the revolution at which the signals are
given. The pen runs idle except when the trigger key is
held down, thereby saving space on the paper. This
170
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
simplifies reading by having the readings all start from the
same point. When the record is to be read it is laid on a
circular scale projecting beyond the edge of the disk and
divided into a hundred units. The radial line is laid over
zero on the scale (making allowance for the latent time
of the magnet, .006 sec., once for all, in this setting). A
pointer, pivoted at the center of the disk, is then laid over
the record as a guide. When the edge of the pointer lies
over the recording jog in the record, it points to the reading
on the scale in terms of one hundredth of a revolution. If
the disk is revolving at the rate of one revolution per second,
the unit will be .01 sec. If it is run at any other speed
the record may be converted into one-hundredths of a second
by multiplying the final average of the records by the ratio
of the actual speed to the speed of one revolution per
Second.
The phonograph as a motor. This chronograph consists
of certain accessories which may be mounted on any good
phonograph of the disk type without dismantling or inter-
fering with its use in the playing of records. The accuracy
of the measurement depends, of course, primarily upon the
accuracy of the speed of the phonograph disk. Measure-
ments upon the principal makes of instruments show that,
when a machine of one of the standard makes, in good
condition, is run within its normal range of speed, wound
to a moderate tension, and kept in good condition, it runs
with an error of less than one thousandth of a second, as is
shown graphically in the frontispiece. The close conformity
of the waves indicates the high degree of accuracy. Each
wave denotes .01 sec. A deviation of .001 sec. in a revolu-
tion would, therefore, show in a discrepancy of one tenth
of a wave in two successive revolutions. This record was
171
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
made by recording, by means of a delicate marker, the
vibrations of a 100 d. v. tuning fork on a sensitive plate
revolving on the phonograph disk.
The chronoscope. For many purposes the chronoscope
shown in Figure 1 is better than the chronograph because the
time of the act is shown instantly on the dial, as on a clock,
|
- -
-|-
-
Fig. I. — The Phonograph Chronoscope.
doing away with the graphic records. The chronoscope
consists essentially of a dial and two magnets with a small
portable tripod for support, which may be set up on any
good phonograph of the disk type. The lower magnet rests
on the phonograph plate and revolves with it. The upper
magnet is mounted on the dial and remains stationary. The
pointer is swung in delicate adjustment between the two
172




VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
magnets, so that when the current is sent through the lower
magnet the pointer is picked up by this magnet and turns
with the disk until the current is shifted to the upper magnet
when it adheres to that magnet and remains stationary
pointing at the desired reading on the scale. For each
measurement, we set the pointer at Zero on the Scale; the
giving of the signal starts it to revolve with the disk and the
response stops it at the number on the scale which indicates
the number of hundredths of a second between the signal
and the response.
III. MOTILITY
Simple method of testing. Motility, or motor ability, as
it is generally called, is the name given to tests of maximum
speed in elemental forms of movement. This may be tested
roughly in a class by requiring each pupil to take a pencil
in hand and tap with it on a pad of paper as fast as possible
to find how many taps he can make in five seconds. The
hand must be allowed to move freely so that the dots may
be counted. Some preliminary instructions should be given
as to the importance of making small movements with
maximum speed, and a few preliminary trials should not
be counted. The number of dots made in five seconds by
children of the age of ten will vary from twenty to sixty,
and the significant thing is that the number will tend to be
fairly constant. The child tends to remain in the twenty
class or the fifty class, according as he finds himself in one
or the other after the preliminary trials, and these differences
are likely to characterize the rate of movement of the respec-
tive individuals throughout life.
Interpretation in daily life. It is extremely interesting
to take a simple record of this sort and to interpret the work
173
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
and play of the child in such terms, noticing how this fact
of slow, average, or quick motility not only accounts, in
large part, for his achievements in work and play, but
also serves as a key to his interests, his ambitions, and in
many respects to his feelings and sentiments with reference
to his environment.
Exact measurement. For exact measurement of motility,
we use the chronograph, as described. The subject is
required to grasp a telegraph key with the thumb and the
tips of the first two fingers and to hold the entire arm in
free suspense under tension, leaning his body forward and in
this position to tap as fast as possible with the key. Very
careful guard is kept over the subject as to position, atti-
tude of tension and attention. Ample practice is given to
familiarize him with the simple movement, and the record
is taken for eight seconds only. This tapping is recorded
by the pen on the chronograph ; the time taken for each
tapping movement is thus recorded in terms of hundredths
of a second. We compute the average and mean variation.
Two factors : speed and regularity. There are thus two
factors in this record which are really separate. One is
speed (average time) and the other is the regularity (mean
variation). If we emphasized regularity in the instructions,
the result would be a slowing down of the speed. We
therefore throw the idea of regularity into the background
and make the test primarily a trial of speed. It would
be worth while to make a separate trial for accuracy in
which speed would not be emphasized, but for most purposes
the variability shown in the test, as here given, is a service-
able measure of regularity.
Applies to all muscular movement. This principle of
measurement may be applied to the movement of any
174
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
muscle in the body, for example, the lips, a toe, a wrist. It
has not yet been fully determined, but it seems probable
that we shall find a general relationship in the motility
of all the various voluntary muscles of the body. That is
what we imply when we say one is quick and erratic, slow
but sure, slow and reliable, etc. We assume that it does
not make much difference whether you test on one muscle
or another ; the condition seems to be a central one.
Significance of this. If accurate measurement now in
progress should substantiate this view, it would mean much
for vocational guidance, particularly in music. Under this
hypothesis we might have our motility measured on any
simple movement which lends itself conveniently to accurate
measurement and transfer that record under certain condi-
tions to other movements supposedly under the same cen-
tral control in general. Doubtless we should find excep-
tions; but the general plan is promising. The record of
speed in tapping might be regarded as an index to the motility
in finger movement on a given instrument or even an index
to motility in speech or singing. Indeed, it is a common
observation that the child who has good control of his feet
and fingers also has good control of his voice.
IV. TIMED ACTION
Two forms. Timed action may be measured by deter-
mining the average error in keeping time with a set standard,
or by measuring average error in uniformity, in free marking
of time. The former we call regulated timed action, and the
latter free timed action. The two may be measured with the
Same apparatus and at the same sitting.
Regulated action. The standard time is set up by having
a telephone receiver so connected with a contact on the
175
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
chronograph that a click is produced in the telephone re-
ceiver once for each revolution of the phonograph disk.
The person tested is then required to keep exact time with
the sound he hears by tapping with the telephone key so
that the click of the key shall synchronize with the click
in the telephone receiver. The telegraph key is so con-
nected with the fountain pen marker on the chronograph
that a jog in the tracing line is made at the moment the
telegraph key is tapped. A base line is set up by sliding the
recording pen from the center to the outer edge at that
point on the disk at which the contact produces the tele-
phone click. If then the time is marked accurately, every
jog in the tracing marking the tapping of the key should
occur exactly on this base line. Deviation from this base
line is recorded in thousandths of a second as the measure of
the error in keeping time. Usually the chronograph is so
set that it beats time in exact seconds. From a number of
records we may compute the average and the mean variation,
showing characteristic tendency, frequency, and the average
amount of anticipation or lag.
Free action. This is historically, but erroneously, known
as free rhythm. To measure it we use the same procedure
as for regulated action except that, after the person to be
tested has heard the time for about ten seconds, the tele-
phone circuit is broken and he is required to mark the
time by himself, the record being made as before. In this
case, however, we measure, not the deviation from the
standard, but the deviation from the average of the actual
performance, the time of each act being recorded in terms of
the time scale as described above. The particular time of the
second beat is suggested in order to make records of different
persons in terms of approximately equal intervals and simplify
176
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
the reading on the chronograph; because, to the extent that
the time is kept accurately, the records will occur on one ra-
dius and the reading can be made almost instantaneously.
Conditions of capacity. Failure in this test may be of
different kinds and due to different causes. It may be due
to the sensory defect ; ordinarily we should never look for
a record in action to excel the record in the hearing of time.
It may be due to lack of muscular control which may be
of two kinds, either a nervous irregularity or an inadequate
association between the sense of time and movement. If
a person with a good sense of time makes a good record
in action, all is well. If a person with a poor record in sense
of time makes a poor record in time, the cause may lie either
on the sensory or the motor side, or both. If a person with
a good sense of time makes a poor record, the source of
trouble is on the motor side. Of motor defects involving
this act there are numerous kinds, but analysis of these
would take us too far into detail.
V. SIMPLE REACTION TIME
Reaction, simple and complex. Simple reaction time is
the time that it takes to make a simple response to a simple
signal. Signals may, of course, be of thousands of varieties
and so may also the responses; but, as in motility, it is possi-
ble to select some typical signals with simplest possible re-
sponses, both of which can be well controlled for the purpose
of measurement. Reaction time experiments may be divided
into two large groups: first, simple reaction which is the
barest sensation-movement response; and, second, complex
reaction involving some form of the higher mental processes.
Measurement of simple reaction. For our purpose the
following well-known form of the simple reaction is the
177
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
most serviceable. The observer hears a sound signal in
a telephone receiver and responds by the simplest finger
movement. The time between the signal and the response
is measured in hundredths or thousandths of a second.
This measurement may be made with our chronograph
as follows. A telegraph key is placed in a circuit with the
trigger key, so that when the base line on the record passes
the trigger, a sound will be made in the telephone. The
response to this sound is the pressing of the telegraph key
under the most favorable conditions.
As stated in the description of the apparatus, all the sig-
nals will occur along one straight line which can be drawn
from the center of the disk to a certain point on the trigger;
and the response to the pressing of the key is recorded by a
jog in the pen tracing so that, when the base line is set at
0 on the scale, the time of each reaction may be read by
running the time lever to the jog in each successive tracing
and noting the reading on the scale. The test may be made
more quickly by the phonograph chronoscope.
Two measures, time and reliability. Here again we get
two measures: first, the average or median reaction time ;
and, second, a measure of the reliability or regularity in
terms of the mean variation calculated, as shown in Chapter
III. These two measures will range from the extremely
quick to the extremely slow in the one series, and from the
extremely reliable and uniform to the extremely unreliable
and erratic. Records in terms of these two measures become
striking pictures of personal equation. The single state-
ment, for example, that this person has an average reaction
time of .11 sec. with a mean variation of .01 sec. marks him as
having distinctly superior power both in speed and accuracy,
whereas a person with an average reaction time of .25 sec. and
I78 -
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
a mean variation of .10 sec. is equally well marked as quite
helpless in this capacity. Between such extremes we have all
gradations and combinations of speed and accuracy which ex-
press this type of motor power quantitatively and effectively.
After some actual experience in the exact procedure of
this measurement musicians can readily identify such types
among their musical friends. It is a part of their character
and a fairly constant trait, in terms of which we recognize
our friends in action.
VI. ACTION ON CHOICE
Nature of complex reaction. We must, however, be
careful to restrict our generalization to the thing measured
— in the above case, to simple reaction. Some personszº
can do simple things well but cannot do things which
require higher activities. The reaction experiment can be
so arranged as to introduce and measure the time of any
mental process such as recognition, memory, judgment, or
decision. The central and simplest aspect of an act of will we
may call choice. Ability to act upon choice may be measured
in a simple and well-controlled case by using the same instru-
ments as before, except that we add a contrivance by which
the sound signal may be made weak or strong.
Method of measuring. In the typical situation, the
subject is told, “The signal will be a weak sound or a strong
sound ; you are to react only if the weak sound is heard :
when the signal is a strong sound, do not respond to it.”
Thus, psychologically, the situation is this: the subject must
hear the sound and distinguish a weak sound from a strong
sound, and then decide to act or not to act as the case may
be. Thus, in a small fraction of a second the subject has
perceived a signal, differentiated it from another possible
179
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
signal, and decided to act or not to act. In the simple
reaction experiment the emphasis was upon the action.
Y Here the emphasis is upon the thought and will which
underlie the action in the form of choice. In action upon
choice we find a larger range of individual differences than
in simple reaction. The principle just presented may be
adapted to hundreds of different conditions, depending upon
what one wants to know in regard to characteristics of a
person's action.
VII. SERIAL ACTION
Ability in sight playing. One of the common complaints
in piano training is that the pupil does not read music well,
which means that he does not quickly, easily, and accurately
* associate the note which he sees with the movement to be
executed. In this respect there are very great native differ-
ences in capacity. To identify these and rate them, we
have designed the serial action experiment.
How measured. We now carry the complication of the
process one step farther and require the subject to act
continuously, demanding the exercise of thought and will
in association under maximum pressure. For this pur-
pose we just require a person to act upon choice as above,
when each act produces the necessary signal for the next
response in a continuous chain, and we measure the time
and accuracy of the action.
Visual motor action. The simplest form of Serial action
apparatus adapted for the visual motor action may be
rigged up on a typewriter as follows: " Write one full line
of the four letters f, g, h, j, arranged in the Order of chance
and each letter used approximately the same number of
1 Coover and Angell, Am. Jour. of Psychol., Vol. 18, 1907, p. 328.
180
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
times. Paste this slip of paper on the carrier, then clamp
on the frame a small card with a slit large enough to show.
one letter so that every time a key is pressed a new letter
will be exposed in this slit. We have, then, four signals
any one of which may appear when a key is pressed. The
subject is required to keep each of the first two fingers, of
each hand, on a key, and is told to press the key which is
designated by the letter in the slit. The instructions are
given in the following written directions:
The charge.
Speed and accuracy. This is a test of speed and accuracy. Throw
every effort into the work so as to make the best time that you
possibly can with approximate freedom from error.
No interruption. Do not, under any condition, stop before the end of
the line. Do not allow the occurrence of an error to confuse you
or to stop you even for a fraction of a second. Every fraction of
a second of delay counts, and every error counts against you.
Standard of accuracy. Work at such speed that you will not make
more than five errors in each line. This is a standard of certainty
which should determine your speed. You can fail by being over-
cautious and slow, or by being reckless and fast.
Remember. The standard of accuracy; the record of speed; no in-
terruption or delay allowed. The record will be a measure of your
power of application. Do your very best.
The essentials. The act, which is repeated over and
over again, is essentially this: a signal is given which calls
for a particular movement, and this movement produces
another signal, and SO on for the seventy spaces in the line
on the typewriter. The record is kept in terms of the total
time required for each line and the number of errors made
in each line. As a result of the instructions the number
of errors will vary within a limited range so that the chief
item in the record is the time. If he makes more than ten
181
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
errors in the seventy reactions, the trial is thrown out. It
would be possible to make a graphic record of each act,
but for the present purposes we simply count the total time
it takes to complete five lines on the typewriter, that is,
five times seventy reactions, and the record is given in terms
of the average time for seventy reactions with its mean
variation and the number of errors. These are converted
into percentile rank so that the record of an individual reads,
for example, that one ranks 95 on speed and 88 on errors;
or another 16 on speed and 45 on errors, and so on.
Auditory motor action. For auditory motor action the
same principle of measurement may be employed with the
typewriter. For stimuli we use four telephone receivers,
each placed at one of the car-
dinal points, 90° to the right, 45°
right front, 45° left front, and 90°
left with reference to the head of
the observer. An electrical con-
trivance is attached to the back
of the typewriter in such a way
- that for each movement of one
Fig. 2.- The Auditory Motor of the four keys a tone will be
Apparatus.
heard in one of the receivers.
Each receiver is associated with one key, and the procedure
in measurement is then entirely analogous to that in the
visual motor experiment just described. This apparatus,
designed by Mr. C. F. Hansen, is shown in Fig. 2.
VIII. PRECISION IN MOVEMENT
Steadiness and delicacy of touch. Thus far we have
considered the speed and accuracy in action in different
stages of complexity of mental activities. We shall now
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VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
study the character of the movement. Some persons have >
a delicate controſof muscular movement, others are fumblers
and always will be. Some, while not delicate in movement,
have a steady nerve; others, although very delicate in
their touch, have erratic and nervous tendencies which
result in loss of precision of movement. The precision may
be observed in direction, distance, speed, or force of the
movement. "--~~ * *
The precision target. To test for direction of movement
in its simplest form, we use what is known as the precision
target. A target is made from a Brown and Sharpe drill
gauge mounted on a small board with a firm pasteboard
between the drill gauge and the board. A pen holder, like
a fountain pen, has a needle point which is connected through
a battery, a bell, and the drill gauge in such a way that, if the
needle touches the plate, the bell will sound. The test
consists of determining how many holes the subject can put
the needle into without touching the target plate. The
metronome is beating, and he is required to put the pointer
into each successive hole at the rate of one in two seconds.
We start with No. 28, and the record is kept in terms of the
number of the hole at which he failed as indicated by the
ringing of the bell. Usually twenty-five series of trials are
taken, and we find on the average how small a hole he could
get down to, and what the mean variation was for that
ability.
Bearing on music. The test proceeds on the assumption
that an arm and hand movement is an early acquired natural
movement, and that, other things being equal, the control
of the hand is a pretty fair index to the ability to control any •
other part of the body. While this does not have an exact
counterpart in music, we do measure here a condition which
183
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
plays an important rôle in the development of touch in
playing. -
Other tests analogous. Analogous tests may be made
for each of the other aspects in precision of movement,
— particularly precision in the distance, the force, and the form
of the movement. In each case the test is on the ability
to make a simple, prescribed, and measurable move-
Iment.
IX. DISCRIMINATION
Discriminative action is action which involves the ability
T to make fine distinctions in movement at will. As in pre-
cision, we are interested in the kind, the direction, the dis-
tance, the rate, and the force of movement. To measure
the motor discrimination for force in movement, we may use
an ordinary spring balance. The subject is asked to put
his finger on the plate and press down any moderate amount,
say fifteen ounces, and then to make the least producible
lighter pressure. This procedure is repeated a sufficient
number of trials. The record is kept in terms of the average
difference in pressure in reproducing the standard. The
first pressure should always fall between ten and twenty
ounces. Analogous measurements may be made for dis-
criminative action in each of the other aspects of movement.
Y. STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE
The ergograph. For many purposes a test of physical
strength and endurance is necessary. To measure this we
use the elbow ergograph, which is a simple, strong Spring.
A person stands with his arms free from any support, the
upper arm hanging free at the side and the lower arm bent
at the elbow forty-five degrees forward, the wrist kept
184
VOLUNTARY MOTOR CONTROL
straight. In this position, using only the elbow musculature,
the subject is required to lift as high as he can by the handle
on a graduated spring. Attached to the spring is a recording
device, which makes a series of tracings, one for each pull,
showing exactly how many pounds of pull was exerted in
each successive trial. The subject is required to keep time
with the metronome, making one pull every three seconds
(each time to the utmost limit), and this is kept up for thirty
trials.
