Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine whether preferences for recorded piano versus harpsichord renditions of the same music, controlled for tempo and pitch level, would be affected by style, tempo, and musical experience. Two hundred and eighty undergraduate music majors and non-majors heard 12 pairs of excerpts. Each pair consisted of a recording performed on piano and a recording performed on harpsichord. Participants chose the version they preferred, or chose no preference. Results showed that musical experience affected preferences: preference for piano was significantly stronger for non-majors than for majors, and for participants who never learned to play a musical instrument than for participants who had at least one year of applied musical experience. Preference for harpsichord was stronger for performers than non-performers, and approached significance in the major–non-major comparison. Both majors and non-majors chose harpsichord versions more frequently when excerpts were fast rather than slow, and when they were of Renaissance music than when they were of Baroque music. Harpsichord was preferred over piano in only 2 of the 12 trials, and both were of fast Renaissance music.
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