imagined music in lives of music students-psychology of music-2007, vol 35, no 10
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Psychology of Music
DOI: 10.1177/0305735607077834
2007; 35; 555 originally published online Aug 16, 2007;Psychology of MusicFreya Bailes
The prevalence and nature of imagined music in the everyday lives of music students
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The prevalence and nature ofimagined music in the everydaylives of music students
555A R T I C L E
Psychology of Music
Psychology of Music
Copyright
Society for Education, Music
and Psychology Research
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F R E Y A B A I L E SU NI VE RS IT Y O F W ES TE RN S YD NE Y
A B S T R A C T Musical imagery is the experience of imagining music in the minds
ear. A study was conducted to explore the prevalence and nature of musical
imagery for music students in everyday life, using experience-sampling methods
(ESM). As a group, music students reported that imagining music was a very
frequent form of musical experience. Participants reported individual variation
in their imagery experience but also common differences between the strength of
imagery for different musical dimensions. For instance, melody and lyrics were
rated as being more vivid components of the image than timbre and expression.
Another clear pattern was the influence of hearing music on musical imagination,
one indicator being that 58 percent of sampled episodes described having heard
or performed the music recently as a possible reason for currently imagining it.
K E Y W O R D S: everyday music, experience-sampling methods, mental imagery
Introduction
Whether musicians are composing, performing, analysing, reading or
listening to music, the ability to audiate (Walters, 1989) and intentionally
imagine sound is important. Yet comparatively little is known about this
silent dimension of musical experience, the musical image (Bailes, 2002;
Gody and Jrgensen, 2001). Musical imagery can be defined as the experi-
ence of imagining musical sound in the absence of directly corresponding
sound stimulation from the physical environment. While musicians arepresumed to experience musical imagery in their music-specific activities,
they are similarly presumed to experience the more everyday occurrence of
having an involuntary tune on the brain. The idea that musicians are
particularly prone to imagining music reflects a belief that the more an
individual is exposed to particular music in everyday life, the more they
might imagine that music. This connection between music heard and music
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imagined might explain the common experience of having a recentlyperceived musical fragment on the brain.
Little empirical research to date has explored the prevalence of musical
imagery in everyday life, though the function and properties of musical
imagery have begun to form the focus of experimental research conducted in
laboratory settings. For example, Halpern (1988) demonstrated that partic-
ipants could intentionally imagine songs from an early lyric to a later lyric
analogously to the time needed to hear the corresponding portion of music.
Technological advances in neuroscience have allowed for studies of the
neurological similarities and dissimilarities between hearing and imagining
music (Zatorre and Halpern, 1993; Zatorre et al., 1996; Janata, 2001). Other
research has looked at the qualia or characteristic features of the mental
sound experience, ranging from timbre (Crowder, 1989; Pitt and Crowder,1992) to expressive timing (Repp, 2001). Brodsky et al. (2003) examined the
factors that interfere with the accurate imagining of a musical score.
Orchestral musicians were required to match sounded melodies to their
mental image of the well-known melody hidden within a score. Results
suggest that the expert musicians participating in the research varied greatly
in their ability to inwardly hear notated music.
In order to measure the prevalence of musical imagery for musicians
beyond the laboratory setting, be that intentional or unintentional imaging,
it is important to sample experience as it occurs naturally. Accordingly, a
study adapting experience-sampling methods (ESM) was devised by the
author to allow participants to record details about their musical imagery,
current activity, mood and musical environment when contacted by theresearcher at random times throughout the day. The methods in this research
and a discussion of the use of ESM to study musical imagery are described in
Bailes (2006). The work builds on a study by Sloboda et al. (2001), who made
use of ESM to explore musical experience in the everyday life of eight partic-
ipants. North et al. (2004) also used sampling methods, though on a larger
scale (346 respondents), to address similar issues. Neither study focused on
imagining music. Rather, both studies gathered information regarding the
relationship of respondents to their musical environment, and concluded
that hearing music was frequent throughout the day (44% of episodes for
Sloboda et al., 39% for North et al.), and that music was used by participants
to serve different purposes and suit different contexts.
This article follows on from the methodological presentation of the project
in Bailes (2006) to report a summary of the main findings. The project
investigates musical imagery experience in the daily lives of music students.
