ABSTRACT

Debora Bonizio Zukowski

Universidade de Brasília, Brazil

Title: Choir singing practice and temporal ordering in the elderly

Abstract

Introduction: The importance of temporal ordering and sequencing in the auditory system is discussed because these are considered basic functions for language. Objective: To verify the correlation between the practice of choir music and the temporal ordering in elderly with no prior formal musical experience. 

Method: The study design is cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 85 elderly individuals of both genders, 60 years of age and up, and it was composed of 43 elderly with no prior formal musical experience but choir participation (research group) and 42 elderly that never sang in choir and had no music training during their life (control group). The research group was divided based on 3 categories of choir time. The performances of the research and the control groups were compared with pitch pattern sequence (PPS), verbal condition (PPSverb), humming condition (PPShum) and duration pattern sequence (DPS) tests. 

Results: The mean PPShum and PPSverb showed a statistically significant difference by choir time with different mean of PPShum between no singing experience (59%)  and more than 10 years group (90%) (p = 0.02), and for the averages of PPSverb, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups with 0 (23%)  and 10 years of choir time (54%) (p = 0.02). Conclusion: The findings indicate a better performance in the temporal ordering of the elderly who are not formal musicians but who have choir experience in the research group in relation to those with no choir experience in the control group.

Biography

Debora Bonizio Zukowski 
Universidade de Brasília
Brazil