Table 1.
Summary of the three singing tasks in the Melbourne Singing Tool
| Task | Task requirements | No. trials | Frequency range of stimuli | Variable extracted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Note | Sing back 5 sine tones Pitch classes B, C#, D#, F, G |
10 | Female: 246.94–397Hz Male: 123.47–196Hz |
PD |
| Familiar Tune | Sing Happy Birthday in different conditions (paced/unpaced, with/without lyrics). The paced condition was used in the current study, sung first with the lyrics and then twice on the syllable “dah” after listening to a drum beat of Happy Birthday at 120bpma |
3 | Participants choose their preferred starting note | PD ID |
| Unfamiliar Tune | Sing back 5 different 7-note piano tunes | 10 | Female: 220–440 Hz Male: 110-220Hz |
PD ID |
PD, pitch deviation; ID, interval deviation.
a
The average of trials two and three was used to measure performance as evidence suggests that singing with a syllable produces a more accurate performance than singing with lyrics (Berkowska and Dalla Bella, 2013; Dalla Bella et al., 2007; Tan et al., 2021).