The data are too extensive to report in full in this article. Rather, the purpose
is to describe early results that raise questions of relevance to an under-
standing of musical imagery. By monitoring the occurrence of the everyday
tune on the brain, we may begin to develop a clearer understanding of its
role in daily life.
556 Psychology of Music 35(4)
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MethodIn the experience-sampling method, participants are cued to provide specific
information at random times throughout the day, during a period of several
days. The method allows respondents to provide an immediate response
rather than a retrospective report, and does not divorce participants from
their current locations and activities.
PARTICIPANTS
Participants were 11 undergraduate and postgraduate music students at the
University of Sheffield, UK (five men and six women).
MATERIALSParticipants were called on their mobile telephone, which they had set to the
silent vibrate mode. As soon as possible after receiving a call, they filled in an
experience-sampling form (ESF), designed to be completed within a few
minutes (see Appendix). In the eventuality that participants were unable to
fill out the form immediately upon hearing the signal, there was space to note
separately the time of the signal and the time of form completion. The ESF
comprised three parts. The first part asked for general information as to the
time of signal, location, activity and the presence of others. The second part
was for completion when participants were actually hearing music. The final
part was for completion when participants were imagining music. Questions
included what music was being imagined, vividness ratings for different
dimensions of the image, self-rating of mood and open questions as topossible reasons for imagining that particular music. Participants were each
provided with 42 ESFs (6 forms 7 days).
PROCEDURE
Participants received random calls between 10:00 am and 10:00 pm each
day, for seven consecutive days. The researcher called the participants one
after another in immediate succession, once within a two-hour block, with a
minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of three hours and 45 minutes
between each call. At the end of the study, participants were interviewed
about their experiences.
Analysis
Analyses of general trends in imaging, hearing and no music episodes were
based on all 417 completed ESFs. As respondents were asked to provide data
in relation to the time of signal rather than the time of completion, more
detailed analyses of episodes were based on the 350 forms that had been
completed within 30 minutes of the signal (calculated from the researchers
recorded time of call in relation to the participants indicated time of ESF
Bailes: The prevalence and nature of imagined music 557
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completion). This was to avoid overly retrospective data. Results are primarilydescriptions of summary data across all episodes, while ANOVA and chi-
square measures are based on individual participant response, and qualita-
tive analyses refer to open questions on the ESF and post-study interview
feedback.
Results
There was a 90 percent response rate representing a total of 417 completed
ESFs, called episodes. Because experience was sampled randomly through-
out the week, the time participants spent in each musical state of imagining
or hearing could be inferred. Results are shown in Figure 1, where the
category both applies to seven out of 11 respondents who indicated thatthey had simultaneously heard one piece of music while imagining another.
There is great individual variation within this global measure of the
prevalence of imagery. The participant who experienced the least imagery did
so for 12 percent of the time, while one participant reported imagining music
as much as 53 percent of the sampled time.
As Figure 2 illustrates, there was a tendency for the percentage of actually
heard music to increase throughout the day (with only 35% of episodes
involving heard music during the earliest period from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm,
and 59% during the latest period of 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm). The number of
reported imagery episodes remained constant, before dropping to almost half
that number during the final testing period (8:00 pm to 10:00 pm).1 There
was a decrease in the number of no music episodes reported throughout the
day, though these slightly increased in number during the final testing period
(from 12% at 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, to 21% from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm).
558 Psychology of Music 35(4)
F I G U R E 1 Distribution of episodes (N = 417) between the states of hearing music (44%),
imagining music (32%), neither hearing nor imagining music (21%), and both hearing and
imagining music simultaneously (3%). This figure is reproduced with permission from
Bailes (2006).
44%
32%
21%
3% Hearing music
Imagining music
Neither hearing norimagining music
imagining music
Both hearing andimagining music
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The main activity of respondents at the time of the signal was measured.
This was to look for any apparent relationship between activity-type and
musical thought. Responses were subsequently grouped into categories to
include activities as diverse as talking, watching television, listening to music,
rehearsing, buying groceries, sitting, teaching, waiting, eating dinner and
surfing the internet.
