Temporospatial Alterations in Upper-Limb and Mallet Control Underlie Motor Learning in Marimba Performance

Abstract

Sound-producing movements in percussion performance require a high degree of fine motor control. However, there remains a relatively limited empirical understanding of how performance level abilities develop in percussion performance in general, and marimba performance specifically. To address this issue, nine percussionists performed individualised excerpts on marimba within three testing sessions spaced 29 days apart to assess early, intermediate, and late stages of motor learning. Motor learning was quantified via analyses of both the temporal control of mallet movements, and the spatial variability of upper-limb movements. The results showed that temporal control of mallet movements was greater in the intermediate compared to the early learning session, with no significant additional improvements revealed in the late learning session. In addition, spatial variability in the left and right elbows decreased within the intermediate compared to the early learning session. The results suggest that temporal control of mallet movements may be driven by reductions in spatial variability of elbow movements specifically. As a result, this study provides novel evidence for kinematic mechanisms underlying motor learning in percussion which can be applied towards enhancing musical training.

Keywords: acceleration; motor control; motor learning; percussion; sensorimotor; upper-limb.

FIGURE 1

The direction of the movement axes (A) are shown. Marker placements (i.e., green = shoulders, red = elbows, yellow = wrists, and salmon = hands) are shown in panel (B). Mallet numbers (i.e., seafoam green = LH1, teal = LH2, purple = RH3, pink = RH4) are shown in panel (C).

FIGURE 2

Results for the frequency-based analysis of mallet movements. The overall pattern of effects for peak power and the significant mallet × session interaction is shown in panels (A,B), respectively. The analysis revealed that relative peak power increased specifically for the thumb mallets between sessions 1 and 2. *indicates significance at the Bonferroni corrected alpha threshold.

FIGURE 3

Results for spatial variability of elbow movements are shown. Results for both elbows [i.e., left elbow (A), right elbow (B)] revealed reduced spatial variability between S1 and S2. *indicates significance at the Bonferroni corrected alpha threshold.