Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

molivares's picture

More on hearing and filling in gaps

This spring break, I was in Turkey with the Bryn Mawr and Haverford Chamber Singers and we had spent the entire semester learning about Turkish music which is closely tied to Arabic music . One of the things that struck me most about Turkish music were the nine in-between tones between notes.  I learned that some of the most talented Turkish singers could pin point and sing all nine of the in-between tones. This really impressed me because in Western music, we really only distinguish between semitones/half-tones (C and C# or B and Bflat).  When I listened to examples of the 9 in-between tones that were distinguishable in Turkish music, I was hardly able to tell the differences between them. I suppose that this was an example of my brain filling in what I was hearing to a scheme of notes and tones that I had learned and was familiar with.  What then can be said about the relationship of the brain filling in gaps (in hearing) and the learning through a certain schemas?
 

Reply

To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
2 + 0 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.