Bailes: The prevalence and nature of imagined music 559
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
10am-
12pm
12pm-
2pm
2pm-4pm 4pm-6pm 6pm-8pm 8pm-
10pm
Heard musicImagery
'No music'
Both Heard and Imagined
10:00 am 12:00 pm 2:00 pm 4:00 pm 6:00 pm 8:00 pm 12:00 pm 2:00 pm 4:00 pm 6:00 pm 8:00 pm 10:00 pm
F I G U R E 2 Graphic representation per two-hour time period of the distribution of reports of
hearing music, imagining music, experiencing no music, or both hearing and imagining music
simultaneously. Data represent the percentage of episodes per time period across the full seven
days of the study. Note that the overall completion of ESFs was not constant throughout the
day (ranging from 66 at 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm, to 74 at 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm).
F I G U R E 3 Frequency of occurrence of different types of activity reported during episodes of
hearing music, imagining music, neither hearing nor imagining music, and both hearing and
imagining music simultaneously.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Interacting
Workin
g
Travelling
Maintenance
Being
Timefiller
Leisu
re(ex.
TV) TV
Leisu
remusic
Music
-making
Other
Hearing
Imaging
Neither
Both
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Figure 3 shows that imagery episodes were most frequent during inter-action with others, with working the second most frequent activity. It is
worth noting that while watching television often involved heard music,
respondents were less likely to be imagining music than experiencing no
music at this time. Activities categorized as time filler (for instance, waiting,
lying in bed) and states of being (for instance, getting up, sitting) were twice
as likely to be accompanied by imagery as by heard music. Travelling is
associated with more imagery than hearing music episodes.
When no music is physically present, the company of other people might
have a bearing on whether an individual is prone to imagine music or is
music-free. A chi-square test for the frequency with which heard, imagery
and no music episodes coincided with the presence of others (see Figure 4)
shows a significantly non-random distribution (2 = 6.29; d.f. = 2;p < .05). Itis noteworthy that the imagery data resemble patterns for heard music more
than those for music-free episodes, occurring more in the presence of others
than alone.
Fifteen percent of all completed ESFs were filled out more than half an
hour later than the time of signal: all these data were discounted for the
purposes of the following more detailed analyses. This left a collection of 350
responses (76% of all possible returns). The following analyses were based
solely on these 350 episodes. Findings are discussed thematically under
characteristics of musical imagery and when and why it occurs.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EVERYDAY MUSICAL IMAGERY
In relation to their musical imagery at the time they were contacted,
participants were asked How aware of the imagined music were you? and
How much were you concentrating on the music? On the whole, respon-
dents were quite aware of the music they imagined (rating above average on
560 Psychology of Music 35(4)
76
51 49
108
78
39
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Heard Imaged No music
Alone
Others
F I G U R E 4 Number of episodes of heard music, imagined music or no music occurring
either in the presence of others or alone.
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a scale between not at all and very much so), though not concentratingparticularly on it (mostly average rating and under). Contrary to the common
belief that music on the brain is an irritant, the music students in this study
mostly stated that they wouldnt wish to be imagining different music, or
even no music at all.
For each imagery episode, vividness ratings were recorded for the musical
dimensions of melody, timbre, harmony, expression, dynamics, texture, lyrics
and physical memory of playing (where appropriate). A mean value for each
dimension per participant was calculated, and these data were analysed with
a one-way ANOVA. Mean ratings between dimensions were significantly dif-
ferent (F7 49 = 5.45; M= 4.16; SD = 0.9;p < .0001) and Figure 5 illustrates
the resultant hierarchy of vivid features (1 = absent, 7 = very vivid), averaged
across all participants.
Standard deviation bars have been included in Figure 5 to give an idea of
the amount of agreement between participants on the vividness of each
dimension. Melody and lyrics are rated as being the most vivid dimensions of
musical imagery. Timbre is less vivid than melody for these respondents. For
those times when the respondent reported having performed the music they
were imagining, the degree to which they imagined a physical memory of
playing was measured. The mean response is 3.7 on a scale from 1 (absent)
to 7 (very sharp), though there was high variability. Most participants were
agreed that expression was not particularly vivid in their imagery. Dynamics
and harmony were rated as being the least vivid components of a musical
image.
Bailes: The prevalence and nature of imagined music 561
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
M el od y L yr ics Ti mb re T ext ure E xp re ssi on P hys ica l
memory
Dynamics Harmony
Meanrating
F I G U R E 5 Mean vividness ratings of dimensions of the musical image, with standard
deviation. The range is from 1 = absent, to 7 = very vivid. Lyrics and a physical memory
of performing were only rated when they formed part of the musical experience. The graph
represents a hierarchy of the strength of musical features experienced in the mental image,
averaged across all respondents.