Factors in the records. In such a test we get a measure
of the strength of a particular set of muscles, the endurance
in a maximum effort, and the regularity with which this
maximum effort is kept up. In the record we have on One
hand a measure of the strength and endurance, and on the
other hand a record of reliability in the exercise of a maxi-
mum effort. A person with good motor control will produce
a uniform series with a gradual decline, whereas a person
with erratic tendencies will make sporadic efforts, the
strength exerted being very variable from trial to trial.
Summary. In general, experimental psychology now
enables us to measure with adequate precision any form of
physical action, both as to quantity and quality. We are
also able to isolate, or measure, in conjunction with other
factors, speed and accuracy of various mental processes
which may be the antecedents of action. The types of
measurement here rated are, perhaps, among the most
basic, but they should be regarded merely as types of which
there may be countless variations and along side of which
may be found other types of equally fundamental character:
They may suffice to demonstrate that we have at our dis-
posal means by which we can measure any form of musical
action that may be desired.
185
CHAPTER X
MUSICAL ACTION
I. INTRODUCTION
THE question may well be asked, Why not make your
--fests for musical capacity tests in actual music? The situa-
tion is analogous to a recent investigation of the ability of
an expert marksman. After describing the tests actually
used, the writer says: 1
“Some may say, in fact, “Why not give a man a gun and
let him show his ability by shooting a few times 1’ Well,
there are good reasons. In actual shooting, experience
plays too large a rôle. The novice must be shown how to
hold the gun, whether to grasp it tightly or laxly, whether
his bodily muscles should be held lax or taut, how much of
the front sight should be visible in the notch of the rear,
whether he should aim at the bottom, center, or top of the
bull's-eye, whether he should ‘hold steady’ on the bull's-eye
or move up to it, not to mention the adjustment to and fear
of the noise, flash and ‘kick.’ The knowledge of these
conditions and the adjustment to them depend mostly
on experience in shooting, not upon innate ability to even-
tually become a good marksman. The laboratory tests aim
to measure this undeveloped ability, although the present
series may not do so adequately.”
1 Gates, “The Abilities of an Expert Marksman,” Jour. of Applied
Psychol., 1918, II.
186
MUSICAL ACTION
Two resources. We cannot employ ordinary musical
exercises, because, to be of service in selection, the test
should be made before the student is trained in music.
Furthermore, musical exercises are complex material, unfit
for use in experimental work; and ability in musical exer-
cises, such as actual singing and playing, changes very
quickly with practice or training. We are, therefore,
thrown back upon two resources: one is to found the diag-
nosis upon basic tests of motor control as outlined above ;
the other is to devise specific tests in which one element in
musical action is isolated and measured under control.
Fortunately, both of these methods are available and valu-
able, and the latter may be expanded indefinitely to supple-
ment the general findings of the former.
An assumption. In much of the discussion of musical
action, it is necessary to assume the existence of the sensory
powers and the higher intellectual powers. Let this be
granted once for all for the sake of brevity. We may then
proceed to consider each of the capacities for musical action
in turn.
II. PITCH
Factors involved. The rendition of pitch may be either
vocal or instrumental, and the latter may be either mechani-
cally controlled or controlled by the performer. With the
performance in which the pitch control is mechanical, as
in the piano, we are not here concerned. Singing in pitch
and playing in pitch, as on the violin, require certain com-
mon elements aside from musical sensitivity and a musical ºr
intellect. They both require that sort of brain control
which is measured in terms of the basic forms of action
described in the foregoing chapter. The finger adjustment
187
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
in the playing of the violin requires such an extraordinarily
quick and fine precision in movement that, when the move-
ment is stated in terms of thousandths of a second of time
or thousandths of an inch in movement, it seems astonish-
ing that the human organism should be capable of such
quick and delicate adjustment. Such ability is absolutely
certain to manifest itself in careful measurements of motility,
simple reaction time, complex reaction time, precision of
movement, and discriminative action, both, a o time a d
reliability. . A high rating on these capacit is, however,
will not necessarily prove that the subject wi ake a suc-
cessful player or singer. It simply certifies pacity for
action which must be evaluated in terms of the presence or
absence of other capacities which are essential.
What we measure. This situation with referer.ce to the
violin player has its analogy in many other instruments,
and indeed in the pitch innervation of the human voice.
One reason for this lies in the fact that the delicate control
required in pitch production depends upon the general
quality and stability of the brain. It remains to be estab-
lished by experiment whether quickness and reliability,
for example, in speaking movements, may be pointed to as
an index to the control of the vocal cords. In the light of
present knowledge of psychology, it is fair to assume that
there is a close relationship, so that when we know the speed
and reliability of the motility, reaction, or precision of a
finger movement, that may be pointed to as a personal
equation, or trait, which will appear relatively the same in
movements of another finger, a foot, an elbow, a nod of the
head, or even the action of the vocal cords. This does not
imply, for example, that a good violinist could do equally
well in voice; for motor control is only a small factor in
188
MUSICAL ACTION
“voice.” Yet there is only one qualification for skill in
the rendition of pitch, and that is control of movement,
whether it be the movement of finger, arm, or vocal cords.
Therefore, when we have a general picture or personal equa-
tion of a person's tendency in motor control, we have a fair
quantitative index to the control of musical pitch.
If we turn, then, to specific tests of this ability in tone
production, we can readily measure achievement, both in
pl. ging and a , nging; and in doing so we ordinarily take
one specific e” ºnent of tone production, such as the reproduc-
tion of a ke te or the singing of an interval.
III. SEEING YOURSELF SING !
It is possible to make vibrations which produce a tone to
the ear; also produce a picture to the eye—a picture which
reveals details of pitch faithfully and far more finely than
the ear can hear, and which may, therefore, be employed
for the objective measure of pitch and as a guide in training
to sing and play in pitch. The singer standing before an
instrument sees in clear pictures every pitch movement of
the voice as he is singing ; he sees exactly how many vibra-
tions per second the vocal Organs are producing, and thereby
can tell, at the very moment of singing a note, what error
is involved, even down to the hundredth of a tone ; he can
practice before the instrument by the hour with the oppor-
tunity of seeing the error in every tone and controlling the
voice and the ear by the eye at pleasure ; he can study in
detail the attack, the sustaining, and the release of a single
note; the player of the violin, flute, cornet, or other instru-
1 We may profitably introduce here this description of the tonoscope
and its uses, essentially as read before the National Music Teachers'
Association in 1915, and printed in Science, N. S. XLIII, 1916, 592 ft.
189
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
ment may treat his instrument in the same way; a person
at a distance may connect “ long distance" with the tono-
scope and project his voice or instrument on this screen
hundreds of miles away; a scientist or a musician may take
a phonograph record of the tonal effects under observation
and ship the cylinder to the laboratory, in which it may be
Fig. 1. – The Tonoscope.
The instrument seen at the right is the acousticon.
reproduced upon the tonoscope; the student of primitive
music can transcribe the phonograph record by this method;
the scientist can undertake technical studies on pitch which
involve exact measurements and instantaneous recording
in actual singing; the student of public speaking can study
the inflections of the voice objectively and train for mastery;
190

MUSICAL ACTION
the teacher of the deaf can place his pupil before the instru-
ment and train him to speak with pleasing inflection of the
voice by practicing with the aid of the eye. This array of
claims may seem extravagant, but these and many other
related achievements are made possible by the develop-
ment of a ready and accurate method of registering pitch.
The instrument which will do this is known as a tomoscope,
and is now available for use in the studio."
The principle of the instrument. The tonoscope shown
in the illustration, Fig. 1, works on the principle of mov-
ing pictures, technically known as stroboscopic vision.
It converts the sound vibrations into pictures on the
screen. The screen, which may be seen through the
opening on the front, has eighteen thousand ninety-
five dots so placed that, when acted upon by a sensitive
light, they arrange themselves in characteristic figure for
every possible pitch within the range of the human voice.
Each figure points to a number on the screen which indicates
the pitch. The dots are arranged into one hundred ten
rows; the first row has one hundred ten dots, the next row,
one hundred eleven dots, and so on, each successive row
having one more dot than the preceding one, up to the last,
which has two hundred nineteen. When the tone is
sounded, the row which has the dot frequency that corre-
sponds to the vibration frequency of the tone will appear to
stand still, while all other dots move and tend to blur. The
row which stands still, therefore, points to a number on
the scale which designates the pitch of the tone. The screen
contains a sufficient number of rows of dots to cover exactly
One octave. Tones above or below this octave are read on
| Manufactured and sold by the Musical Apparatus Company, Cleve-
land, Ohio.
191
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
this same screen by multiples. To see the pitch of the tone,
One has, therefore, only to see the number of the line that
stands still. The tone may be sung or played under natural
conditions. Indeed, one may register the tone from any
distant point with which there are telephonic connections.
The instrument is operated electrically and will run indefi-
nitely without any care or disturbance. This makes the
tonoscope a ready and continuously available instrument
in the studio or the laboratory. The speed of the revolving
screen is controlled by a tuning fork with which it must
keep step, being driven by a synchronous motor.
Reading immediate and accurate. In other words, we
have here an instrument which will transform the vibrations
of voice or instrument to visual configurations on a scale that
indicates the actual pitch of any note down to an accuracy
of a fraction of a vibration — often less than a hundredth
of a tone. Indeed, if we are dealing with a note as constant
as that of a tuning fork or a string, the pitch will be recorded
accurately in tenths of a vibration, because fractions of
vibrations may be read in terms of the number of dots
that pass per second in the slowly moving line. There
are various graphic methods of recording pitch in use,
but these are entirely too laborious and cumbersome for
practical use ; the tonoscope furnishes us the first ready
and at the same time reliable and accurate means of regis-
tering directly the pitch of a tone as Sung, spoken, or
played with a musical instrument in such form that it can
be operated with convenience and safety outside the tech-
nical laboratory.
The phonograph tonoscope. To meet the need of a com-
paratively inexpensive and portable tonoscope, the instru-
ment shown in Figure 2 has just been designed but has not
192
MUSICAL ACTION
yet been put on the market. It acts on the same principle
as the larger instrument, but covers only half as many notes;
i.e., it covers one half of each octave. As a matter of fact,
it answers nearly all the purposes of the larger instrument,
Fig. 2. — The Phonograph Tonoscope.
and is sufficiently accurate for all singing. It is light and
portable and may be operated on any phonograph, the pho-
nograph being used instead of the synchronous motor to
secure constant motion of the drum.
193

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
New field of investigation. The psychology of music
on the sensory side has been studied with fruitful success
in recent years. But the motor side of the process — the
psychology of tone production and tone control — is practi-
cally unworked and remains largely in the realm of mystery
chiefly for the want of a measuring instrument. The intro-
duction of a ready means of recording, analyzing, and pro-
jecting Sound vibrations before the eye therefore opens up
a most wonderful field of research both in pure science and
in the art of music. The scope of the work which has thus
been opened up by investigations already undertaken may
be illustrated by the naming of the principal problems
which have been investigated up to date, to wit: the com-
parison of men and women as to ability in singing of true
pitch, under a large number of controlled conditions; rela-
tive accuracy of pitch within the tonal range, under various
conditions; principles involved in the singing of large and
small natural intervals and more artificial intervals; the
effect of the strength of the keynote upon the accuracy of
reproduction; the effect of the volume of the voice upon
the pitch; the variation of pitch with vowel quality or
timbre ; the correlation of ability to sing in pitch with
pitch discrimination, tonal memory, tonal imagery, Sense
of consonance; musical education, and other factors; the
establishment of norms for the measurement of ability to
sing in pitch; and the study of the effect of training the
ear by the aid of the eye. The scope of this chapter will
permit the discussion of only one of these, and for this pur-
pose, the last mentioned may be chosen.
Practical use in the studio. The practical use of the
tonoscope in the studio lies in the training of the ear and,
therefore, indirectly, the control of the voice or instrument
194
MUSICAL ACTION
by the aid of the eye. On this point we have conducted
a number of series of experiments to determine the effective-
ness of such training, as evidenced, for example, by the kind,
the rate, the degree, and the permanence of the improve-
ment gained by practicing with the instrument. The
first of these series was begun in 1903; from that time up
to the present, experiments in the training of pitch control
have been in progress continuously for purposes of develop-
ing methods and means and testing results. Laying aside
all technical matters and detail, we may glean from these
experiments the following points of interest : Practically
all singers — good, bad, or indifferent ; trained or untrained ;
child or adult ; professional or non-professional — will
improve in pitch control by training with the instrument.
He who cannot sing a tone may “find ’’ himself by the eye;
the average singer is slovenly about pitch until shocked
by what he sees in the projected voice ; the person who can
sing to a high degree of accuracy – say an error of plus
or minus One vibration — has abundant room for improve-
ment within a fraction of a vibration, for the more accu-
rately one sings, the finer the instrument registers.
Nature of gain in training. The gain in training by aid
of the eye may be attributed in large part to the recognition
of certain subjective and objective sources of error which
may be eliminated after discovery by the instrument.
The ear unchecked is lax in its control of pitch. When the
eye reveals an error in pitch, it aids the ear in identifying
and making concrete the elements of hearing which had
before remained undifferentiated and unrecognized. The
seen tone serves both as a whip and as a guide in pitch near –s.
the lower limits of the ear, and is, therefore, the best incen- T---
tive for improvement. Among the objective disturbances
195
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
are the effect on pitch of the loudness of the keynote heard,
the loudness of the note sung, the quality of the tone heard,
the quality and register of the tone sung, the vowel of the
syllable sung, the duration of the tone, etc. Among the
subjective factors the most complicated one is the factor
of effort of attention. Ordinarily one sings more accurately
when he tries; yet when one comes to a certain stage he
will sing better if not conscious of a specific effort to sing
in pitch. Fears, theories, anticipations, and illusions also
modify the pitch. Under certain circumstances accuracy
in pitch may be a mark of the general condition of the
system.
Training in intervals. Training with the eye improves
the ability to form concepts of intervals and sing them with
increasing accuracy. Who can sing, or knows when he has
sung, the chromatic scale or even a single half tone? With
the instrument he can place the exact note in tempered
scale or in just intonation and study in detail effect after
effect ; he has control for mastery since the instrument
registers much finer distinctions than the ear can hear.
Here again we have found that there is room for improve-
ment for all. One man who thought he was tone-deaf was
trained to sing a tone interval with a high degree of accu-
racy. One well-known singer was struck with despair when
she saw how badly she sang the natural scale.
Training in voluntary control. Training the ear with
the eye enhances ability in voluntary control of the voice
as in raising and lowering of the pitch. The improvement
in this is astonishingly rapid ; and the reason for all this
rapid improvement lies in the fact that one sees the tone
the moment he sings and hears himself sing it, and can at
will identify the direction and exact amount of the error.
196
MUSICAL ACTION
As has been pointed out, this seeing of the tone serves as a
whip and also as a guide to specific effort.
Training in attack, release, and sustaining, etc. Sing-
ing a note may be fractionated, that is, separated into its
parts so that one may study, from moment to moment, the
attack, the release, and the sustaining (with its various
periodic or progressive changes in pitch, both desired and
undesired). The instrument enables the singer to take
each of these in turn and to establish mastery under the
criticism and guidance of the eye.
Transfer of gain. The gain made in singing with the aid
of the eye is transferred into auditory and motor control.
The improvement which takes place in singing with the
instrument is very rapid, and one would, therefore, suspect
that it would not be permanent. But experiments show
that if the training be continued for a few days with the
instrument, the gain will be transferred to the ordinary
singing without the instrument. This is the most encourag-
ing feature in the process and deserves to be analyzed in
great detail for the purpose of a pedagogy of singing; this
we are now attempting to do in the laboratory. Such ques-
tions as these arise : How is association transferred from
the visual to the auditory-motor? What are the common
elements in visual and auditory control? How can we iso-
late each of these factors for the purpose of reduction of
errors?
Adapted for set drill exercises. This type of training is
convenient, inexpensive, and rigid. The pupil may be
assigned any one of a hundred exercises in pitch training and
practice all by himself under correction at every tone pro-
duction ; it may be to reduce a tendency to sharp or flat,
to eradicate a tremulo, to gain control of a vibrato, or any
- 197
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
other pitch figure the master may set. It gives opportunity
for control drill under the severest correction at every state.
While the above account transcends the bounds of our
immediate subject, it gives a rather full and concrete setting
to the problem in hand.
Measurement of voluntary control of pitch. The best
single measurement of natural capacity in pitch control
is obtained by measuring the smallest difference in pitch
-— that the observer can produce. The test may be made
by using a set of tuning forks, such as the pitch discrimina-
tion set described in Chapter II, and sounding different
small intervals from .5 d. v. up to 30 d. v., to give the pitch
to the ear and determine, by means of tonoscope readings,
what is the smallest interval a person can sing. Another
procedure for the same purpose is to determine how large
the error will be in singing a small difference, such as 3 d. V.
or 5 d. v., called “minimal change ’’ or “voluntary control ’’
of pitch. These tests have the advantage of leading to exact
measurement in an actual exercise of the pitch control in a
form which is not commonly involved in musical experience.
Examples of laws determined by this method. With
reference to such capacities, a number of laws have been
worked out. The conclusions from One investigation in the
laboratory may serve as an illustration: '
1. The human voice is about equally accurate, in terms
of vibration, at all points well within its range; therefore,
the high tones are sung relatively (per cent) more exactly
than those which are low.
2. A strong standard tone (especially with low forks) is
reproduced as decidedly lower than a weak standard.
1 Walter R. Miles, “Accuracy of the Voice in Simple Pitch Singing,”
Univ. of Iowa, Stud. in Psychol., 1914, VI.
198
MUSICAL ACTION
3. The voice can most easily reproduce pitch for those
standard tones which have a rich timbre, such as the Organ
tone.
4. Measured in terms of average error the voice is less
accurate when its volume is large.
5. Vowel quality affects the accuracy of vocal reproduc-
tion of tones. The “i ' (as “i’’ in machine) is reproduced
the highest, “O '' the lowest, and “a '’ occupies a middle
position in pitch.
6. Men and women sing in their representative ranges
with equal accuracy vibration for vibration of error.
7. Women show better relative voice control than men,
if judged on the basis of their mean variation.
8. With women there is a general tendency to sing sharp.
Men are about equally divided in this regard, sharping,
however, being slightly more frequent than flatting.
9. The average error of the voice in reproducing a tone
given by a fork is 1.5 d. v. for men at range 128 d. v., and
1.5 d. v. for women at 256 d. v., in a representative group
of students.
10. A small perceptible pitch difference between two
tones is overestimated in the singing.
