Detection of clash of keys in a non-dichotomous task: Effects of musical genres, instruments and participants’ expertise

When listening to music, people are able to separate the various parts or streams that the respective piece is made of, depending on their musical experience and aural training. Specific musical expertise affects these analytical listening skills, but different studies have shown that differences between experts and amateurs are smaller than often anticipated and depend heavily on the adequacy of the task for amateurs. The present replication study of Kopiez and Platz (2009) has investigated in a convenience sample (N = 97) whether a presumably obvious clash of keys between solo and accompaniment can be detected. In an incomplete study design, participants listened to two pieces of music (jazz and classical) with solos each played by one of two instruments (trumpet and saxophone) in either a clashing or fitting condition. Participants' musical training and perceptual abilities showed a medium correlation with the harmoniousness ratings difference between the clashing and fitting stimuli. Overall, the clashing version of the classical piece was rated as less harmonious than the jazz piece. These results are in line with similar research and raise questions concerning the appropriate research method to investigate the perception of participants with various degrees of expertise.