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The ESF did not include a separate category to measure the vividness ofimagery and perception for rhythm, though one participant was keen to
point out that his imagery was most often centred on this. No respondents
reported an association between the rhythms they perceived or rhythmic
importance and the music they imaged, though this does not rule out an
unconscious association. Also note that this analysis does not take the mus-
ical features of the particular music being imaged into account, and these
can be expected to have an important bearing on the vividness of different
dimensions. For example, a person imagining a piece of atonal music would
be unlikely to imagine a veridical harmonic scheme, and a person imagining
meditation music without a clear beat would be unlikely to report a veridical
rhythmic component.
An open question asked respondents to outline how complete anexperience their imagery was. The majority of episodes describe the image as
a repeated fragment rather than a full mental run-through. Very often the
repeated segment was the chorus of a song. Varying levels of clarity in the
image were sometimes described in this section of the ESF, ranging from
quite hazy to the imagining of baroque instrument timbre. In a couple of
episodes, a spatial location in the head is associated with the image: music is
heard at the back of the mind, or salient elements appear at the front. Multi-
modal aspects of musical imagery are described, such as imagining a score,
imagining the video of a pop song, imagining the physical aspect of getting a
piece right, dancing, and visualizing a specific performer.
The ESF did not take into account the possibility of imagining and hearing
different music simultaneously. Post-experiment interviews checked that allrespondents who did experience this managed to note it down in some form.
When asked what this experience was like, respondents spoke of concen-
tration being shared between both heard and imagined music, and of
multiple layers of awareness. For instance, one participant reported hearing
a particular piece of music passively, but as it was unfamiliar to him he had
continued to imagine some familiar music that he had previously heard.
W HE N A ND W HY M US IC AL I MAG ERY O CC UR S
The possible relationship of mood to imagery was investigated.2 Table 1
presents the overall frequency of mood ratings for all imagery episodes. The
most frequent ratings per mood-pair are highlighted.
Mood-pairs in Table 1 are grouped according to the three primary factors
borrowed from a principal components factor analysis of mood change,
before and after listening to music, from the study by Sloboda et al. (2001).
The factors named by these authors are positivity, present-mindedness and
arousal. Data from the current study do not examine mood change and can
only be viewed as descriptive patterns of mood at the time of imagery
episodes. Nevertheless, respondents reported above average positivity (happy
and relaxed), and arousal (alert and energetic) based on their subjective
562 Psychology of Music 35(4)
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interpretation of the response scales. Present-mindedness as represented
by the scales of interested/bored, involved/detached, and connected/lonely,
received generally neutral ratings.
The ESF did not ask participants to distinguish between voluntary andinvoluntary imaging of music. Consequently, we cannot be sure to what
extent they were experiencing an unintentional tune on the brain, or
intentionally rehearsing or creating music in the mind. Some of the imagined
music was the students own compositions. However, the proportion was
relatively small (eight out of 123 episodes) stemming from the only four
respondents actively composing at the time of the study. Music imagined
covered a large variety of genres. For imagery episodes, a total of 89 different
pieces of music were named, while 18 episodes were unnamed music. For
heard music episodes, 81 different pieces were named, and 103 episodes were
unnamed. A generalized chi-square shows this distribution to be significant
(2 = 41.19; d.f. = 1; p < .0005). On the whole, respondents were able to
name the music they were imagining: this declarative knowledge suggests afairly high level of familiarity with the perceptual source of their imagery.
It seems probable that musicians recently hearing or performing music
would subsequently imagine it. Two questions on the ESF addressed this
question directly. In response to the first question, Had you actually heard
this music since the last time you were contacted? 43 percent replied yes
and 54 percent replied no (3% answers missing). This question only related
back in time to the last call received and it is possible that hearing music less
Bailes: The prevalence and nature of imagined music 563
T A B L E 1 Percentage distribution of ratings per mood-pair during imagery
Very Quite Somewhat Neither Somewhat Quite Very
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Positivity
Happy 11.5 34.4 23.8 20.5 6.6 3.3 0 Sad
Relaxed 9.2 25.8 19.2 20.8 19.2 4.2 1.7 Tense
Present-
mindedness
Interested 9.1 28.1 24 32.2 5 1.7 0 Bored
Involved 9.8 22.8 24.4 22.8 11.4 6.5 2.4 Detached
Connected 11.5 30.3 14.8 35.2 7.4 0.8 0 Lonely
ArousalAlert 9.9 29.8 20.6 13 16.8 6.1 3.8 Relaxed
Energetic 1.7 27.4 26.5 12 18 11.1 3.4 Tired
Note: This table shows the percentage of ratings recorded for each mood pair on the ESF,
collapsed across all imagery episodes. Italicized percentages represent the most common rating
per mood-pair. Mood-pairs are grouped by positivity, present-mindedness and arousal: three
primary factors resulting from a principal components factor analysis of mood change by
Sloboda et al. (2001).
