Research

Current Research Projects

As our research collaborations progress, we look forward to communicating our findings both within academia and to the general public. Some pilot studies, supported by the initiative, are described below:

Motor correction and auditory detection of pitch perturbations in cello performance

Sally Norris (PhD student, NCA)
Ewan Macpherson (NCA)
Jessica Grahn (Psychology, BMI)
Jonathan De Souza (Music Theory, DWFoM)
Patrick Schmidt (Music Education, DWFoM)
Blair Ellis (PhD student, NCA)
Aaron Gibbings (PhD student, Psychology, BMI)
This pilot study will investigate auditory-motor skills in musicians by characterizing physical movements made by expert cellists when they correct their pitch intonation.

Does learning a second instrument affect timbre-specific brain responses?

Emma Holmes (Postdoctoral fellow, Psychology, BMI)
Lucy McGarry (Postdoctoral fellow, Psychology, BMI)
Elizabeth Kinghorn (PhD student, Music Education, DWFoM)
This pilot study will use a combination of techniques to examine which aspects of perception and brain activity change rapidly when musicians learn a new instrument.

The impact of hearing loss on the perception of musical experience in adult musicians

Jonathan Vaisberg (PhD student, NCA)
Amy Wang (Masters student, DWFoM)
Cathy Benedict (Music Education, DWFoM)
Ewan Macpherson (NCA)
Susan Scollie (NCA)
This pilot study seeks to understand the consequences of hearing loss on music listening and participation by obtaining qualitative descriptions of hearing-impaired musicians’ experiences of playing and performing music.