11. The average minimal producible change of the voice
for men at 128 d. v. is about 5.5 d. v., and for women at 256
d. v. it is 3.5. d. v.
Figure 3. No. 10 in this series is illustrated in Figure
3, which shows that there is a general tendency to sing a
small interval larger than it really should be. It also shows
that, in terms of vibrations, men and women make the same
error; but since the women sing an octave higher than the
men, the error of the women in a fraction of a tone is Only
half as great as that of men.
199
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
30
23
17
12
i5
o 23 17 12 s 5 3 2 1 05
Fig. 3. — (Miles.) Small Intervals as Sung by Men and Women Respectively.
The scales at the left and at the bottom are in terms of vibrations, one vibration
being equivalent to one fifty-fourth of a tone. The intervals as heard from tuning
forks are represented in the lower heavy curve; the same intervals are represented
as sung by the dotted curve for the men and by the dot-dash curve for the women.
The men sang at 128 d. v. and the women at 256 d. v. The interval was always
sung larger than it was heard. For example, an interval of one vibration was sung
as six vibrations by women and seven vibrations by men.
Mere illustrations. These illustrations of factors that
enter into pitch control are given, not as a summary of the
known facts, but merely as a means of showing concretely
how many factors are involved in a comparatively simple
act and how these factors can be reduced to known laws
and the control of conditions.
IV. INTENSITY -
Intensity and expression. Much of the effectiveness of
musical expression can be traced to a graceful and feelingful

200
MUSICAL ACTION
control of appropriate shadings in the intensity of sound.
Musical expression through intensity is the expression of
feeling and judgment; but whether or not this feeling and
judgment shall receive adequate expression in the movement
depends, first, upon the natural capacity for precision in
movement, as in the control of loudness, and, second, upon
training. With the latter we are not now concerned.
Touch. It is a well-known fact that the natural gift for
execution through intensity in music, granted the presence
of musical thought and feeling, is at least as rare and as
varied as a natural “ear ’’ for music, and its existence is
quite independent of the intellectual and emotional talents
for expression. In so far as intensity is concerned, touch
in music, when reduced to its last element, is the ability to
make, instantly and accurately, fine gradations of pressure,
whether it be on a key or a bow or in the energizing of the
vocal cords. -
Capacity may be measured. It is safe to say that the
person who is eminently successful in musical execution of
intensity will show his delicate control of movement in a
simple test, for example, on a balance. Conversely, a
child who shows natural control in a simple untrained move-
ment is the one who may become successful in musical
execution, provided he has the other qualities. The basic
tests of precision in movement, such as delicacy in control
of degree of pressure, rate of pressure, distance of movement
and steadiness, are, therefore, of great value in measuring
this capacity.
No objective standard of intensity in music. Measure-
ments of intensity or loudness of sound in actual playing
or singing have not been developed, largely for the reason
that we have no absolute standard which must be attained.
201
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Pitch presents a rigid and fixed requirement; the vibration
has to be precise or it is out of tune. Loudness, or intensity,
is not so fixed, but is determined from time to time by taste,
facilities, and conventions.
Measure of performance. The psychology of music
will, however, introduce measurements which will result in
the analysis and objectifying of the significance of loudness
and the measurement of actual success or failure in playing,
in so far as aspects of this factor are concerned. A mechani-
cal device may be put under the keyboard of a piano in such
a way that it will make a graphic record of the form and
force of the touch on the key, and reveal the objective record
to the player at the same time that he hears the tone and feels
the stroke. As in the case of the tonoscope, such a contriv-
ance may then serve as a guide in training or for the purpose
of analysis of recognized finish in technique which one may
desire to imitate. Such procedure will train both ear and
hand because the graphic record is quantitatively exact and
records smaller differences than the untrained ear can hear
or hand execute. ar
V. TIME
Of the capacity for keeping time in musical action, we have
a specific measure in the above test of timed action, Chap-
ter IX. This is effectively supplemented by the records
on motility and reaction time. The timed action test may
be regarded as an imitation of keeping time, as in the play-
ing on the piano, marching, dancing, and all other forms of
rhythmic movement. The merit of the test lies in the fact
that it is stripped down to its elements, which can be accu-
rately defined, controlled, and measured. The test is, of
course, capable of hundreds of variations, depending upon
202
MUSICAL ACTION
a specific interest that one may have in mind. It is the third
of the three fundamental capacities — the control of pitch,
the control of intensity, and the control of time. Its prin-
cipal significance lies in the rôle that it plays in rhythmic
action.
VI. RHYTHM
Rhythmic action very complex. The psychology of music
is the psychology of tone and rhythm. The question just
now before us is the rôle of motor capacity in rhythmic
action. The reader must be patient with our failure to
give, in a single section, a full account of musical rhythm.
Rhythm, like tone, is present in all aspects of music. We
are compelled to consider one factor at a time, the hearing
of time, the hearing of intensity, the imaging of time, the
imaging of intensity, motor impulse, action in time, control
of intensity, precision in movement, and other factors.
Measurement of time factor. On the motor side, the
process must be divided into the control of time and the con-
trol of intensity. Of these we have specific measurements
in tests on timed action and precision and discrimination
in action. Mere uniform action, as in timed action, is not
objectively rhythmic. To be rhythmic there must be
objective grouping, either by time or by intensity. Pre- \
cision in the time of rhythmic action may be measured by #
varying the timed action tests so as to produce long and
short intervals, the duration of which may be controlled
as in actual playing. The recording apparatus might be
attached to the piano, but this would be clumsy and inexact.
We, therefore, use the telegraph key with the chronograph,
as before, and require the subject to mark a given musical
rhythm, such as repeated measures of a long and a short
203
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
note. Such a test is, however, not so valuable as a test
of timed action for the reason that so much depends upon
practice. However, it deals with a specific and additional
factor, the ability to produce multiples of a given time,
as when we regard the half note as equivalent to two quarter
notes.
Measurement of intensity factor. To this measure of
time precision, we might easily add the measure of the
precision of stress or accent, as described for intensity. To
record this, the telegraph key is mounted on a spring which
is attached to a similar spring on the phonograph, carrying
a tracing point which marks the degree of pressure by a
tracing parallel to the time line and similar to it, except that
the measure is in terms of the degrees of pressure ; that
is, amplitude of the jog instead of the time. Such appa-
ratus might be available and effective for specific training
in precision of time and touch in the essentials of musical
rhythm and might well furnish a series of exercises in a
conservatory.
The motor impulse. Should we desire specific tests of
motor tendencies in rhythm as marks of rhythmic impulse.
such can be devised in considerable number and of various
kinds depending upon what is wanted. But for the purpose
of guidance, such motor tendencies can be observed with
sufficient accuracy without any instruments by one who has
been trained in the analysis of such responses and under-
stands what to look for.
Analysis necessary. When we come to analyze difficul-
ties and defects, it is necessary to separate the capacity into
its component parts and isolate each factor on the sensory,
representative, affective, and motor sides as has been indi-
cated above.
204
MUSICAL ACTION
VII. TIMBRE
The rating of “voice.” After all, the central factor in
musical power of expression, whether vocal or instrumental,
is timbre. Herein lies literally the beauty of richness in
tone production. For voice, quantitative measurement of
this capacity is, however, of comparatively little significance,
because the voice changes so much in the period of natural
growth and is capable of so large a transformation through
training that the estimate of this capacity can be made
with adequate accuracy without any exact measurement,
provided the examiner understands thoroughly what fac-
tors are involved in the determination and the limitation
of tone production. Rating of an untrained voice is an
exceedingly complicated affair. The difficulty lies in find-
ing masters who understand this technique of analysis
which involves technical training somewhat allied to a
physician's training for diagnosis.
The phonodeik. At the present time no convenient instru-
ment is available for measuring the timbre of a tone, but
measurement can be made, and is being made, through the
remarkable achievements of recent experimental acoustics.
With his phonodeik, Professor Dayton C. Miller is able to
photograph a tone from a singer or an instrument, as was
illustrated in Chapter VI, and can analyze the waves in the
photograph in such a way as to obtain a detailed inventory
of the tone in terms of its component overtones. The
instrument shows not only how many overtones are present
but also the relative prominence of each overtone. Thus,
in terms of the number, distribution, and relative prominence
of overtones, we have an exact and concrete picture and a
1 Op. cit.
205
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
quantitative statement of the character of a rich tone. This
character is its timbre. - -
Its practical use. It is to be hoped that this process may
be so simplified that the recording instrument may be put
into a conservatory, not only for the testing of the voice for
the purpose of rating, but also for the study of progressive
acquisition of certain characteristics of timbre under con-
trolled training. When this is done, we may select a superior
tone of a master and place the photographic analysis of
this as a model before the pupil in such a way that he can
Compare his own production from moment to moment with
that of the master or model tone, and can know in exact
detail just what the defects or the merits are in a given tone.
It is not unreasonable to suppose that such critical examina-
tion of the voice of the artist may lead to identification of
faults, not now specifically recognized, and to the correction
of these through persistent and intensive training with this
Objective in view. Just as the tonoscope throws a moving
picture of the pitch of the voice before the singer, the phono-
deik will throw a picture of the timbre on the screen, and
the voice may be trained in turn for pitch and tone quality
through the guidance of the eye which is capable of seeing
in concrete detail effects vastly finer than the ear could
ever hear.
Needed, an analyzed basis for rating voices. For sur-
veys of schools and for preliminary examination of children
entering music schools, we need a manual of instructions,
setting forth in detail the capacities of the voice somewhat
in the way that we have here treated the capacities of the
ear. The main thing is to know what to look for in the light
of knowledge about possibilities of development with train-
ing. But this most important aspect of all singing remains
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MUSICAL ACTION
a field quite unexplored in so far as the scientific bearings
in application to music are concerned. It will perhaps be
generally admitted that voice judging and voice develop-
ment and training are notoriously devoid of Scientific founda-
tion.
VIII. CONSONANCE
The capacity for producing consonance, or harmony,
in so far as it depends upon the performer, must be estimated
in terms of a number of the capacities which we have out-
lined. There is the requirement of the sense of pitch and
the ability to render pitch, the sense of intensity and a
delicate touch, the sense of consonance and a command of
adequate tonal range, the ability to image, both through
imagination and memory, the concrete setting to be repro-
duced, the motor capacity for producing favorable tone
Quality, and the musical thought necessary for attaining
a musical whole. So far as rating of musical talent is con-
cerned, there is no need of a specific test of this complex
process. We must judge capacity for this in terms of the
factors involved, each of which may be rated in turn.
IX. VOLUME
In accordance with our analysis of volume in Chapter
VIII, it follows that, as we have intensity-volume, extensity-
volume, timbre-volume, and reduplication-volume, tests of
promise in volume of voice lie in the tests of these specific
resources; namely, force for strong sound (intensity),
register for high and low tones (pitch and extensity), capacity
for rich tones (timbre), and tone reinforcement (reduplicating
resonance). Resource for volume, therefore, does not call
for other capacities beyond those already discussed.
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Y. WHAT CONSTITUTES VOICE 2
The scientific analysis of natural capacities in voice as a
foundation for guidance in the selection of voices, remains
to be worked out. It will probably involve first, accurate
knowledge of the anatomy and theory of the functioning of
the vocal organs. With this must go acquaintance with
particular types of structural voice defects and pathological
conditions, particularly with respect to the possibility of
correction or cure. The classification of facts will be ex-
pressed in terms of the physical sound wave, its frequency,
amplitude, duration, and form. With such a clear concept
of the sound wave, we may then examine each anatomical
part — the bellows, the vibrators, the resonators — and
determine exactly how each of these functions in the control
of these physical characteristics of the sound wave. That
description, in physical terms, can readily be converted into
psychological terms, such as, pitch, intensity, time, and
timbre. Having adopted the exact terminology in which the
relation of the psychological to the physical is represented
correctly, we must draw from the art of music the best opinion
as to what kinds of sounds are desired, such as, rich, pure,
voluminous, etc. From this point we may approach the
question of the psychology of motor innervation, the
question of how to produce these desired effects, and on the
basis of such knowledge we may found methods of voice
training. In order to rate young voices we must, further-
more, have well established norms of natural capacity, so
that when we have, for example, measurements of chest
capacity, photographic records of the vocal cords, and X-ray
pictures of the resonance cavities of the head, we may know
how each of these compares with established norms. In
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MUSICAL ACTION
addition to these norms of natural capacity, we must have
norms of development in order that we may predict the
prospect of development of a given capacity in a particular
structure. Such, in brief, is the outline of the future
psychology of talent for a singing voice. For instrumental
talent the procedure may be analogous.
XI. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
Capacity for musical action predictable. Music is action.
This action is guided by the various capacities for hearing
and by the powers of imagination and memory in such a
way as to be the medium of expression for artistic feeling
and thought. In this chapter we have tried to analyze
action to its structural elements and have found that musical
performance requires certain powers of motor control which
can be identified long before they are brought out by musical
education. By measuring certain forms of action, we can
predict with a good degree of certainty what the prospect
of the acquisition of power will be for various factors in
musical action. We have also found that it is possible to
apply exact measurements to actual musical performance
in various aspects of music. But the main lessons that
should come to the general reader are the insight into the
actual structure and nature of the power of musical execu-
tion, and a recognition of the possibility of noting a child's
personal equation for various kinds of musical action early
enough to make it the basis of intelligent choice and guid-
3,1] C62.
Physique. In considering musical intelligence, we must
consider its relation to general intelligence. So, in consider-
ing capacity for musical action, we must take into account
the general equipment of physique, not only as to form of
209
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
fingers, lung capacity, and resonance capacity; but also
general health, vigor, and physical resources, because sing-
ing and playing make very severe demands upon physique,
and achievements are very often limited by lack of general
vitality.
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CHAPTER XI
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
I. INTRODUCTION
Music in representation. We have surveyed the purely
sensory and motor capacities in the hearing and performing
of music and are now ready to consider the content of music
as re-presentation in the tonal world in which we live through
mental pictures or images.
A subjective affair. If music were merely hearing and
playing, we should fail to carry its asthetic value with us
in life. It would be a momentary affair, left behind us;
but musical minds live in a world of tones in which there is
creation, rehearsing, storing, and enjoyment of real music
Úuite apart from the presence of outward sound.
Auditory imagery. When we have heard a tune, some of
us have the power to hear it over again; it comes back to
us; it follows us; it may even be so persistent as to haunt
us. It is heard in imagination — more than imagination,
in fact, for it is actual hearing in the absence of the outward
sound. We can play the tune, hear the counterpoint, fol-
low the resolution of the chord, admire the attack, respond
emotionally to the exquisite nuances which are rolled off
in our mind's ear. This is called auditory imagery. In
this auditory imagery lies one of the most precious of the
gifts of music, - the ability to live in a world of mental
tones. In this capacity nature has bestowed her gifts
211
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
unevenly. One reason the radical difference among indi-
viduals is not well known is that those who are not blessed
With this gift do not know what they lack or miss. It is
like color-blindness; the color-blind individual does not
perceive what he fails to see.
Examples of difference in imagery. A supervisor of one
of the largest public schools in this country stated frankly
that he had no auditory imagery and doubted if he missed
anything. One who has good auditory imagery replied
in astonishment that he could not understand what one
really gets out of music without auditory imagery. Let
us call them A and B respectively. A, the person who has
no auditory imagery, recalls a tune or any other musical
effect in abstract terms, that is, in name, in visual picture
of the Score, in terms of logical phrases, or in technique of
the composition. This may be exact, relatively easy, and
Serviceable So far as it goes. But B plays or sings or has
it played or Sung Over “in his mind ’’; he actually hears
it, repeats parts, applies the technique, observes principles
in Operation, just as if he were actually in the presence of
the performer. A claims that he has no auditory imagery;
B, that his auditory imagery is as vivid as the original per-
ception. Between these two extremes we have an unbroken
gradation, and it is possible by a psychological scale to locate
each person somewhere between A and B.
Often explains attitude of musicians. In this fact of
inner experience, subjective music, or realism, the constant
reverberation to musical ideas because they are lived in
the concrete, lies the explanation of one of the mysterious
holds of music upon some minds, and the scientific explana-
tion of much in the art of appreciation. One person is cool
and logical in his musical reaction — makes a rood business
212
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
man, supervisor, or director; the other is warm in emotional
response and is the artist. Here is the corner stone of “the
artistic temperament.”
II. IMAGINAL TYPES
Present view. Since the first discovery of imagery (only
about two generations ago) there has been much discussion
and experiment for the purpose of determining to what
extent individuals differ in imaginal types. Without going
into details as to the methods of experimentation and the
large number of the factors which must be taken into ac-
count, we may state the general conclusions which have
been reached in three propositions: First, there are no
pure image types; that is, there are no persons who are
purely visual or purely auditory, motor, or tactile. Second,
notwithstanding even the contradiction of the most learned
scholars and observers, it seems probable that all persons
have some degree of capacity for imagery in all of the
senses. Third, there is a general tendency to couch one's
experiences primarily in one sense imagery. For obvious
reasons the most common type is the visual, which may be
more or less supported by imagery from the other senses.
Imagery analogous to perception. This tendency to
live in One sense in representation is entirely analogous to
the same tendency in perception, because imagery is merely
a reinstatement, either free or faithful, of what has before
been experienced. As I go about my office and read and
write and meet people, I have a prevailing tendency to recog-
nize things as I see them — the desk, the paper, the pen,
the hat, the door knob, the caller. Most of these things
Çould be recognized through other senses such as hearing
or touch, b "t the eye serves the purpose, and therefore,
213
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
the other senses fall into the background, and I may not
be conscious at all of how the door knob feels or how the
hat feels, or how the desk feels.
Limited to sensory capacities. It is of course unneces-
Sary to say that imagery is limited to the original sensory
capacities. One does not, as a rule, imagine what he has
not sensed or cannot sense. Thus limitations in hearing
of pitch, time, or consonance will appear in imagery only
to the extent that they are present in sensation. That is
not quite so true of action. Indeed, the image of strain
in motor imagery of the sort to produce a tone above one's
vocal range may be more conspicuous than the image of
a tone within the range ; but such images are more or less
in the nature of actual sensations of strain.
Spreads into all senses. Music, like all other art stimuli,
arouses imagery in each and all of the senses, and the non-
musical senses are by no means negligible for the apprecia-
tion of the musical effect. Many persons who are primarily
eye-minded see the whole setting of the performance and
get the emotional reaction largely through visual imagery.
Images of warmth, taste, and Smell also play an important
rôle. Just as we not only see, but also hear, touch, and
move toward the person with whom we shake hands, SO,
when we re-live this act in memory or imagination, it tends
to come with the same richness of setting – the visual,
tactile, motor, thermal, etc. Only thus can we feel our-
selves into the situation.