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recently, for example within the last week, might also have an importantinfluence on music imagined. This possibility is accounted for by a second
question, If possible, please explain why you might have been imagining that
particular music, allowing for a more open-ended explanation for the
possible occurrence of particular music. Results in Table 2 have been grouped
according to the category of reason participants offered for imagining
particular music, and relate to the 107 completed responses for this question.
Categories of response include the following: visual trigger, music to be
performed (e.g. preparing it for music department opera), analytical
listening (e.g. working on it at the time), reaction to experiment (e.g. talking
about experiment), person association (e.g. being asked about improvisation
and thinking about someone in particular improvising), heard it, talked
about it (e.g. talking about Pop Idol before I left home), stickiness orautomatic (e.g. tune often in my head), similar to something heard (e.g.
dont know it, but similar to piece Im performing), triggered by the name of
the music, liking the music and nostalgia (e.g. cousin sang it as a child).
Discussion
Does imagining music occur as a result of recently hearing music? This study
has provided data consistent with links between heard and imagined music.
For instance, 43 percent of episodes stated that music had been imagined
since the last time the respondent was contacted, while in response to an
open question, 58 percent of episodes offered having heard or performed the
564 Psychology of Music 35(4)
T A B L E 2 Reasons for imagining the music
Reasons given Frequency
Had heard the music previously 49
Preparing performance/memorizing 21
Talked about the music 6
No idea 6
Analytical listening/studying the music 5
Associated with a person 4Automatic/stickiness 4
Similar to something heard 2
I like the music 2
Reaction to experiment 2
Visual trigger 2
Triggered by hearing the name 1
Nostalgia 1
Other 2
Total 107
Note: Possible reasons for imagining music (107 responses) have been categorized and are
shown alongside their frequency.
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music recently as a possible reason for imagining it. The dependence ofimagery on perception is supported by the significant majority of imagery
episodes as compared with heard music episodes that could be named by res-
pondents; this implies familiarity and repeated perception prior to imagining.
Moreover, attending to particular musical dimensions in listening might have
affected the characteristics of the consequent image for the music students in
this study.
Vividness ratings show that different musical dimensions were reportedly
imaged to a different extent, with melody and song lyrics the most vivid, and
timbre, harmony and expression the least vivid. It is notable that the most
prominent features of the imagery were pitch or word based, demonstrating
the appropriateness of the expression tune on the brain as opposed to music
on the brain. Why are timbre or texture less vivid dimensions of the image?One of the ways in which they differ from melody and lyrics is that while
melody can be sung, the physical limitations of the human voice make it
impossible to reproduce non-vocal timbres and textures. It may be more
difficult to image a very well-known but physically impossible timbre than to
image the timbre of the voice (see also Halpern et al., 2002). As for expres-
sion and dynamics, Snyder (2000) writes that expressive nuance tends to by-
pass long-term memory, as it cannot be categorized as easily as the invariant
structural elements of music such as pitch, though this would not preclude
the generation of expressive nuance at the time of imaging.
What is the role of the tune on the brain? An overview of the most
common activity-type during imagery episodes revealed a surprising pattern,
namely that imagery was most frequent during interaction with others andwork. Intuitively, the active participatory nature of reacting to others and
working might seem to demand a level of concentration likely to suppress
extraneous musical thought. There are known to be optimal levels of arousal
and attention in order to perform tasks of different complexity. Hearing music
is known to have a physiological impact on arousal levels (for a reference on
mood and arousal see Thayer, 1989). It could be speculated that in the
absence of actual music, the generation of imagined music operates to either
self-regulate or to match levels of arousal. This is a potentially important area
for future investigation.
