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Another aspect we need to take into account with music perception is differing musical ability.
Many people have some musical experience- but does it make a difference in how you hear music being played? Do professionals pick up minuscule details in music that average listeners don't?
These questions are important when considering individual variations of listening to music and ones that we hope to answer by consulting research.
This video is a fun example of how people listen to things differently. It's fairly simple in terms of musicality but shows how many different aspects of music there are, and things that professional or experienced musicians might know and can pick up that the average person might not.
Differences in Listening/Musical Ability (Professionals vs. Tone Deaf)
Pitch deafness refers to a "severe deficit in musical pitch processing ((Phillips-Silver et al., 2013)
People with pitch deafness are unable to discern melodies and which specific notes are being played, but retain things such as rhythm and beat. If someone were to play a scale or riff on a piano, pitch-deaf people probably wouldn't be able to discern if the notes are in a row, but would be able to tell if they are on beat with a metronome playing. However, in a study conducted by (Phillips-Silver et al., 2013) it was found that even though pitch-deaf people (amusics) can't discern specific pitches, they can discern drum beats and whether or not the playing is on-time. (For more information on pitch-deafness, refer to the Auditory Disabilities section)
Professional musicians can discern a lot more than the average listener when listening to music. In a study conducted by (Mikutta et al., 2014), the differences in perceived (subjective arousal via ratings) and physiologically measured electroencephalogram arousal between amateur and professional musicians were examined. In this study, it was found that the subjective arousal ratings of the professional musicians were more consistent than those of the amateur musicians. In the EEG analysis, the professionals' brains were much more active and responsive to the music and exhibited more expressive body language.
https://www.nromusic.org/nro-plays-key-role-in-developing-professional-musicians/
References
References
Mikutta, C., Maissen, G., Altorfer, A., Strik, W., & Koenig, T. (2014, May 1). Professional musicians listen differently to music. Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.03.007
Phillips-Silver, J., Toiviainen, P., Gosselin, N., & Peretz, I. (2013, July 1). Amusic does not mean unmusical: Beat perception and synchronization ability despite pitch deafness. Cognitive Neuropsychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/02643294.2013.863183
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