Advantages of imagery. Music is, however, not a thing
to be seen, touched, or smelled; nor is it essentially ideas
or abstract thought; primarily, it is a creation within a
world of hearing. Therefore the person who can image
music vividly, profusely, and firmly as he has heard it has
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MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
a great advantage over the man who primarily sees the score
and the performer, or recalls the abstract name for a for-
mula, movement, expression, or other aspect of music. The
one lives for the moment in a tonal world and hears music ;
the other does not enter this tonal world but satisfies him-
self with ideas about music or names for it.
III. GENERAL TESTs OF MENTAL IMAGERY
The introspective method. Of the objective tests of
mental imagery none lends itself well for general diagnosis.
The introspective method here recommended lacks the
objective control which we have enjoyed in the foregoing
tests; but it is amply justified by the fact that it draws
out the practical information we want quickly and in rich
setting.
The measurement of relative imagery in the different
senses. The test is taken from the author's manual
“Elementary Experiments in Psychology.” For full direc-
tions and interpretation of this test it is necessary to consult
the original text.
Directions. Fix clearly in mind and use as consistently as
possible the following scale of degrees of vividness:
0. No image at all
Very faint
Faint
Fairly vivid
Vivid
Very vivid
As vivid as perception
i
Answer the following questions by writing after the num-
ber of the question the number which denotes the degree of
1 Holt & Co., 1908.
215
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Vividness characteristic of your image. Instead of taking
the questions in the order given, follow the order: I 1, II 1,
III 1, IV 1, V 1, VI 1, VII 1, VIII 1, I 2, II 2, III 2, IV. 2,
etc., I 3, II 3, III 3, IV 3, etc. Introspective notes to
Supplement the numerical answers are very desirable.
I. VISUAL. 1. Can you image the color of — (a) A red rose? (b) A
green leafº (c) A yellow ribbon 7 (d) A blue sky?
2. Can you image the brightness of — (a) A white teacup?
(b) A black crow? (c) A gray stone? (d) The blade of
a knife?
3. Can you image the form of — (a) The rose? (b) The leaf 2
(c) The teacup? (d) The knife?
4. Can you form a visual image of — (a) A moving express train?
(b) Your sharpening of your pencil? (c) An up-and-down
movement of your tongue?
5. Can you image simultaneously — (a) A group of colors in a
bunch of sweet peas? (b) Colors, forms, brightnesses, and
movements in a landscape view”
6. Can you compare in a visual image — (a) The color of cream
and the color of milk? (b) The tint of one of your finger-
nails with that of the palm of your hand?
7. Can you hold fairly constant for ten seconds — (a) The color
of the rose? (b) The form of the rose?
II. AUDITORY. 1. Can you image the sound of — (a) The report of
a gun? (b) The clinking of glasses? (c) The ringing of
church bells? (d) The hum of bees?
2. Can you image the characteristic tone-quality of — (a) A
violin? (b) A cello? (c) A flute? (d) A cornet?
3. Can you repeat in auditory imagery the air of — (a) Yankee
Doodle? (b) America?
4. Can you form auditory images of the intensity of a violin tone –
(a) Very strong? (b) Strong? (c) Weak? (d) Very weak?
5. Can you form auditory imagery of the rhythm of — (a) The
snare drum? (b) The bass drum? (c) “Dixie,” or other
air heard played? (d) “Tell me not in mournful numbers”
spoken by yourself?
216
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
III.
IV.
VI.
MOTOR. 1. Can you image, in motor terms, yourself — (a) Rock-
ing in a chair? (b) Walking down a stairway? (c) Biting
a lump of sugar? (d) Clenching your fist?
2. Does motor imagery arise in your mind when you recall —
(a) A waterfall? (b) A facial expression of fear? (c) The
bleating of sheep? (d) Two boys on a teeter board?
3. Aside from the actual inceptive movements, do you get motor
imagery when recalling — (a) A very high tone? (b) A
very low tone? (c) Words like “Paderewski,” “bubble,”
“téte-à-tête,” “Hurrah!”? -
4. Can you form motor images of — (a) An inch? (b) A yard?
(c) A mile? -
5. Can you form a motor image of — (a) The weight of a pound
of butter? (b) Your speed in running a race? (c) The
speed of an arrow?
TACTUAL. 1. Can you form a tactual image of the pressure
of - (a) Velvet? (b) Smooth glass? (c) Sandpaper?
(d) Mud?
2. Can you form tactual imagery of the following impressions
made in the palm of your hand — (a) The size of a certain
coin’? (b) The direction of a line traced by a pencil point?
(c) The intermittent touch of a vibrating body?
3. Can you form tactual imagery of — (a) The flow of water
against the finger? (b) The sensation from a pressure spot?
(c) The weight of a particular coin in the hand?
OLFACTORY. 1. Can you image the odor of — (a) Coffee?
(b) Camphor? (c) An onion? (d) Apple blossoms?
2. Can you image Odors from — (a) A meadow? (b) A confec-
tioner's shop?
GUSTATORY. 1. Can you image the taste of — (a) Sugar?
(b) Salt? (c) Vinegar? (d) Quinine?
VII.
2. Can you image the taste of — (a) An apple? (b) A chocolate
cake? (c) Beefsteak?
THERMAL. 1. Can you image the coldness of — (a) Ice cream?
(b) A draught of cold air? (c) The sensation from the
stimulation of a cold spot?
217
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
2. Can you image the warmth of — (a) Hot tea? (b) A warm
poker? (c) A warm bath? (d) The sensation from the
stimulation of a warm spot?
VIII. PAIN. 1. Can you secure a sensory image of the pain of —
(a) The prick of a pin” (b) Running your finger along the
edge of a sharp knife? (c) A toothache or headache?
(d) The stimulation of a pain spot?

—
I II III IV V VI VII VIII
Fig. 1. – Relative Prominence of Imagery in the Different Senses.
Sample of an individual chart.
Compute the averages for all the answers in each of the
experiments I to VIII. Lay off a plot in pencil as in Figure
1, eight blocks long and six high, and number as in this
figure, where the vertical series represents the scale of vivid-
ness from 0 to 6, and the horizontal series represents the
senses I to, VIII. Plot the averages in a curve as in
Figure 1.
218
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
IV. A SIMPLE TEST OF AUDITORY IMAGERY IN CHILDREN
Preliminaries. The simplest and most effective pro-
cedure for the testing of auditory imagery both in children
and adults is to begin with some illustrations of imagery
in vision; for example, recall of the breakfast table. Ask
them to notice to what extent the whole table is present,
to count the dishes, to notice the design on the tablecloth,
etc., in order to develop an attitude of accurate observation.
Then ask them to see a small yellow rose, fifteen inches in
front of the eyes; ask them to put three rose leaves back
of this yellow rose; then let them put with the yellow rose
and its leaves a little red rose and then a pink one. For
each of these objects there should be drill in the rating in
terms of the scale from 0 to 6 as outlined above. In observ-
ing visual imagery the eyes should be closed.
Preliminary warning should then be made that imagery
is no mark of intelligence because sometimes very intelli-
gent people have very little imagery and sometimes they
have very marked imagery, and the same is true of very
ignorant people and of people of low intelligence. Then
their attention should be called to the fact that images do
not always come with the same clearness, firmness, or
permanence, and that their record must be a sort of average
representing the commonest experience. Having practiced
in this way on the rating of visual images, one may ask how
many have ever been haunted by a tune, or how many
actually hear a tune in imagery. Then some illustrations
may be given, such as grading themselves on hearing the
patter of rain, the voice of the teacher in speaking the pupil's
name, the bark of a dog, or the honk of an automobile.
All this is preliminary.
219
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Then the following specific tests may be made:
I. The broken melody. Play the first two phrases of
“America ’’ so that all may know what it is; then announce
that you will play a few notes but may stop any place and
that the listener is to image the next note. After the note
has been imaged the actual note is played and the listener is

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Y.
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Fig. 2. — Distribution of Ratings in Auditory Imagery.
Solid line, unselected adults and children; dot-dash line, musicians; dash line, psy-
chologists. Figures at the left, per cent of cases; at the bottom, vividness of the image.
to grade himself by the scale of 0 to 6 on the imaged note as
compared with the actual note. This is repeated ten times,
the imaged note being always a sustained tone.
II. Imitating two notes. The experimenter plays two notes
three times and asks the listener to play them as images in the
same way. This is repeated ten times with different notes.
III. Free imaging. The listener is asked to image the
first phrase of “America ’’ as played in the first experience.
This is repeated ten times.
220
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
Records and norms. The final record is given in terms of
the average rating for these thirty trials. A norm of dis-
tribution is shown in Figure 2 for adults and children. Curves
representing psychologists and musicians respectively in
this figure must be discussed separately. This norm may
be converted into percentile rank as in the sensory tests.
V. THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUDITORY IMAGERY
Nature of development. The child is naturally of the
imaginal type, and probably has as vivid images as the adult
will ever have. The process of specialization in culture,
learning, and skill is really a process of suppression of the .
prolific images characteristic of childhood. What happens
developmentally then is that, given a certain type, for
example, auditory-motor, there will develop with this capac-
ity a richness of recognition and a power of differentiation
which is entirely analogous to the development of command
of timbre and other pitch complexes with a given sense of
pitch. It does not mean that development necessarily
results in stronger imagery but rather that the things imaged
are more familiar, of richer variety, and of far keener dif-
ferentiations than in earlier childhood. It is probably this
latter aspect that musicians have in mind when they speak
of developing imagery, just as they have in mind the rich-
ness of experience when they speak of the development of
the sense of pitch. -
Children and adults. The distribution of ratings of chil-
dren in the four years of the grammar school practically takes
the same form as for adults. We have, therefore, repre-
sented them in a single curve in Figure 2 and in a single norm
in Figure 3. This means that, in responding to the same test
of vividness of auditory images, children rate themselves
221
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
20
about the same as adults when an unselected group is con-
sidered. Children respond very well to these tests. There
need be no hesitation about using these tests in the series of
measures of musical talent in the school. This self-rating
must, however, be interpreted with care in the light of the
100
80
60
5 O
& O
30
210
6 5 .5 5 4.5 4. 3.5 3. 2.5 2 l. 5 l 5 Q
Fig. 3. — Norm for Converting the Rating into Percentile Rank.
objective records in the other measures, and the skill of
control in the giving of this test.
Preventing atrophy. On the whole, the results of obser-
vation on children and adults tend to show that, with train-
ing and mental development, we do not develop any new
capacity for vividness of imagery but the ability to put
the native capacity to a far greater and more diversified

222
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
use; and to the extent that this is done, we have forestalled
the otherwise inevitable suppression and atrophy of this
capacity, which is a common occurrence.
“Sudden " appearance. Many music teachers speak of
having found themselves, and of having had pupils find them-
selves, suddenly developing the use of auditory imagery
as if it were a new power which had just been acquired.
The explanation of this is probably to be found in the inter-
pretation that a new interest has developed. The situation
is the same as with the art student who may have had a
keen eye for color vision up to the time that he takes train-
ing in painting, when it seems all at Once as if a new world
of color were being revealed to him. He sees colors and
interprets them where they have not been seen before, and
yet there is no reason for saying that this has changed his
natural capacity for seeing colors. It means simply that
he was not interested in his power or did not have his atten-
tion directed to it before.
VI. THE RóLE OF AUDITORY IMAGERY IN MUSIC
A basic trait of musicianship. The best-informed musi-
cians agree that the power of imagery is one of the essential
gifts of a musician. A study of the biography of the great
composers reveals the fact that they have all had power of
imagery to a high degree, although there are very great
differences in the kind of musical imagery and its relation
to feeling and thought. Musical biography, in so far as it
is psychological, is more conspicuous in its terms of imagery
and responsiveness to this musical world of images than in
anything else. -
Rôle in composition. The best composers urge their
pupils to compose without the use of an instrument. This
223
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
is of course possible in terms of abstract technique of com-
position; but, in order to get the real inspiration, the com-
poser is advised to relax himself and hear spontaneously
the thing which is produced before him under the influence
of the constructive imagination and thought in which he has
approached the subject. Having written this down as it
was heard, he is then urged not to try it on an instrument
but to play it mentally again, because in playing on the
instrument the consciousness of technique and rules will
be thrust upon him in such a way as to make the composi-
tion conventional ; whereas, when playing the thing men-
tally, this spontaneity much more naturally brings out
any change which would be desirable from the point of
view of the expression of his own feeling. It is the old
story. One must acquire technique through patient plod-
ding and effort ; but when this is once deeply ingrained in
the system it crops out automatically in spontaneous self-
expression. *
This testimony of the composers of the past is sustained
by the leading composers of to-day. The natural method
of composition is to hear the theme which is being developed
in imagination as if it were actually performed, and to hear
it so realistically as to experience the feelings which naturally
ensue and to be able to observe and to criticize the finest
points and shadings in timbre, harmony, rhythm, or other
aspects in this subjective rendition.
Rôle in performance. What is true of composition is
also true of performance. A musical selection can be played
mechanically by a human being as well as by a machine.
It can be played with feeling by a person who can lose him-
Self in the present moment by projecting himself into the
score in such a way that each successive sound moves in a
224
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
rich setting of mental imagery so realistic that it blends
without break into the actual sounds. This imagery moves
like an accompaniment; it forms the matrix in which the
playing is set ; it gives the performer his bearings.
Rôle in hearing. If this is true of composition and per-
formance, it must, of course, be true also for the ordinary
hearing of music. An inquiry among musicians reveals
the fact that teachers regard such ability to image music,
to re-live it, to recall and rearrange in realistic imagination,
as an essential mark of musical capacity and of progress in
the appreciation of music.
VII. ACTUAL PREVALENCE OF MUSICAL IMAGERY IN
MUSICIANS
A questionnaire. For the use of a student' working on this
subject, the writer issued a circular letter to two hundred
musicians and two hundred psychologists, asking the first
test of psychologists, and both tests of musicians.
“We are seeking information about (1) what degree of tonal imagery
prevails among musicians; and (2) the judgment of musicians as to the
rôle of tonal imagery in music.
“By auditory imagery (usually called mental hearing), we mean the
ability to hear sounds in imagination and memory, to some extent as if
they were physically present to the ear.
“For the purpose of rating imagery, we use the following scale:
0 – no image 3 — fairly clear image
1 – very faint image 4 – clear image
2 — faint image 5 — very clear image
6 — as clear as the actual hearing
“If you will have the kindness to try the two tests and answer the fol-
lowing questions, we shall be under great obligations to you. The names
of all contributors will be kept confidential. -
1 Dr. Marie Agnew.
225
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
“TEST 1. Shut your eyes and try to hear in your imagination the first
phrase of ‘America’ as played on the piano. After repeated trials,
record your average grade, marking on the above scale.
“TEST 2. Compose a phrase of an original melody, to be Sung by a
Specific person, and hear it over and over again in your imagination.
Record the grade of the image on the above scale.
“Questions
1. Do you naturally recall music vividly in realistic auditory imagery?
2. Do your compositions always come naturally to you in realistic
auditory imagery?
3. Has your own auditory imagery developed or tended to regress
as you have matured?
4. Do you find great differences among your pupils in auditory imagery?
5. What significance do you attach to such differences, if any?”
Some facts gleaned. Without entering into a discussion
of the returns to the questionnaire in detail, it is possible
to glean some rather striking facts. Tabulating the answers
of Question 1 for musicians and psychologists, we have the
two curves in Figure 2 showing that musicians rate them-
selves as having extraordinarily high auditory imagery
whereas psychologists rate themselves low. We take the
psychologists as representatives of men of science, trained
in accuracy of observation of this kind, and the musicians
as representatives of those who have natural gifts in music.
In so doing we must, however, remember that there are
some among the musicians who do not have musical talent,
and there are among the psychologists some who are musical.
As a rule the musicians who rate themselves low offer some
excuse, explaining that they suffer from defective capacity
in this particular; that they have neglected to develop it;
that they have been engaged in some sort of musical busi-
226
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
ness which does not make it necessary, etc. Likewise, the
psychologists seem to infer that the lack of this power is an
index to their lack of musical ability.
In both classes there are a few exceptions to this rule;
for instance, a few musicians and psychologists recognize
the fact that one may have marked auditory imagery with-
out a musical mind, and a few seem not to be able to grasp
either the fact of the existence or the significance of imagery
of any sort. -
The outstanding fact, after due allowance for the crude-
ness of the test and the many sources of error which enter
into the report, is that the great musicians have an auditory
imagery which is almost unheard of among unmusical men
of science. -
Typical comment. Among the interesting comments
which accompanied the replies the following are typical.
The imagery is not readily under voluntary control. It
comes, or it does not come, spontaneously. It varies from
time to time depending upon favorable or unfavorable
associations. It comes very much more readily for a familiar
situation than for one that is not familiar; for instance, it
is easier to hear “ America ’’ sung than to hear it played
On the piano; it is easier to hear one person than another;
certain parts may stand out with clearness while other
parts fail; one may hear the tones for a moment and then
they are lost. The tones are so tied up in rich auditory and
kinesthetic imagery that it may be difficult to isolate one
from the other for observation. Many cannot hear them-
Selves sing or play unless they are actually conscious of
having gone through the movements in an inceptive form.
Musicians claim good auditory imagery, and that it has
developed. Musicians certify that, as a rule, they naturally
227
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
recall music readily in auditory imagery and that the com-
positions naturally come to them in this form through
creative imagination. Most of them maintain also that
their imagery has developed with training. No musician
reports that it has declined.
The musicians' theory of development. Responses to
Questions 4 and 5 reveal the character of the psychological
theory and insight that music teachers have with reference
to their pupils. Here we find the greatest diversity of
Opinion, from the view of those who believe that all children
are alike in this capacity to that of those who believe that
children as a rule are very different and that no amount of
training can make them alike. On the whole, musicians
put large faith in the power of developing imagery through
training and emphasize the necessity of beginning early.
VIII. MOTOR IMAGERY
Intimately related to auditory imagery. Auditory im-
agery is almost inextricably tied up with motor sensations
and motor imagery. A musician with auditory imagery
and imagination is cool and stale if he does not have these
bound up with motor imagery and motor tendencies. Motor
or kinesthetic imagery is the mental picture of movements
and tendencies to movements in terms of feelings of effort
and sensations of movement. In music, motor imagery is
the reliving of sensations of strain in movement which were
experienced in the actual sensations of hearing or would
naturally accompany an imagined hearing. It is in large
part the raw material of emotional expression in music
and is usually confused with emotion from which it should
be clearly distinguished as merely one component element.