There are reasons to argue that rhythm is a central component to musical
imagery. Future research might explore a relationship between conscious and
unconscious rhythmic triggers of the image, and associations between
arousal level and the rhythmic component of musical imagery. Additional
dimensions of musical imagery mentioned by respondents in the study
include visual, spatial and kinaesthetic properties. It is probable that the
multi-dimensional nature of the musical image differs with respect to a
variety of factors. For example, important areas to explore are the impact on
imagery experience of awareness and concentration when listening to music,
personal musical taste and musical genre.
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In conclusion, this study describes the prevalence of musical imageryexperience for music students for the first time. In the process, it has begun to
reveal a multitude of important issues for future research, ranging from
characteristic sound features of the image, to the conditions of its
occurrence, and ultimately its function in everyday life.
A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S
The research reported in this article was presented at the 8th International
Conference on Music Perception & Cognition and was supported by Arts and
Humanities Research Board funding for doctoral research conducted at the University
of Sheffield, UK. I would like to thank Karen Burland, Eric Clarke, Roger Dean, Joy
Ollen, Bruno Repp and an anonymous reviewer for commenting on a previous version
of this manuscript.
N O T E S
1. A chi-square test of the distribution of heard, imagery and no music episodes
across the two final testing periods of 68 pm and 810 pm did not reveal a
statistically significant pattern (2 = 4.37; d.f. = 2;p < 0.2)
2. Due to space limitations on the ESF, no comparative data were gathered regarding
mood during perception and no music episodes. Please refer to Sloboda et al.
(2001) for comparable mood ratings as a function of music listening.
R E F E R E N C E S
Bailes, F.A. (2002) Musical Imagery: Hearing and Imagining Music, unpublishedPhD thesis, University of Sheffield.
Bailes, F. A. (2006) The Use of Experience-Sampling Methods to Monitor Musical
Imagery in Everyday Life, Musicae Scientiae 10(2): 17390.
Brodsky, W., Henik, A., Rubinstein, B. and Zorman, M. (2003) Auditory Imagery
from Musical Notation in Expert Musicians, Perception & Psychophysics 65(4):
60212.
Crowder, R. G. (1989) Imagery for Musical Timbre,Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 15(3): 4728.
Gody, R. I. and Jrgensen, H. (2001) Musical Imagery. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Halpern, A.R. (1988) Mental Scanning in Auditory Imagery for Songs,Journal of
Experimental Psychology 14(3): 343443.
Halpern, A.R., Zatorre, R.J., Bouffard, M. and Johnson, J.A. (2002) An FMRI Study of
Timbre Perception and Imagery, paper presented at the 7th International
Conference on Music Perception and Cognition, July, Sydney.Janata, P. (2001) Neurophysiological Measurements underlying Auditory Image
Formation in Music, in R.I. Gody and H. Jrgensen (eds) Musical Imagery, pp.
2742. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
North, A.C., Hargreaves, D.J. and Hargreaves, J.J. (2004) Uses of Music in Everyday
Life, Music Perception 22(1): 4177.
Pitt, M.A. and Crowder, R.G. (1992) The Role of Spectral and Dynamic Cues in
Imagery for Musical Timbre,Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception
and Performance 18: 72838.
566 Psychology of Music 35(4)
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Repp, B. H. (2001) Expressive Timing in the Minds Ear, in R.I. Gody and H.Jrgensen (eds) Musical Imagery, pp. 185200. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Sloboda, J.A., ONeill, S.A. and Ivaldi, A. (2001) Functions of Music in Everyday Life:
an Exploratory Study using the Experience Sampling Method, Musicae Scientiae
5(1): 932.
Snyder, B. (2000) Music and Memory: An Introduction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Thayer, R.E. (1989) The Biopsychology of Mood and Arousal. New York and Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Walters, D. L. (1989) Audiation: the Term and the Process, in D.L.W.C.C. Taggart
(ed.) Readings in Music Learning Theory, pp. 311. Chicago: GIA.
Zatorre, R.J. and Halpern, A.R. (1993) Effect of Unilateral Temporal-lobe Excision on
Perception and Image of Songs, Neuropsychologia 31(3): 22132.
Zatorre, R.J., Halpern, A.R., Perry, D.W., Meyer, E. and Evans, A.C. (1996) Hearing in
the Minds Ear: A PET Investigation of Musical Imagery and Perception,Journal of
Cognitive Neuroscience 8(1): 2946.
