Persistence of Performance Details in Music and Speech

Abstract

What aspects of music and speech are retained in memory? How do remembered performance details influence future performances? This paper focuses on memory for performance details in music and speech and the influence of these elements from perception to performance. Listeners form a memory for a sentence or melody that includes timing and intensity details. These details then influence performance. Musicians persist in the tempo of a melody they have just heard. They also incorporate details of timing and intensity into their subsequent performances. Speakers persist in the rate of sentences when they produce similar sentences. As in music, this persistence extends beyond the global dimension of rate.