Its significance. One person who has defective motor
228
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
imagery is, perhaps, unmoved by music to that extent. He
may have the most refined asthetic appreciation of music
as something heard, but he has no feeling of how every musi-
cal effect is accompanied with sympathetic feeling in the
execution. He does not feel the stress and strains in his
body which are the emotional reaction in the original hear-
ing, or would be in a real or imaged hearing. He misses
the subjective living over, not only of the effect on self or
another in producing the tonal effects heard, but also the
awareness of the entire organism as felt in a thrill through
the countless reactions in muscles and internal Organs, which
constitutes the outward expression of the emotion aroused
by the sound. Another person, who has good motor im-
agery, lives in a world of emotional responses. If he listens
to the subject of music, he feels himself producing it sym-
pathetically. He finds himself responding emotionally,
often in a false and figurative way as in feelings of enlarge-
ment, expansion, and strength. Where the musician “pro-
jects' himself into music, or “lives it,” he couches himself
essentially in motor imagery. These are not characteristi-
cally separate images, but rather a full setting, even an ideal.
How it radiates. The commonest experience in observ-
ing auditory imagery is to find it set in a mass of visual
and motor Sensations and images. One sees and feels
himself actually producing the tone vocally or instrumen-
tally, and then, under favorable conditions, he hears it.
This is made doubly complicated by the fact that the actual
movement of tone production is present to some extent as
an inceptive movement in nearly all thinking of tones.
The movement may be infinitesimally faint, but the more
carefully we make our observations the more certain we are
to find these sensations.
229
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Relation to motor sensation. Indeed, the kinesthetic
Sensations are so conspicuous that many persons doubt
whether they have any images of motion in addition to the
actual sensations, and it is exceedingly difficult to differ-
entiate one from the other. Fortunately, from the practical
point of view, the sensation and the image serve the same
end ; and for present purposes we shall use the term “motor
imagery '' to include the motor sensation in so far as it cannot
be extricated from the image, fully recognizing that in one
person the image may be more dominant than the sensation
of the inceptive movement and in another person this condi-
tion may be reversed. While it is convenient for the study
of individual differences in vocational guidance to lump these
together, this fusion should not stand in the way of keen
separation of the two factors by persons who are capable of
doing so by introspection for other purposes.
Method of rating. In section III of the general test of
imagery above, we have a means of evaluating the motor
imagery. The same principle might be extended SO as to
make a more intensive test if desired. We find the same
large range of differences from a record of 0 up to a record
of 6 on our scale. But ordinarily motor imagery is rated
lower than auditory or visual imagery. This may be due
largely to the fact that the visual and the auditory furnish
intellectual content, whereas the motor image furnishes
emotional content.
IX. MUSICAL IMAGINATION
Music a symbol. Music, like language, is a series of
symbols which may or may not convey the desired message.
Through creative imagination the composer gives a message
to the world, but whether that message shall be transmitted
230
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
faithfully and be received effectively depends upon the pos-
session of the right imagination on the part of the performer
and the listener; in every case the Outer form of music is
merely a symbol of the inner feelings, ideals, or ideas of
composer, performer, and listener.
Differentiating power of music. As compared with lan-
guage, music appeals especially to the imagination in that
the symbols do not represent discrete ideas. The same
music may mean to different individuals, and to the same
individual at different times, the graceful rolling of blue
waters, the peace of a pious soul, the joy of a comfortable
meal, or a sweet and pure feeling of artistic serenity. It is
not that music does not convey fine distinctions. Mendels-
sohn wrote to an author who composed verses for his
“Lieder ’’:
Music is more definite than speech, and to want to explain it by
means of words is to make the meaning obscure. I do not think that
words suffice for that end, and were I persuaded to the contrary, I would
not compose music. There are people who accuse music of being am-
biguous, who allege that words are always understood : for me it is just
the other way; words seem to me vague, ambiguous, unintelligible, if
we compare them to the true music that fills the soul with a thousand
things better than words. What the music that I like expresses to me
seems to me too definite, rather than too indefinite, for any one to be able
to match words to it."
Language of music. This quotation involves penetrat-
ing psychological insight. Mystical symbols transcend
the carrying power of words because they stimulate the
creative self-expression and self-objectification of the lis-
tener who has a musical mind. It is to the credit of language
if it convey one specific idea and that only ; it is to the credit
1 Quoted from Ribot, Th., “Essay on the Creative Imagination,”
Chap. II, 213.
231
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
of music if it lead to a richer self-expression, transcending
the bounds of defined concepts and literal form.
Two meanings of imagination. The word “imagination ”
is used in psychology in two meanings: first, the power
of having mental images; second, “the process of forming
new ideal combinations, which depends on relative absence
of objective restrictions and the consequent freedom of
subjective selection.” The first aspect of imagination, a
mental process in terms of images, as discussed in the forego-
ing sections of this chapter, is the principal aspect ordinarily
treated in the textbooks under the head of imagination.
Many of the traits of the second aspect of imagination,
as just defined, are held in common with memory, which
is often spoken of as reproductive imagination. Indeed,
imagination proper is not a specific mental process, as
is sensation or perception, but is rather a designation for
certain group functioning of images, associations, thoughts,
feelings, and efforts in countless permutations. This view
does not deny the reality of the process of imagination or
in any way detract from its importance, we must give to
it a central and dominating place among the musical capac-
ities. But this attitude leaves but little to be said in applied
psychology of imagination beyond what is said on the
related aspects.
Recognizing the dominance or abeyance of specific traits
we find certain types of musical minds: such as the sensuous,
the intellectual, the sentimental, the impulsive, and the
motor. -
The sensuous type. The sensuous type is characterized
by luxuriant and realistic imagery, in terms of which experi-
ence is created and re-created. Instead of recalling experi-
ence in a matter-of-fact way, One endowed with this imagi-
232
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
nation at once reconstructs experience in images more or
less fantastic, conventionalized, idealized, and enriched,
and often so molded as to embody his feelings, biases, and
aspirations or fears. He lives in a world of the senses and
enjoys a sort of abandon and luxurious freedom from re-
strictions of the commonplace. It is the life of the im-
pressionist, an effervescent life of the moment, reverberant
in sensations and images. - g
The intellectual type. The intellectual type is ordinarily
spoken of as the scientific or philosophical imagination.
Creation takes the form of propositions, theories, postulates,
and logical ideas more or less concretely and directly repre-
sented in images. The sensory and imaginal elements are
relatively in abeyance and the process is cool and deliberate.
For the reason that it deals consistently with large units
of thought, this is the master form of imagination; the feeling
involved is placid but may be intense.
The sentimental type. The sentimental imagination,
often called the artistic, is characterized by its tendency to
idealize experience in terms of the higher sentiments. Ob-
jects and events assume meaning with reference to remote
ideals, or sanctions, such as harmony, unity, pleasure, or
the opposites of these. The world is a world of truth, good-
ness, and beauty, or their opposites, rather than the humdrum
of the common man's experience; experience is thought
of ideals and feelings rather than of events and -
The impulsive type. The impulsive imagination is that
which results in display of feeling and the arousal of the
emotion in others. It lacks logic, poise in sentiment, and
continuity of effort. It often results in great creations as
it taps the deeper resources of life under the stimulus of
g 233
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
great emotion; but it tends to be sporadic and is wanting
in cogency and continuity.
The motor type. The motor type of imagination, some-
times called the practical or mechanical imagination, lacks
the appearance of mental creation and often suggests the
effort of the plodder. It appears in the person whose inter-
ests are practical and who can foresee only as he gradually
Works out situations by doing. It is characterized by per-
sistence in effort, serviceable forethought, and the tendency
to achieve practical success.
Other groupings. To these may be added the balanced
imagination – that which includes each and all of the type-
traits in well-developed symmetry. For further detail of
description we may designate various combinations, such
as impressional-sentimental; the relative strength may be
designated throughout by such adjectives as weak, moder-
ate, and strong. The great musician has developed all of
these traits in so far as they are not contradictory or mutu-
ally exclusive. The inferior musician may have none to any
marked degree. Between these extremes the various cases
of musical imagination may be designated quite serviceably
in terms of the relative prominence of these commonly
observed traits.
X. SIGNIFICANCE OF IMAGINATION As A MUSICAL TALENT
Needed : not tests, but insight. It is possible to put
imagination to a variety of practical tests for the purpose
of rating. But in musical guidance, it is much more profit-
able to gather from all available sources of information a
sort of ensemble picture of the spontaneity and Self-expres-
sion of the child, noting roughly the characteristic tendencies
toward any one of the types which have just been mentioned.
234.
MUSICAL IMAGERY AND IMAGINATION
Indeed, the study of the child in this respect is most impor-
tant because the type of imagination determines the type
of the musician. It is extremely important to know whether
we shall have a musician of the sensuous, the intellectuals
the impulsive, the motor, or the balanced type, and what \
relative degree of strength it promises. What teachers
and guides in music need for their purpose is not tests, but
insight into the nature and the manifestations of this gift,
which may well be designated as the “spark of genius ”
in the artistic mind.
Dangers of imagination. A high capacity for imagina-
tion may be detrimental. Many musicians make wretched
performers because they have no adequate capacity for
abstaining from the injection of their own idiosyncrasies
into the rendition of a musical selection. They are uncriti-
cal and erratic because of an extravagant sensuous imagina-
tion, or they suffer the extravagant hardships of the artistic
mind on account of excessively impulsive imagination.
All such are aberrations.
Musical guidance. For the purpose of guidance in music,
then, we must take into account the ratings of these capaci-
ties which underlie imagination of various types and note
in some serviceable way the tendency toward freedom,
originality, effectiveness, and power in the forming of new
ideal combinations of musical contents in musical creation,
whether it be composition, performance, or listening. These
tendencies of imagination reveal themselves early in child-
hood quite apart from music itself and remain permanent
traits throughout life.
235
CHAPTER XII
MUSICAL MEMORY
I. THE PLASTIC LIMIT
The view of James. “It will now appear clear that all
improvement of the memory lies in the line of elaborating
the associates of each of the several things to be remembered.
No amount of culture would seem capable of modifying a
man's general retentiveness.” 1 - *~
The controversy started by this statement of James a
generation ago has not yet died down. His statement means
that each of us is born with a set brain capacity which cannot
be improved by training. And he was right in the same
sense that we can say that a farmer buys a certain kind of
soil; it may be the richest alluvial soil or it may be the sand
of the desert. Suitable cultivation may do wonders with
a given soil, but aside from temporary fertilizing, skill in
adapting vegetation to the resources of the soil, and the
supply of its needs, the original capacity of the soil remains
fairly constant in its class. But the superficial critic has
said for thirty years: “Behold the fact of phenomenal
improvement in retentiveness.”
Nature is prolific. The explanation lies in the fact that
nature is prolific. Every normal person is born with a
brain capacity for memory far beyond what is ever developed.
Indeed, it is safe to say that any normal child, or adult
1 James, “Psychology: A Briefer Course,” Holt & Co., p. 296.
236.
MUSICAL MEMORY
beyond middle age, may increase his memory by proper
training at least tenfold, and often much more, and still
not utilize his capacity to the limit. Such improvement
in the use of a given brain capacity is no evidence of improv-
ing the capacity; it is nothing but evidence of acquired
ability to use the available instrument or capacity.
Capacity versus skill. In judging memory we must not
confuse native capacity and specialized skill. Most of our
exhibitions of unusual memory are specialized skills. Pills-
bury, the chess player, blindfolded, played simultaneously
fourteen games of chess, two games of whist, and two games
of checkers, and carried on a running conversation, while
usually winning the games. It seemed to be easy for him
and gave witnesses a feeling of uncanny weirdness; yet
Pillsbury had only an ordinary memory in other respects.
He had used his inborn capacity to most excellent advantage
by developing a specific skill for which he had natural apti-
tude and in which he displayed indefatigable patience.
Memory involves many capacities. Memory is not a .
single faculty or capacity; it is several capacities, each with
definite aspects, and may be developed into countless va-
rieties of ability and skill. Titchener's large four-volume
manual of experimental psychology has no chapter on
memory. It has chapters on images, association, retention,
recall, and related subjects which are specific aspects of
memory. -
How memories differ. In judging memory capacities,
we must, therefore, bear in mind that there is no single
measure of memory and that it is possible to measure a
great many different functions in memory. Memories
differ with reference to the content, as in auditory, visual,
logical, or affective memories. They may be organic or
237
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
conscious, the organic memories being those which are so
deeply ingrained as to have become unconscious in their
Operation, as in the playing of the score after skill has been
acquired; whereas conscious memory is one which operates
only under more or less strain of attention. Memories
differ as to type of association, as in sensory memory, logical
memory, or mechanical memory. Memories differ in va-
rious stages, so that a person may be strong in the register-
ing of immediate impressions, in long retention, in accurate
recall, in realistic imagery, and other aspects. Memories
differ, of course, with training, as every development of
skill is the acquisition of an organic memory. In the face
of this complex situation of countless possibilities and vari-
ables, it is not easy to select one or a small number of memory
tests which may be regarded as a reasonable index to the
general power of memory in the personal equation of an
individual. For an adequate analysis of the memory pro-
cess the reader must turn to the many books now avail-
able in the psychology of memory and the learning process,
of which Meumann might serve as a good introduction.
II. AUDITORY MEMORY SPAN FOR PITCH
Aim of memory tests. In general, memory tests may
aim at one of three objects; first, the determination of
natural capacity for a particular content, as in the test
here described ; second, the test of acquired skill, such as
the rendering of repertory, or the possession of absolute
pitch; and, third, the power of learning, determining the
rate and effectiveness of capacity for learning.
Two types of method. There are two general methods
1 E. Meumann, “The Psychology of the Learning Process,” Apple-
tons, 1913.
238
MUSICAL MEMORY
employed. In the method of reproduction, the observer
is required to sing or play or otherwise produce or designate
the thing that is remembered ; by the method of identifica-
tion he is simply required to identify memory objects which
are presented. The latter is the method here followed be-
cause it is by far the most accurate as well as the best adapted
for Our purpose.
New material. A test which shall be equally fair to young
and old, trained and untrained, and shall serve as a single
test indicative of natural capacity for memory cannot be a
test of special skill. It must employ material which is
equally new to all in so far as that is possible – material
which may be analyzed, described, varied under control,
and repeated so that norms may be established.
Memory span a good index. Everything taken into
account, the best single and fundamental test of capacity
for a musical memory that we have been able to devise is
the test of memory span. Comparatively full directions
for this test may serve as an example of procedure.
The test material. The material to be memorized is
furnished in the musical notation. There are five degrees
of difficulty represented by the five spans. The first half
of a measure is called the “first part " and the second half
the “second part.” The second part is always like the first
part except in one note ; and the test consists in deter-
mining which of the notes, in order, was changed. The
listener records 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, as the case may be, accord-
ing as he heard the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth
note changed. The distribution of records and the norms of
rank for this test are shown in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively.
The most striking result of this test is that a span of 6
is difficult enough for practically all of a normal community.
239
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
A person who, in an extended series of trials, is able to get
all records right would have an extraordinary capacity for
this kind of memory. Other things being equal, the child
in the fifth-grade room who ranks 85 gives promise of a
memory for as extensive a repertory as any musician may
need, and persons who now play programs of several hours
entirely from memory may not rank higher than 90 on this
Scale. Another very surprising thing in the records is the
number of bright pupils who fail even on the two and three
span, showing that ordinary memory of this kind does
not correlate very closely with general ability in school

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Based on phonograph record A7540.
Figures at the left, per cent of cases; at the bottom, per cent, right. Solid line,
adults; dash line, eighth grade; dot line, fifth grade.
work. In the personal interpretation of these records one
should, however, take the general intelligence into account
because, other things being equal, a dull person is likely
to be handicapped so that the spontaneous exercise of
memory in music might be better than the record here
shows. -
Reliability of the test. It may be said in general that
the good records are probably reliable because they represent
actual achievement. Ordinarily the upper half of the
records should be considered entirely trustworthy. In
the lower half we find a variety of cases, e.g., those who
lack general power of mental application in sustaining effort ;
240
MUSICAL MEMORY
9 O Q0T

241
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
those who may have been disturbed by something occurring
in the room ; those who may have been lacking in serious
effort throughout the test; and possibly others which might
be isolated so that in most cases of importance the pupil
with poor record should be given an individual trial or trial
in Small groups, in which it is possible to verify the record
Or isolate the sources of error.
Effect of training. Memory is capable of cultivation on
a large scale. The memory skill of any one in the plastic
period might be increased at least tenfold, but the signifi-
cance of records of this kind comes from the fact that they
are marks of natural capacity. They show with what
sort of raw material the memory training starts. The
improvement will be roughly proportional to the original
capacity; e.g., if we have the capacities represented by the
10 per cent, 50 per cent, and 90 per cent ranks respectively
in three cases, the improvement is not going to make them
any more alike than they now are, but will increase the
difference in geometric ratio. Other conditions being equal,
those with a large capital will improve, not only in propor-
tion to their capital, but probably in increasing proportion
for the larger capital.
No vocational guidance in music should be based upon
this test alone, and conclusions as to ability must be limited
to the factors under control, namely, immediate memory
for unrelated tones.
w Factors under control. In this test it will be observed
that we have controlled the memory content, namely, pitch.
We have controlled the rate at which the tones are given,
the duration of the tones, the number of tones, the tone
quality, the directions given to the observers, the method
of reporting, and supplementary aids.
242
MUSICAL MEMORY
The same kind of test might be made with musical time,
or musical intensity as the memory content ; but pitch
seems to have the larger significance and is the most easily
available.
III. RETENTION
How to measure retention. The foregoing was a test of
the ability to grasp a given content for immediate repro-
duction. It is evident that, if one is not able to get the
impression in this span, he will have nothing to retain ;
but those who have a good memory span vary in their ability
to retain. The power of retention may be tested with the
apparatus suggested for the sense of timbre. A synthetic
tone is built up, say from five tuning forks in a harmonic
series transmitted through a telephone, as directed in Chap-
ter VI. This complex tone may be varied in timbre by
varying one overtone systematically. The advantage of
using a synthetic tone of this kind is that no one has any
name for it ; it has to be remembered as a tone, and it can
be dissected and varied at will. After having sounded this
tone for a few times until it has been learned, we may wait
for a certain number of hours or days, and then sound this
tone with other tones varying in timbre by certain stated
amounts, making a large number of trials and requiring in
every case that the original tone shall be identified. As
in other tests the record may be kept in terms of per cent
of right judgments. The same procedure may be followed
for any other tone material.