Appendix: Experience-sampling Form*
Date: _______ Time Contacted: _______ am/pm Time Filled Out: _______ am/pm
As you were contacted, were you hearing any music? YES NO
If YES, please fill out parts A & B of this form with respect to the time you were contacted.
If No, were you imagining any music as you were contacted? YES NO
If YES, please fill out parts A & C of this form with respect to the time you were contacted.
If you were neither hearing nor imagining music at the time you were contacted, please
just fill in Part A with respect to the time you were contacted.
PART A
Where were you? ___________________________________________________________
What was the MAIN thing you were doing? _______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Who were you with? (Circle as many as are applicable)
Alone Partner Person/people you live with
Family member(s) Friend(s) Professional(s) (e.g. dentist)
Acquaintance(s) Strangers Person/people you work with
If not alone, how many people were you with? __________
Bailes: The prevalence and nature of imagined music 567
* The ESF is reproduced with permission from Bailes (2006).
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PART B (Hearing music)
Where was the music coming from?
Radio TV Walkman PA System (public place)
Record/Tape/CD Concert Busker Rehearsal/Practice
Whistling/Humming Mobile phone Other _____________________________
Can you name the music you were hearing? YES NO
If YES, please name it ________________________________________________________
If NO, please circle all style categories that best describe the music you were hearing.
Dance Contemporary
Pop Chart Classical Opera/vocal
Soul Orchestral
Rock Solo instrument/Chamber
Folk Jazz
Other _________________________________________________________
How much personal choice did you have in hearing the music?
None at all Completely own choice
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not at all Very much so
How much were you concentrating on the music? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Was the music important to the activity/moment? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Do you wish you had been hearing different music? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Would you have rather not been hearing music? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Was there anything in the music that you found particularly important or noticeable? ____
___________________________________________________________________________
PART C (Imagining music)
For each pair of moods, tick the category that most closely describes the way you felt while
you were imagining music.
Very Quite Somewhat Neither Somewhat Quite Very
Alert Drowsy
Happy Sad
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Very Quite Somewhat Neither Somewhat Quite Very
Lonely Connected
Energetic Tired
Involved Detached
Tense Relaxed
Interested Bored
Was the imagined music your own composition? YES NO
Can you name the music you were imagining? YES NO
If YES, please name it ________________________________________________________
If NO, please circle all style categories that best describe the music you were imagining.
Dance Contemporary
Pop Chart Classical Opera/vocal
Soul Orchestral
Rock Solo instrument/Chamber
Folk Jazz
Other _________________________________________________________
Had you actually heard this music since the last time you were contacted? YES NO
If possible, please explain why you might have been imagining that particular music _____
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Not at all Very much so
How aware of the imagined music were you? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How much were you concentrating on the music? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Do you wish you had been imagining different music? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Would you have rather not been imagining music? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Was there anything in the music that you found particularly important or noticeable? ___
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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Please describe how sharp your mental image of the following musical elements was at thetime you were contacted:
Absent Very sharp
Melody 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Harmony 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Texture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Timbre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Dynamics 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Lyrics (if applicable) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Expression 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In the case that you have played this music, please describe how sharp your mental image
of the following was at the time you were contacted:
Absent Very sharp
Physical memory of playing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Please give a brief description of how complete the experience was, e.g. Was the music
playing in your mind as a whole piece? Were you hearing a repeated fragment of it? Was
there a visual or spatial dimension to your musical image ? _________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Are you imagining the same music now? YES NO
If NO, are you imagining different music now? YES NO
If NO, are you actually hearing music now? YES NO
Please write below any additional information or comments about what was happening
and/or how you were feeling when you were imagining the music at the time you were
contacted __________________________________________________________________
F R EYA B A IL E S is currently researching the perception of musical macrostructure and
emotional response to digital music this represents an additional area of interest to
her doctoral and earlier post-doctoral focus on musical imagery. As a researchstudent, Freya was supervised by Professor Eric Clarke at the University of Sheffield.
Since then, she has been the recipient of post-doctoral scholarships allowing her to
work with Emmanuel Bigand in France (20022003) and David Huron in the USA
(20032004). Freya continues to work with Roger Dean, now at MARCS Auditory
Laboratories, following a post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of
Canberra (20042007).
Address: MARCS Auditory Laboratories, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag
1797, Penrith South DC NSW 1797, Australia. [email: [email protected]]
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