IV. THE LEARNING CURVE
A quantitative record of rate of learning. Memorizing
is learning. It is manifestly of great importance to a parent
- 243
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Metronome . = 94

MUSICAL MEMORY

245
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
to know whether or not a child who is going to enter upon a
musical career has a 5 per cent rate or a 95 per cent rate
in learning capacity. The cost of the investment, the satis-
ſ faction, the promise of achievement, all hinge upon this
\difference in native capacity for learning. It is possible
to determine the probable “learning curve,” or rate of learn-
ing to a fairly high degree of accuracy before the musical
education has been begun. It can, of course, be done
roughly by giving the child a music lesson or a series of les-
sons to see how long it takes him to learn it; but there are
technical procedures which are very much more accurate
and comprehensive. -
The “curve.” The learning curve is a graphic repre-
sentation of the rate of the acquisition of skill in memorizing.
The height of the curve above the base line on any day
indicates the amount of achievement. We start with a
given ability of 5 per cent, 20 per cent, or 45 per cent,
on the first trial of a new test like this. By plotting the
achievements of the first few days in actual experiment,
we shall establish as many points in the learning curve of
the individual and thus be able to predict his probable rate
of learning of the type employed.
Test material in music. For material, we might be inter-
ested in determining the prospect of progress in sight read-
ing in playing the piano. The test might, of course, be
made with an actual piano and actual music. In that case
the material should be standardized very carefully and
fitted to the pupil’s degree of attainment; the material
should be made up of a number of Small units of approxi-
mately equal difficulty, but all new. There is an advantage
in allowing each music master to use his own ingenuity
in the employment of testing material at his command.
- 246
MUSICAL MEMORY
The test must, however, be organized in the light of knowl-
edge of experimental procedure. The ordinary music
lesson would not meet the needs; but musical material
may readily be converted into test material. This prin-
ciple may, of course, be applied to the testing of any aspect
of playing. It may also be applied to problems in the
theory of music.
Applicable to any factor. In the psychological laboratory
it is possible to set a variety of training conditions which
can be controlled more 7
accurately and we may 6
o o 5
realize results in a shorter ,
time. One type of meas– 3
urement on the ability to :
learn may be illustrated. – E E – E E – E E – E E
In training to sing in true Rey Third Fifth Octave
© Fig. 5. — Achievement in Training the Voice
pitch, Knock! gave twelve by Aid of the Eye.
university students (wo- The amount by which III is lower than I in
& each section indicates the amount of net gain
IO WII). Q.
en) the follo ng test. by a given amount of training. The figures
They Were given five half- at the left express accuracy in terms of
hours' exercise in singing " -
the keynote, the major third, the fifth, and the octave.
All tones were registered on the tonoscope. They were
thus given ten periods of training in the same interval
with the tonoscope, the ear being corrected by the eye in
every trial as described in Chapter X. To determine
how much they had profited by the training with the eye
they were again given five periods of singing without the
aid, as in the first instance. Let us designate the three
groups of training as, before (I), training (II), and after
(III). The results, averaged for the twelve singers, are
1 Studies not published.

247
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
shown in Figure 5, which designates the achievement in
terms of average error before training, in training, and after
training. By taking a sufficient number of cases in this
Way We may establish norms for these three stages. The
progress of any other individual may then be measured in
terms of such a norm.
This record must be accompanied by a record of pitch
discrimination; for, if the pitch discrimination is, for
example, 5 d. v., and that ability in singing has already been
reached, there is scant chance for further improvement,
the impediment being on the sensory side; whereas if the
pitch discrimination is ; d. v. and the average error of 1 d. v.
in singing has been reached, there is splendid promise. In
a similar manner many other factors may be isolated and
taken into account in an analysis of the factors which make
for gain in practice.
Learning the chromatic scale. Another test of the same
kind would be to measure on the tonoscope the acquisition
of ability to sing the chromatic scale. Nobody is perfect;
but with the tonoscope we have very exact means for learn-
ing how to improve ourselves and measuring the improve-
ment. The rate of learning should be determined with
reference to whatever aspect of music the pupil is going
into. Singing and violin, for example, require quite
different tests.
V. ABSOLUTE PITCH
Nature of absolute pitch. Many musical people to-day
speak of having “absolute pitch.” But when we come to
inquire what is meant by absolute pitch, we find that it
varies through all sorts of degrees, from the ability to name
a note when struck on the piano without reference to any
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MUSICAL MEMORY
other note to the ability to tell when the violin is tuned Fo
vibration too high. The ability to name notes of a familiar
keyed instrument on hearing a single note is rather common
among trained musicians and may show itself very early in
childhood, even during the first year of acquaintance with
the instrument. No thorough experimental work has been
done on the subject, but there are indications to show that
it is not absolute pitch which is kept as a standard in mem-
ory, but rather the timbre of the note. If we run through
four or five scales on the piano it will at once be apparent
that, regardless of pitch, no two notes sound alike. The
timbre of the low notes is entirely different from that of the
higher notes, and the evidence seems to show that it is easier
to remember a characteristic timbre than pure pitch in
itself.
How to measure it with pure tones. Pending an experi-
mental investigation of this question, any one who possesses
the power of recognizing absolute pitch may not only meas-
ure it but also secure some evidence as to its basis. To
measure absolute pitch, let the experiment run for some
months, devoting a minute or two to the test each day, in
the morning before any other musical sounds are heard,
as follows: Use the above set of pitch-discrimination
forks, Figure 5, Chapter II, with the resonator producing
pure tones. Sound the standard on the first day until it
is thoroughly familiar. On the second day sound one
fork — either the standard or a differential fork — and
require the observer to say whether this tone is standard
or a higher tone. Then sound the standard in preparation
for the next day. Repeat this procedure on successive days
until each of the differential forks has been sounded at least
ten times. The record will then show what is the smallest
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
pitch difference that can be heard without error when the
compared tones are a day apart.
With rich tones. In this test timbre is eliminated, because
the tones are pure, and any ability shown will be a memory
of pitch, pure and simple. But, to make the test under
the conditions that absolute pitch is usually exhibited, we
should use rich tones such as those of the piano or violin
string. The most convenient means for this purpose is a
carefully tuned monochord if played by one skilled in the
handling of the bow. In psychological laboratories we have
other instruments well adapted and graduated for this
purpose, such as Stern's tone variator and Spearman's di-
chord. If the theory advanced above is correct, a very
much better record should be made with a rich tone than
with a pure tone.
A precaution. It is evident, of course, that the naming
of one or more notes after one has been successfully named
is not absolute pitch but relative. It is quite certain that
absolute pitch attaches by preference to some particular
note and that any other note heard is readily, quite auto-
matically, identified with reference to this standard note.
Significance of absolute pitch. Much might be said
about the advantage of absolute pitch and the peculiar
satisfaction it gives. It is not only a convenience to the
teacher, but it is a source of pleasure in itself in creating
a feeling of familiarity and mastery in tonal environments.
This feeling is enhanced by the fact that absolute pitch is
usually present only in persons who have highly developed
general powers in the sense of pitch, and these in turn lead
to high powers in the appreciation of pitch complexes in all
the richness of musical and unmusical combinations.
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MUSICAL MEMORY
VI. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MEMORY IN MUSIC
Nature of the situation. A good memory is not necessary
for the appreciation of music, although of course a person
misses what he does not remember ; and there is a definite
loss, not only in the fact that he cannot enjoy the thing that
is forgotten, but more particularly because he cannot utilize
a forgotten experience, and therefore will fail in self-improve-
ment and self-expression to that extent. But more signifi-
cant than the memory of melodies and harmonies is the
discriminative memory for fine distinctions, as, for example,
the ability to recall with precision many fine shades in tim-
bre and tone production, the ability which we might call
presence of mind in singing and playing as well as in lis-
tening, the ability for creative imagination to foresee accu-
rately the results of certain remembered conditions. Back
of all these is the effect upon feeling; for feeling is a rever-
beration of mind and body as a whole in response to the
present setting in its past relationships. The feeling will
be one of the sensory memories to the extent that an accurate
organic memory of the relationships of the past is present.
The most concrete aspect of shortcomings in memory is,
of course, in the learning process. It there becomes a mat-
ter of rate of learning which involves matters of economy,
available lifetime, patience, optimism, and a feeling of
achievement which is an essential ingredient in self-respect,
self-confidence, and the will to live.
Educational bearing. Often parent or pupil comes with
certain misgivings as to the chances of achievement. A
wide-awake teacher will not proceed blindly merely to train,
but will analyze the situation and make plans on the basis
of forecast. The assembling of data bearing on the various
251
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
capacities which are prerequisite and the actual testing of
promise as to rate, reliability, and compass of progress can
do much to avoid mistakes, lessen expense and suffering,
and direct and guide the pupil to his highest level of achieve-
ment. It is, therefore, extremely important that the
teacher should have a fair technical knowledge of what mem-
ory is in order that the fortes and faults of the pupil may
be appraised, if not by quantitative measurement, by the
first evidences in actual pursuit of the musical training.
252
CHAPTER XIII
MUSICAL INTELLECT
I. INTRODUCTION
Music an expression of the intellect. Although music
is not essentially a logical medium, its character varies
according to the relative kind and degree of intellect of
which it is an expression. The thought processes in music
may take a great variety of forms and tendencies and will,
of course, vary in degree. It is possible for a person, strong
in other capacities, but with relatively low intellectual
power, to assume fairly important rôles in music within
restricted fields of activity; but the great musician is
always a person of great intellect.
Thinking in music. To point out shortcomings on the
intellectual side of even a great musician is easy. He may
be poor in mathematics or in theory of science and yet be a
great thinker in music. There have been renowned mathe-
maticians who were quite incapable of mastering the sub-
ject of grammar. Musical thought is a specialization in
dealing with the problems which arise in music. Although
the form and content of the thought are different, it requires
the same kind of logical grasp as in mathematics or philos-
Ophy. The mathematician is not necessarily a philosopher,
and the philosopher is not necessarily a mathematician,
but both are thinkers. Likewise, the musician may be a
good thinker without being a philosopher or a mathemati-
cian.
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
The musicians' thinking outside of music. We should
not Overlook the fact that it is a matter of no small conse-
quence for the art whether or no the musician has any
intellectual interests outside of his art, because it is the
presence or absence of these that in a large part determines
the stability of personality, balance of judgment, and catho-
licity in tastes, as well as insight into nature and art on a
large scale. The ability to see the inter-relationships of
art and the ability to understand the operations of the human
mind are, perhaps, the best logical supports for thought in
music.
Intellect versus information. We must not confuse or
identify intellect and information or learning. A person
of relatively low intellect may amass information; and in-
tellect in the form of natural capacity for Sustained ideal-
ism, judgment, and reasoning, is often dominant and very
active in a person quite untutored. For musical power on
a large scale the latter is the more valuable. It represents
power, whereas the other represents storage goods.
For the present purpose we may distinguish three general
marks of musical intelligence: first, the characteristic of
free association or musical content; second, the power of
reflection; and, third, general intelligence.
II. MUSICAL FREE ASSOCIATION
Free associations sample mental content. Thinking
- is the elaboration of ideas in the mind to meet new situations
and to solve new problems. Our first question with refer-
ence to a given mind is, therefore, What musical ideas hover
in this mind? The question may be answered by taking
a sort of cross section of consciousness at a given moment
as a sample of the mental content in order to discover what
254
MUSICAL INTELLECT
ideas are its stock in trade. To illustrate, suppose we ask
a miser, an inventor, and an artist, each to start at the signal
word, “clock,” and to speak instantly, as fast as he possibly
can articulate the words without thinking, the first ten words
that come to his mind. Any one can predict certain differ-
ences that would come out of these lists if they were faith-
fully reported. Each man would, in the long run, reveal
his character. This free association test depends upon the
principle that the word shall be spoken so fast that there
shall be no time to consider the fitness of the response.
When this is done, two traits are revealed : one is the kind
of information the person has ; the other is the bent of
mind.
In children. While a child of five or seven has not
acquired much formal information, his mind is already stored
with that kind of content for which he has a natural bent,
and indeed the sample of mental content at that age is
perhaps a clearer indication of the situation than it would
be later for the reason that the child of this age is spontane-
ous and reveals his real nature, which has not yet been set
by any educational forcing. Make it a game with children
— and a very interesting game it is to catch their images
and ideas on flight as they pass in review very much more
rapidly than they can be named. One good way is to stop
the child after he has spoken five to ten words and ask him
to fill out the words which he did not have time to speak
but which came to his mind, or to describe the imagery to
which the words are merely a label. In this test natural
impulses will be revealed in an astonishing way, often much
to the embarrassment of the subject. It is not a formal
test and should not be used mechanically. Technical
training in the use of this test prepares one for accomplish-
255
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
ing the same thing in a more natural way in ordinary con-
versation and intercourse.
In easy conversation. Any cultivated musician convers-
ing for a half hour, entirely free from the conventions of
making talk, with a musician or prospective musician, will
form a fairly accurate notion as to what is naturally and
effectively in his mind — what logical material he actually
has at his command. This is even easier when the subject
wishes to seem to be something which he is not, as in labored
sham, or acquired affectations, or the influences of fads,
fashions, and cults. Indeed, the more he labors to conceal
his true character, the more certainly he reveals it — just
as we have recently found that the camouflage of the Ger-
mans was so systematic that it was comparatively easy to
know what was being covered. The observer will, of course,
always take into account age, training, environment, infor-
mation, temperament, and other factors which determine
what shall be uppermost in our minds. The procedure is
very simple and direct.
Bent of mind. Musical content lies ultimately in an
intellectual bent of the mind toward musical appreciation,
expression, and creation, rather than in the information
a person has in music. What we wish to know is, whether
or not his intellect is of the musical type, as distinguished,
for example, from the intellectual, the scientific, the philo-
Sophical, or the literary type in its free association responses.
III. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE
Common sense. Mr. Hotchkiss, the custodian of the
Yale campus, once made a speech to us students, apropos
an act of forgetfulness of one of the professors, saying that
he wanted to establish a chair of “common sense,” but
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MUSICAL INTELLECT
had failed to do so because he could not find any one fit to
occupy it. With a hearty good Yale cheer, we proceeded by
acclamation and voted Mr. Hotchkiss Professor of Common
Sense. Perhaps common sense is not held exclusively by
janitors and others not holding positions of learning. Com-
mon sense comes near to being general intelligence; that
is, a natural ability for dealing with new situations reason-
ably. The janitor was right in assuming that general
intelligence may exist quite apart from learning, and that
it is not merely a matter of information.
Intelligence rating in music as in army. We have now a
mass of intelligence tests, all based on the idea that a person
with general intelligence is one who can cope effectively
with new situations reasonably within his grasp. The
most notable use of these at the present moment is in the
recent method of rating men in the army as to their fitness
for various positions and as a basis for promotion. Pro-
motion of officers on the basis of seniority, though sus-
tained by the sacredness of its universality and age as
a tradition, is a method now relegated to the scrap heap.
One preéminent element in merit is general intelligence.
So in music, the music school of any consequence in the
future, like a few rare examples at the present time, will
extend its privileges, not in the order of application, nor at
the rate of willingness to pay, but on the basis of merit; and
One far-reaching element in musical merit is the general
level of intelligence.
General intelligence an inherited talent. Musical people
have been known to be rather severe in their criticism of
associates in terms of the kind and degree of their general
intelligence. The point which we wish here to emphasize
is that the schools do not have the power to generate this
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
type of intelligence where nature has not herself placed
it, and the presence of such capacity may be discovered in
any child by the trained observer before the child is old
enough to begin the study of music seriously."
IV. THE POWER OF REFLECTION
Sustained attention. According to Dewey,” reflective
thought is “the active, persistent, and careful consideration
of any belief or supposed form of knowledge in the light of
grounds that support it, and the further conclusions to which
it tends.” Given the raw materials in the form of ideas
and images dominant in the mind, their intellectual signifi-
cance depends upon the power of reflection, the power of
sustaining the focus of attention upon ideas in such a way
as to penetrate into the ramifications of their relationships,
and thereby elicit new ideas.
Need of reflective thinking in music. The necessity for
reflective thinking in music is found in the necessity for
understanding the principles of art, the necessity for pene-
trating into the human emotions which are to be swayed,
the necessity for comprehending something of the principles
of physics, physiology, and psychology of tones, and the
desirability of conceiving one's musical world as a part of
a larger world view.
Thought precedes automatism in music. Too many
musicians find a cover for the absence of the power of reflec-
tion on the theory that music is an impressionistic art;
it cannot be reasoned out; it must be felt and allowed to
1 The matter of intelligence tests now constitutes a large branch of
psychology in itself. A good elementary presentation of the subject is
found in Terman, “The Measurement of Intelligence,” Houghton, Mifflin
& Co., 1916. -
2 John Dewey, “How We Think,” The Macmillan Co.
258
MUSICAL INTELLECT
flow spontaneously from the fountain of aesthetic impres-
sion, they say. This view of music is supported by psycho-
logical analysis; music must flow as an inspiration from a
soul full of music in the artistic attitude, which means the
welling up of the unconscious forces. The most genuine
appreciation and the richest expression of music does not
arise when impeded by a technical consciousness, when
hampered by thought of principles, rules, and restrictions.
Music is an impressionistic art and cannot be created, per-
formed, or most deeply appreciated in the spirit of formal
reflection. The psychology of that fact is this: one must
have been intensely conscious of technique, must have known
laws, must have isolated element after element for intensive
study, all severely intellectual, cold, and quite free from the
artistic impulse, before control of these can become so
automatic as to drop into the background of consciousness.
Bearing on teaching. While we are not here concerned
with the pedagogy of music, it may be in place to point out
that in this principle of transition from focal consciousness
to grace and skill in automatism lies a most fundamental
principle of teaching. It implies that, in vocal as well as in
instrumental teaching, we should make incisive attack on
One feature at a time and insist upon critical and accurate
detail through the focus of attention. Free singing and
playing for present pleasure and self-expression should al-
ways be encouraged, but this should never be an excuse
for dawdling, ignorant, aimless, uncritical and mystical
work in training. Assuming a musical background based
upon contact with music, the pupil in developing a musical
technique should begin with the simplest detail and observe
it critically at his level of thought and skill in order that he
may acquire discrimination and precision. These acquired
259 -
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
in one detail, attention may be diverted to new conquests.
As matters of technique are thus progressively made second-
ary and relegated to the subconscious, the mind is free to
launch itself upon the ideas and ideals to be conveyed.
A related illustration. In this respect music is not much
different from any act of skill; take the simple act of tipping
the hat as described by the author elsewhere. “When
the boy is to learn to raise his hat he should be free to acquire
the feeling that the raising of the hat is a sign of good breed-
ing; that it is an honor to himself and to the person greeted;
that it gives a delightful feeling of satisfaction in power
and self-mastery; that it goes well with a smile and a
compliment ; that it brings returns; that it is a means of
relieving pent-up energies by knowing how to dispose of the
hands; that he can thereby actually express individually
his appreciation of the person greeted ; that raising the hat
is not that trifling physical act alone, but, when properly
done, is the entering of one mind into relation with another;
that this little act of manners is a part of the making of the
man; that if he does this with all his heart he will acquire
the power to do greater things with the same ease. This
implies ability to hesitate, and to gauge the situation in
his own mind; it means willingness to cope with instinctive
cravings; it means willingness to fight single-handed for
personal adjustment. All this tends to throw him into an
attitude of profoundest consciousness of this act for the
time being. At this beginning of a new adjustment it is
well that he should be free to think, feel, and act with the
most absorbing consciousness. But, as soon as he has
learned to raise his hat, that process should take care of it-
self, should be automatic, so that the act is performed on
1 “Psychology in Daily Life,” Appletons, 1913.
260
MUSICAL INTELLECT
every appropriate occasion without hesitation and without
consciousness of conflict, but with the fullest richness of
significance. Only when the adjustments are once made
through the most strenuous consciousness or self-acting will
his consciousness be free for new operations, for the making
of new adjustments.”
Thought precedes inspiration. But the greater the art,
the more necessary it is that there shall be as a groundwork
for the spontaneous creation a skeleton of logical information
and insight in regard to the nature and laws of the structure
which is to rise. The great artist has thought and lived
great thoughts a long time before they break out in melodious
harmonies. But these thoughts must have become second
nature to him ; the rules of thinking must have become
easy; the principles of composition like the laws of the
land must be so obvious that he will not violate them.
When his mind is free from all these, his spirit can be poured
forth in a creation which will be an expression of his ideals.
Intellect dwarfed by neglect. Much of the opprobrium
which attaches to artists as a class rests on the fact that the
artistic attitude is one of intense sensitiveness and senti-
mentality, which develop an atmosphere of exclusiveness
and result in the loss of that leveling influence which comes
from common contacts in the humdrum of life. The power
of musical reflection is often dwarfed in artists by cultivated
affectation of sentimentality which becomes so ethereal
and flimsy that the logical mind suffers as the body of the
artist does if it tries to live on faded rose leaves.
Summary. The logical demands upon the composer
are self-evident. Each man composes according to the
caliber of his mind. Music does represent ideas, great
ideas – SO great that, like the poet's ideas, they are too
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
expansive to be expressed in prosaic words. They come to
the composer as an illumination, but the great artists in
music have agreed with Edison that illumination like inven-
tion means infinite capacity for work. Yet work will be of
little avail unless there is “grey matter between the ears.”
Great feelings are the mass effect of an understructure of
great thoughts.
V. MUSICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Each in its right place. No result of an intelligence test
On a normal child should exclude him from music, but the
diagnosis of musical intellect for the purpose of direction
in music assumes several aspects. First, it should be a
factor in determining what kind of musical instruction and
! opportunities the child should have. There are important
outlets in music for the child of comparatively low intelli-
a gence, if he be endowed with other musical talents. Just
ºnal the music should be depends upon what the prominent
talents are, their relationships, and the facilities available.
Each case is one of its own kind. The pupil is at the mercy
of his teacher. The point on which we must insist is that
teachers and parents are responsible for exercising reason-
able intelligence and judgment in leading the child into that
kind of musical training which is most fitting for his natural
intellectual scope and equipment. A child may have a
beautiful voice, a fine ear, a reasonable motor control, and
yet not have any reasonable chance of carrying a heavy
rôle in music ; for, in music as in wrestling, other things
being equal, a featherweight will be at a disadvantage.
We must guide in the light of the fact that the composer
must be a thinker before he can become a composer on a
large Scale; that the interpreter must be capable of thinking
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MUSICAL INTELLECT
the great thoughts of the master before he can re-inter-
pret them to himself or convey them to others; and that
the listener hears nothing beyond the message that his own
mind-can create upon the sensory cue.
Praise and blame. In judging achievement and in extend-
ing praise or blame, it should always be with due cognizance
of what the musician is. Is he a mere tone colorist? Is
he rich in fancy? Is he a faithful plodder? Is he in com-
mand of deep emotion ? Is he a master of logical structure
in rhythm and harmony” Then judge him on his merits.
This is of vital importance for musical pedagogy, particu-
larly in the directing of the young, because we shall not
make satisfactory progress unless we find the child in a
field in which we can justly encourage him. And we must
have the good sense not to hold him responsible for, or at-
tempt to force upon him, powers with which nature has not
endowed him.
263
CHAPTER XIV
MUSICAL FEELING
I. THE APPROACHES TO FEELING
Place of experiment. The experimental psychology of
music has very little to offer in the way of objective rating
or measures of the experience of feeling, its emotional
expression, or ability to convey feeling through art. Its
main contribution to this subject lies in the introduction of
a critical attitude and the recognition of the relations and
inter-relations of feelings with other processes. The experi-
ence and the expression of musical emotion is an activity
of the organism as a whole — every fiber and function.
It is possible to record the effect of music upon the respira-
tion, circulation, many forms of internal secretion, reflexes,
attitudes, and many other aspects, but we never have feel-
ings or emotional reactions under control for adequate
experimental conditions, nor is that to be desired in applied
psychology. The psychology of musical talent is based
on a frank and consistent recognition of the fact that feel-
ings may be traced to antecedent conditions and stimuli
which may be observed and recorded, and that feeling is
the result of the possession of capacities, many of which we
have learned to analyze, to evaluate, and often measure.
Sources of feeling. Feeling arises from the same source
as knowing, from which it is distinguished largely by the
fact that the impressions are not differentiated; they do not
264
MUSICAL FEELING
take the form of discrete sensations, images, or ideas. The
mass of sense-impressions which constitute the ground-
work of feeling arises largely from three sources. Of the
first class are the impressions from without, such as Odors
and sounds, all of which carry an affective tone of agreeable-
ness or disagreeableness that may or may not gain conscious
recognition. Of the second class are the impressions from
without, such as feelings of strain, pressure, and pain.
The third class embraces the effects of organic change in
the various systems of the body, such as create a general
tone of well-being or ill-being of the system, indicative of
modification of secretion, circulation, and metabolism,
and affecting the nervous system as a whole. The general
rule is that when these impressions are not raised to the
level of percepts they fuse into one grand mass of experi-
ences which we call feeling. This mass of impressions is
modified by memory, imagination, thought, instincts, habits,
and impulses, and other mental activities. Indeed, feel-
ings often originate in these higher and more remote mental
processes. Therefore, so far as feeling is musical, it comes
directly or indirectly from the musical impressions of the
Senses, whether these impressions are present to sense or are
stored up in memory and reproduced in images, elaborated
in thought, perpetuated in instinctive tendencies, or have
merely resulted in the modification of organic functions.
This being so, all analysis of musical feeling must begin by
taking stock of the sources of musical impressions.
Feeling rated on capacity of sources. It is a fundamental
law of biology that the possession of an organ carries with
it an instinct to use that organ. Animals with wings, fly;
with fins, Swim; with claws, scratch. Applied to the
psychology of feeling and expression of musical emotions,
265 -
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
this principle implies that, other things being equal, an
Organism sensitive to pitch, rhythm, and time, endowed
with serviceable imagery, memory, and imagination, set
in an intellectual bent of mind associated with a normal
physique, is practically certain to respond to music with
an emotional glow which shall reveal these capacities. It
is equally certain that, if any of the basic capacities are
atrophied or inhibited, the emotional expression will be
inhibited or distorted to that extent. No one has emotions
for impressions which he cannot perceive, and rarely ever
for actions or ideas which are not within his reach. We
shall, therefore, have a very serviceable picture of the pro-
spective emotional equipment for music if we have an objec-
tive record of such capacities as those just mentioned.
To the extent that it is comprehensive, such a psychogram
representing all the various talents should, other things
being equal, characterize the musical feeling and emotional
expression of which the person is capable. As to content,
feelings dominate in the realm of time, pitch, and intensity.
A well-rounded feeling radiates in all these three contents,
but as a rule we characterize the feeling by its dominance
in one or more of such aspects. The realism of the feeling
depends upon the extent to which the object is concretely
re-lived as in auditory imagery, motor imagery, and the
imagery of other senses. Our feelings pertain to our capaci-
ties for doing. The high soprano and the deep bass have
peculiar feelings attached to the hearing of singing within
their respective ranges. The person who cannot himself
hear or keep time is not disagreeably affected by bad time,
and is not moved by fine achievements in musical time.
The “pleasure-pain '' theory. This fact that we must
characterize a person’s feelings in terms of various capacities
266
MUSICAL FEELING
upon which they rest is further emphasized when we realize
that qualitatively there are only two kinds of feelings,
namely, the agreeable and the disagreeable. The feeling
of agreeableness experienced from a beautiful sunset, a dish
of ice cream, or a kind word, is the same. It is agreeable-
ness which results in attraction. The difference is in the
knowing process or action — the sunset, the ice cream, or
the kind word, and the appropriate action in each situation.
Likewise, the feeling in tasting quinine, in failing to pass
an examination, in hearing of the death of a friend, is the
same; it is a disagreeable feeling. The difference lies
in the knowing process, and the action involved — knowing
the quinine, the examination, or the news, and the appro-
priate act in each case. There is danger of confusing feel-
ing with these larger aspects of knowing and action which
are always involved in feeling. Ordinarily there is a vastly
complex and rapid oscillation between these two types.
Richness of feeling consists of an infinitely complex inter-
mingling of the attitudes of attraction and repulsion massed
together in the awareness of likes and dislikes. All mental
processes are in some degree agreeable or disagreeable.
Bases of classification. Space does not here permit a
classification of feelings. They may be classified in a great
variety of ways, depending upon the purpose to be served,
as for example, according to their origin, making a sort of
genealogical tree; according to the mental level, as in recog-
nizing sensuous feelings and intellectual feelings; according
to the purpose that is served, as in the feelings of self-defense
and feelings of aggression; according to the stimuli which
arouse them, and in many other ways. For the purpose of
guidance in music we may obtain a general estimate of a
person's endowment for feeling if we center our observa-
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
tions on three points: musical taste, expression of musical
emotion, and the power of conveying musical feeling to
others.
II. MUSICAL TASTE
Standard relative. Musical taste is a sort of general
indicator of musical feeling. But taste in music, like good
taste in other things, is a somewhat elusive factor. There
is no standard of beauty, for beauty is a progressive and
ever-advancing goal. It lies in reference to ideas, the ideas
of each and every one, no matter how humble and crude.
Yet in judging taste we tend to judge it from the point of
view of those who have had superior advantages, and, as
the science of asthetics develops, we gradually acquire
reasonable explanation for such progressively developing
standards.
Taste deeply ingrained. Good taste is actual evidence
of aesthetic judgments, but it must be more than that.
It must be so deeply ingrained in the system that it repre-
sents the natural reaction as distinguished from something
striven for and lived as a make-believe. Provided that there
is reasonable outlet for the expression of natural gifts,
it is easier to determine good taste for music in the young
child than it is to identify it in the polished musician. Taste
needs to be educated, but unless the natural good taste exists
in the organism, the education will result in a sham and in
superficial formalism ; for good taste is not something put
on, or put in ; it is something which grows out from within,
provided a reasonable environment is furnished.
AEsthetic taste little cultivated in America. This con-
tention is no discouragement to the education of taste.
On the contrary, our psychological view of the beautiful
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MUSICAL FEELING
enables us to see how taste, the aesthetic in Our nature,
is a grievously neglected aspect of human nature. Look-
ing at it from the standpoint of the conservation of human
energies and resources through education, we find in our
American life to-day that the bodily self, the moral self,
the social self, and the religious self, are on a fair way to
due recognition, and the intellectual self is over-developed
in our schools; but the aesthetic self is yet in a state of
nature, quite unrecognized and very much dwarfed. The
very fact that we display art is a sign that it is novel to us
and has not yet found its place in our natural life. In no
art is this more true than in music.
III. EMOTIONAL ExPRESSION IN MUSIC
We find in music as in any other field of activity that
certain devotees carry their emotions in an intense glow on
the surface, whereas others conceal the deepest feelings
under the cover of coolness, self-control, culture, and sta-
bility. Therefore, while there is no real music where there
is no emotion, and there is no emotion that does not express
itself, we should be warned against placing a premium on
the crass, outward display of emotion whether voluntary
or involuntary. It is often thought that the lives of the
scientists, philosophers, and inventors are unemotional ;
but the fact is that as men are capable of dealing with large
units and sustaining attention and effort in a prolonged
process of creation, their emotional thrill is proportional
to the magnitude of their intellectual achievement ; it
is so deep and Sustained that it cannot be measured in terms
of the ripples on the surface. The same principle applies
to music. The greatest emotions roll in the longest and
deepest waves. Much that passes as warm emotional
269
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
>
expression is, like giggling, an abnormal or diseased condi-
tion indicative of instability or disintegration. Musical
feeling may express itself, therefore, in the placid tranquillity
of an enraptured soul or in the sporadic outburst of an un-
cultured emotion, in the calm and steady roll of the masses
Over the deep or in the frothing, roaring, splashing surf of
the shallows. Between these two extremes we find all
degrees of transition. In judging musical expression of
emotion, therefore, we shall be safer if we judge it by the
depth and magnitude of the musical organism as a whole
rather than by observed ripplets on the surface.
IV. THE CONVEYING OF MUSICAL FEELING
Three conditions. The capacity for rendering music
in such a way as to convey musical feeling to others rests
upon three conditions: the possession of a genuine musical
\{eeling on the part of the performer, a serviceable organism
On the side of musical action, and acquired technique.
The first two of these are in a way a measure of the promise of
power in the acquisition of technique.
Significance of other conditions. The power of artistic
expression in music also lodges in large part in various
personal powers quite aside from music, such as an equable
temperament, healthy-mindedness, personal charm in Social
intercourse, comeliness of body, and physical health. Great
achievements on the intellectual side tend to balance a man,
whereas great achievement within narrowly emotional
performance tends to distort perspective; an emotion,
being a relatively severe drain on the nervous energy,
weakens the power of self-control and produces an abnormal
sensitiveness. Many successful artists have been notorious
for their violation of these homely virtues. But we may
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MUSICAL FEELING
well meditate on how much greater their charm would have
been if they had not been sick-souled sufferers from aberra-
tions. The principle remains that a musician who is well
physically, morally, and mentally, who has a good disposi-
tion, and who is socially attractive, reasonable, and well-
balanced, has the advantage over the warped personality,
and should represent our goal.
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CHAPTER XV
THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
I. A SELF-EXAMINATION
The fruit of psychology of musical talent. Applied psy-
chology is quite useless unless it produces results. Theoretical
psychology is like physics, a study of principles for their
own value. Applied psychology is like engineering (applied
physics), valuable only as it serves; the design of a bridge
is of little value unless it is followed in building the bridge.
A study of musical talent should result in a searching inquiry
into the bearing of the facts upon the personal issue and
should lead to appropriate action.
Child adjustment the sequel to child study. The child
study movement, which began but little more than a gener-
ation ago, resulted in the discovery of the child as an indi-
vidual. The sequel to this movement, which is laying the
foundations for modern scientific pedagogy, is developing
in our generation in the tendency to take scientific account
of that discovery in the guidance and the education of
the child. This movement reaches out not only to educa-
tion in the schools but also to training in the home, provisions
for self-expression in play and Occupation, care for the un-
fortunate, preventive medicine, the conservation of human
talent, and in particular the recognition of the opportunities
and responsibilities for giving the talented child a chance.
The movement gathers around the principle which may
272
THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
ë
appropriately be called the first principle of educational
psychology: Adapt the training to the nature of the child.
A searching personal inquiry. Lest we give too ready
assent to this proposition, let us make it a personal matter
in the form of a self-examination of ourselves as teachers,
patrons, and pupils in music. Let the teacher make a
searching inquiry into his own situation and answer some
personal questions for himself (and, if he is so disposed
rank himself on his answers). Grant the patron and the J.. --" "
pupil the privilege of participating in this rating. With
humble apology for the directness of the questions the
author withdraws into the background except for the pur-T
pose of making the questions full-faced and explicit. The
stage is for the action of the reader.
1. Do I fully realize the magnitude and significance of indi-
vidual differences in my pupils 3
The stern facts. The mission of the present volume is
chiefly to put into concrete and often quantitative state-
ments some ascertained facts about differences in musical
and unmusical minds. The question may, therefore, be
answered, first, with reference to our account of musical
talent, showing that One person may have two, five, ten,
fifty, one hundred, or even two hundred times the capacity
that another has in a certain musical talent; that success
in music depends upon the possession of essential talents;
that the proportion of musical talent must be judged with
reference to other fortes and faults of mind and body; that
actual talent or lack of talent in the untrained child deter-
mines permanent traits in the musician; that we cannot
make superior talents out of base talents; and that we
should not build river bridges of silver and gold.
Reply personal. To those who are not trained in psycho-
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
logical analysis, the question is in a way unfair. It is like
asking of one not trained in chemistry if he recognizes the
magnitude and significance of chemical reactions. Yet,
to represent a personal opinion, the answer should be based
upon first-hand experience and personal insight. Emphasis
rests upon the two words “magnitude ’’ and “significance ’’:
X. Do I realize the magnitude and significance of individual dif-
ference in music?
2. Do I believe in giving each individual pupil in music an
opportunity commensurate with his actual capacity and apti-
tude 2
Bed-rock belief. This is merely a question of faith : Do
I believe? The story is told of a woman who believed
that she could move mountains by faith. One morning
she started out to move a mountain in the neighborhood.
She marched with firm step, saying, “I believe, I believe,
I believe,” until she dashed up against the face of the moun-
tain and bounded back exclaiming, “That is just what
I thought.” The question pertains to what we actually
think rather than to what we profess. Is the conviction so
firmly ingrained that we think it when actually put to the
test ? -
The corruption of democracy. The doctrine of democracy
often results in great educational corruption. From certain
universally admitted declarations of equality we derive
the maxim: Treat all alike. From this the educator takes
his cue and imposes upon the community the education
doctrine: Make all alike. This doctrine finds great fol-
lowing because it can be administered by smooth and con-
ventional machinery. But it is vicious because it results
| in decadence and suppression of the best forces in society.
One result of this movement is the worship of classification
274 g
THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
and ranking. We pat ourselves with pride when we have
tied up the free and exuberant youth in educational lock-
step. Like the Pharisees of old, we adulate ourselves
that we are so exemplary.
Believe two things. An affirmative reply to this ques-
tion asserts a belief in the wisdom and justice of two propo-
sitions: first, that the pupil in music has a right to expect
that the instruction and training shall be adapted to his
personal nature, which we have called above his personal .
equation; second that, other things equal, a musically tal- |
ented person should have musical advantages proportional \
to his talent. The affirmative answer does not go so far as
to affirm what many of us believe, that musical advantages
should be more than proportional to the magnitude of the
talent of the highly gifted, and that those who are markedly
delinquent in musical capacities might be better off with
less than proportional training. We can secure no action
upon the first principle of educational psychology until
educators believe in its justice and worth from the humani-
tarian, the economic, and the artistic points of view.
3. Do I actually, in practice, give my pupils an opportunity
to grow, each according to his talent 2
Where we may fail. This question is quite as relevant
for private instruction as for class work. The teacher
may not be capable of evaluating the qualities of the pupil;
he may have a system applied equally to all ; he may be a
specialist in a field for which the pupil is not adapted; he
may have an ambition to make every pupil like himself;
he may not have grasped the principle of education through
self-expression.
In the schoolroom. The relevance of the question with
reference to class work is more patent. Face the issue in
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
the public schools squarely. Why should children be classi-
fied in music on the basis of arithmetic, geography, and
history, that is, through regular classification by grades?
A visitor to one of the middle grades will find that one
fourth of the pupils are beyond the stage of instruction of
the class and the exercise serves as a deadening of the best
Sensibilities and enthusiasms. One fourth of the class are
not capable of comprehending or performing the task in
hand, but sit listless and helpless and rightly regard them-
Selves as unjustly abused. The members of the remaining
One half of the class represent a variety of conditions, but
most of them are capable of profiting to some extent by the
exercises. The future musicians are all in the upper quarter
of the class and suffer injustice musically in proportion to
the actual magnitude of their musical talents.
A problem of the curriculum. This is a problem of the
curriculum. Fortunately a few public schools have re-
sponded to the situation, but on the whole it remains inflex-
ible and unfair. In round numbers it is safe to say that
one fourth of the makers of the curriculum do not see the
real problem. One fourth of those who see it do not believe
in the rights of the individual as defined above, and one
fourth of those who see it lack the ingenuity for devising
a “system ’’ to meet the situation. It will be interest-
ing to know how high the remainder of the makers of the
curriculum would rank themselves in answer to this ques-
tion. Have no mercy on the educator who prides himself
that he has made all alike, because it has not been done by
making the unmusical musical, but by the suppression of
the fit and most promising. Community singing has a
place in school. Raising of the common level is worth while.
Our appeal, however, is not for the lessening of instruction
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THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
to the mediocre, but for the freeing of the musically talented
into a musical atmosphere in which they can grow and grow
with joy in the comradeship of art.
4. Do I keep the pupil always at the highest level of achieve-
nent 3
A profound educational policy. In studying, a few years
ago, the provision for the care of the higher grade of feeble-
minded the author found a certain institution in which it
could be said that the children were happy, useful, and good.
An inquiry into the organization of that institution revealed
that it was because each child was kept at his highest level
of achievement. Many of these mentally bereaved children
had come from good homes in which they had been made
unhappy, useless, and vicious because they had not been
kept busy or because unreasonable tasks had been imposed
upon them; but in this institution the capacities of each
child had been determined as a basis for the assignment of
tasks and privileges. This principle for the care of the
defective child applies with more force to the normal child
in an art. Keep the child busy at his highest level of achieve-
ment in music and he will be happy, useful, and good. To
be at his best level of achievement he must be within his
field of achievement.
5. Do I justly praise or blame the pupil 2
The curse of false standards of achievement. The feeble-
minded failed in their homes largely because they lost
heart by being impressed at every turn by the fact of their
worthlessness. A very large percentage of normal children
have their hearts rent by persistent discouragement and
nagging, or even by a Superior attitude of aloofness or scorn
on the ground that they should do this particular thing as well
as other children do, while, as a matter of fact, the task is for
`--
e
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
them a biological impossibility. The discouragement results
in a vicious circle of negativism and a loss of self-control, and
the feeling of worthlessness spreads into all sorts of malad-
justments. On the other hand, the bright child is often
praised unduly and made to feel that he is successful when he
has come up to the average of the group, whereas he deserves
no praise until he has come up to the average of those who
are endowed as he is. He has been given a false standard.
6. Do I rightly identify the retarded child 3
The bright child is the “retarded.” The spirit of the
Good Samaritan goes out rightly to help those who are in
distress, those who are popularly regarded as retarded.
But who is the retarded child? $trayer well says it is
the bright child. The retarded child in public school music
is the musically brilliant child who is entitled to instruction
and association with those who are musical, but who is
being held back and deprived of the stimulus which comes
from the keenest social competition.
A kindness to the dull child. This retardation is often
defended on the ground that it is good for the less gifted
child to be associated with the highly gifted, but the reverse
is the truth. The less gifted child is humiliated and disº
couraged by enforced association with those who are not at
all in his class. He refuses to be patronized. He insists
on the right to receive instruction at his own level and will
respond when the instruction is adapted to him and his
kind. It is now a recognized principle in vocational selec-
tion for business or industry that it is a genuine kindness
to keep out of an occupation those who are not adapted for
it, because it protects them against failure, and the rejection
becomes a means of stimulating them to find some of the
countless occupations for which they are qualified.
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THE INDIVIDUAL AND THAINING IN THE ART
7. Do I motivate my work for each individual 2
T--
One of the classic punishments in penal history is to make
a man carry a little brick back and forth from one wall to
another throughout the day without any purpose. The
musical purpose of one child is not the musical purpose of
another. The musical outlet of one child is not the musical
outlet of another. Children are as varied as are trees.
Each tree prospers in its own type of culture. From the
very first, the music pupil should be so placed, if accepted,
that he is made to feel himself a part of the living art which
takes hold of him and needs no device for stimulation, and
that the work which is of foundation character shall be for
him a gracious privilege. This is not merely the doctrine
of interest. It is not a catering to the whim of the child.
It is simply basing the venture upon an inventory of the
equipment. t
8. Do I help my pupil to find himself?
When the pupil is to launch himself in a career or in the
rôle of an amateur artist, he must run the gantlet of the
grim, unmerciful process of a struggle for survival. In the
Spirit of the first principle of educational psychology this
difficulty should be met very much earlier before the serious
musical education has been begun, and should remain per-
sistently in the mind of the teacher throughout the instruc-
tion. To what extent does the teacher assume responsi-
bility for this process of ascertaining whether or not the
child is prepared for a successful career or — what is much
commoner, and quite as important — an avocation which
shall give both him and his friends genuine pleasure? In
its happiest forms this sympathetic and thoughtful guidance
results in the giving of a vision or an inspiration for music.
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
9. Do I take into account the individual as a whole, – bodily,
social, intellectual, noral, asthetic, and religious 3
The child has several selves: the bodily, intellectual,
moral, social, aesthetic, and religious. To what extent do
Our Schemes for musical instruction take this fact into ac-
count 7 Is the music program built around this whole group
of Selves which constitute the individual, or is it conceived
as a narrow technical fad, or catering to unguided impulses 2
Is the music program conceived in relation to its true edu-
cational significance for the development of the individual
as a whole 2
That should be our aim, for music as an educational
means gives grace, suppleness, and vigor to the body; re-
fines the intellect ; enhances personal charms in social value;
invests moral ideals with an aesthetic glow ; constitutes the
content of one art and an aesthetic attitude for all art ; and
furnishes the most beautiful medium for the expression of
devotion to man and God.
II. USE OF THE MEASURE OF MUSICAL TALENT IN THE
SCHOOLS
Assuming that we recognize the value of the analyzed
rating of musical talents, and that a number of such measures
are sufficiently in hand to make them readily available in
the public school system, we face the problem of determining
the place and rôle of such measurements.
A consulting supervisor of music. For the large cities
the most natural solution is the employment of a consulting
supervisor of music, who shall be given general charge of the
organization of surveys, the adjustment of the curriculum
for the introduction of the tests and exercises, the planning
of follow-up work, the giving of individual counsel and more
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THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
intensive examinations, and the adjustment of groupings for
instruction in the public schools on the basis of ascertained
talent. In smaller cities, towns, and communities, we must
trust to the leadership of some one or more teachers who
take on these responsibilities in part in addition to their
other duties.
Characteristics of good elementary tests. With the test
material now available the first move should be to introduce
group measures of musical hearing. These should comply
with the following conditions: (1) that the tests shall be
such as can be made in large groups; (2) that they shall be
of such nature as practically to eliminate the effect of prac-
tice and training, age, and degree of normal intelligence ;
(3) that they shall be as nearly “fool-proof ’’ as possible,
both for the manner of taking the record and the principles
of its interpretation and application ; (4) that they shall be
of such a nature as to be doubly justified (a) for the infor-
mation gathered, and (b) for the instruction gained through
critical training furnished in the hearing of musical effects.
The six measures of musical hearing now available which
comply with these conditions are (1) the sense of pitch,
(2) the sense of intensity, (3) the sense of time, (4) the sense
of consonance, (5) musical memory, and (6) musical im-
agery; all but the last are on phonograph records and a
“Manual of Instructions '' is furnished with the records.
Directions for the test of musical imagery are found in
Chapter XI. To these, new exercises and tests will un-
doubtedly be added from time to time, and they will be given
a permanent place in the music course.
Each of these six test exercises has been so arranged that a
quantitative measure can be obtained in a half-hour period.
The series will, therefore, require three hours in all. These
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
exercises should be made a part of the regular musical in-
struction for the year and may be used in a variety of ways
for the elucidation of the factors which enter into musical
appreciation. These six tests may be employed for a drag-
net Survey of capacities for the hearing and appreciation of
music.
Group measurements in the fifth grade. We have found
that the fifth grade is the best stage for this survey because
the children, as a class, are able to take a responsible attitude
at that age, and it is early enough to start them in a musical
education in case it may have been neglected up to that time.
All who have good musical talent can be measured reliably
at that age, but those who make poor records must be treated
with reserve as in that grade several factors may operate
to produce low marks. However, far more than half the
children can be rated permanently on the basis of the show-
ing made in the fifth grade where the test is carefully done.
Group measurements in the eighth grade. The child
faces another turning point in the eighth grade. Here a
limited group will transfer to the high school and trade
schools and enter upon a new adjustment of studies marked
by the beginning of elections. The majority will, however,
leave school to work, and the avocation for life is probably
chosen more frequently in this pre-adolescent year than in
any other year. For both of these classes of pupils the claims
of music, particularly as an avocation, should be presented
in the most attractive form and on specific knowledge about
natural endowment of the pupil for music.
It is, therefore, recognized that these six tests, and others
which may be added from time to time, should be repeated
in the eighth grade throughout the city. The record will
serve as an effective reminder to those whose talents were
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THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
revealed in the fifth grade, and by this time those who, for
lack of understanding or power of concentration, were unable
to do themselves justice in the fifth grade, can be rated with
certainty.
Analyzed ratings in the eighth grade. In addition to these
measurements we should have, at this stage, an analyzed
rating by teachers which might be the result of gradually
accumulating observations and records of performances in
the entire class in the grammar school. This should embrace
primarily sight-reading, voice register, quality of voice, and
record and rating of musical activities, musical interests,
and musical progress.
With these two sets of data in hand some one qualified
to speak should interview the children, and counsel with them
in a sympathetic and constructive way, which should start
the talented ones in the new career with the right aspirations
for music.
Individual measurements of specific musical talents.
Selected cases of exceptional talent, and particularly those
who have ambition to enter upon a musical career, should,
wherever facilities present themselves in the future, be given
a more thorough examination such as that which was
illustrated in Chapter I. On that point we must, of course,
go slowly and have patience until the universities of the
country shall be equipped for the training of such experts
to meet the demands. The great danger which we shall
face for years to come in this field is the danger of imposition
by Charlatans. The teaching profession in music is itself
not standardized ; there is much imposition. But this art
of examining is a field in which practitioners will not be
licensed for many years, and in which the ordinary public
has no adequate conception of standards. It may, however,
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
be laid down as a rule that no one should be consulted for
the analysis of musical talent who does not hold a good name
and record in the musical profession, and can show evidence
of adequate training in applied psychology. A sound
knowledge of the human mind is absolutely necessary for
One who shall offer counsel on the basis of analysis of talent.
That understanding and appreciation of music are necessary
is self-evident.
Intensive drill exercises. The material contained in
the “Measures of Musical Talent ’’ and the material sug-
gested by these, which can be used to supplement them, may
be employed to excellent advantage in the teaching of
musical appreciation, and particularly to pedagogical ad-
vantage in the “bringing up ’’ of laggards who have a musical
ear and for some reason have failed to exercise it. Our
manuals of musical instruction will undoubtedly be improved
in the future from this point of view.
Guidance and encouragement. Except for the pedagogi-
cal value of the exercises, there is no object in making these
measurements unless they are to be taken into account for
the counsel and discriminating encouragement of children,
parents, and music teachers. There is no one way in which
this can be accomplished. Different methods must be fol-
lowed in different schools according to the personalities of
teachers and supervisors and the prevailing activities in the
city. Those who have not had experience can hardly
realize the thrill of satisfaction that comes to pupils and
parents when objective evidence of high talent is presented.
This is true of the talent which has been known and appre-
ciated before, but is more strikingly true where the talent
was discovered entirely by the records. For the youth who
contemplates a serious musical career, a thorough inventory
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THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
may be of untold value in furnishing a quantitative indica-
tion of the probable prospect of achievement in music.
Discovery and sorting of pupils for musical activities.
When surveys of this kind are made a part of the regular
work in music in the fifth and eighth grades of the public
schools as is recommended, we shall have a sort of universal
dragnet for the preliminary discovery of rare talent which
would otherwise be wasted. The tests in the eighth grade
should be of special service as such dragnets for the finding
of material for orchestras, glee clubs, choruses, etc. There
is not the slightest doubt but that a very large percentage
of children now not interested in such activities may be
encouraged and enthused by such credentials as the talent
records may afford. This encouragement should reach out
into social, community, and church life.
Basis of admission to music schools. The music teacher
may or may not be interested in making actual tests of talent
a condition for admission to the music school, but, when
once the pupil has entered, there can be no debate as to the
desirability of a quantitative analysis and rating of talents
for the purpose of determining the type of musical education
for which the pupil is best fitted.
Function of the measures in the music school. From
the point of view of raising standards of a school and ad-
vertising them much is to be said in favor of the selection of
promising pupils, and restriction to them. But the fairer
and more logical procedure is to make as full talent analysis
as possible at the time of the entrance of the pupil, and to
place the facts fairly and squarely before the pupil and the
patron in order that teacher and pupil may be guided by this
inventory in the planning of the character and the extent
of the music course. This is a procedure to which all well-
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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
Organized music schools must ultimately come, for it is of
far greater significance than the inventory of the pupil's
financial status which now plays a recognized rôle.
The discovery and remedy of difficulties. The tests may
also serve a sort of clinical purpose in that persons who have
entered seriously upon a musical education and have struck
difficulties may have the situation analyzed and diagnosed
So that the exact nature of the difficulty may be known, and
the teacher may proceed with knowledge, not only as to
what the difficulty is but also as to whether or not it can be
remedied.
III. ORGANIZATION OF THE MUSICAL SCHEDULE IN THE
GRADES ON THE BASIS OF ABILITY TO PROGRESS AND
PROFIT
The present prevailing method of classifying pupils for
instruction in music on the basis of age or achievement in
arithmetic or history, must soon become obsolete, because
it is a gross violation of the first principle of educational
psychology; namely, “ Keep the child busy at his highest
level of achievement.”
The classification should be based upon the rating of
children on progress in singing or other music, supplemented
by the rating obtained in the before-mentioned tests. The
tests may draw out many cases of specific and superior ability
which remain latent under the old non-competitive system.
Justice and help to the child of inferior musical endow-
ment. The old method is not only shamefully wasteful in
time, but it has a demoralizing effect upon talented and un-
talented child alike. All admit that it is not good for a child
who is superior in singing to be held in leash by an artificial
classification. It is not so generally known, but it can be
286
THE INDIVIDUAL AND TRAINING IN THE ART
demonstrated beyond question, that psychologically the
effect of such alignment is always bad for the child of inferior
musical endowment. If the training is above his level, it
creates a feeling of self-depreciation and disgust, and it fails
to give the child that musical stimulus which can reach him.
The old argument that it is good for the inferior singer to
be trained with the superior singer is false, both from the
point of view of economy of time and from the point of view
of the development of musical appreciation and the will to
achieve. The classification of children in the grades for
technical instruction in music must be based upon the ca-
pacity for achievement in such music — not on arithmetic,
sight reading, or age. This is a fundamental proposition.
It is the first unequivocal demand of educational psychology.
It is humane.
Voluntary organizations. These requirements may be
partly fulfilled through the generous maintenance of volun-
tary organizations, both vocal and instrumental, for all
grades. It is manifest that the efficiency gained by such
voluntary training should be recognized by promotion in
the regular training course, whether taken in study hours or
outside. Likewise, the efficiency gained through private
instruction should be recognized in the classification for
regular training.
Flexible curriculum. However, compliance with these
principles requires a flexibility in the grouping for musical
instruction in all grades from the primary upward, which is a
serious problem in administration. There are two ways
of meeting that situation. One is to provide the music at
such hours for the different groups that there can be the
greatest freedom of crossing class lines. For example,
Some of the third grade pupils may be assigned to the fourth
287
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSICAL TALENT
grade in singing, and some fourth grade pupils may be held
back even in the first grade until the standards of the grade
have been met. If promotion is based primarily upon the
ability to sing, the sight reading can be learned rapidly by
pupils who have ability and interest in music. Standards
for sight singing should not be lowered; however, sight
reading in itself is not music. -
Recognizing both age and ability. But this system of
promotion does not meet the real need. It still keeps the
musical and unmusical tied together and increases the
humiliation of those who progress very slowly. The real
purpose should be to bring together, as nearly as possible,
those of the same degree of natural musical ability. The
true solution, both in economy of time and efficiency of
achievement, may be gained by carrying, either for each
grade, or preferably for a small group of grades, three divi-
sions, roughly as follows: the superior twenty-five per cent,
the middle fifty per cent, and the inferior twenty-five per
cent, with continual shifting from one division to another as
merit may warrant. This, with free promotion or demotion,
would make a happy solution.
But there is no universal solution for this program shift.
Each superintendent and principal must find a solution
adapted to the needs and resources of the school. The
solution does not lie in mere promotion. It should be the
function of the supervisor of music to be in frequent con-
ference with makers of programs and teachers of music for
the purpose of developing a flexible system in the grades
which shall comply with the twofold slogan: classification
and promotion in singing on the basis of ability to sing; and,
musical advantages proportional to musical talent.
288

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