No disadvantage for left-handed musicians: The relationship between handedness, perceived constraints and performance-related skills in string players and pianists

Psychology of Music

Volumn 40, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 357-384

  Kopiez, Reinhard ^a   Jabusch, Hans Christian ^b   Galley, Niels ^c   Homann, Jan Christoph ^a   Lehmann, Andreas C ^d   Altenmüller, Eckart ^a  

^a Hanover University of Music and Drama   (Germany)

^b DRESDEN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY   (Germany)

^c UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE   (Germany)

^d UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG   (Germany)

Author keywords

handedness; music performance; pianists; sensorimotor skills; string players

Indexed keywords

EID: 84861990617     PISSN: 03057356     EISSN: 17413087     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0305735610394708     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. Amunts K., Schlaug G., Jäncke L., Steinmetz H., Schleicher A., Dabringhaus A., et al. Motor cortex and hand motor skills: Structural compliance in the human brain. Human Brain Mapping. 1997 ; 5 (3). 206-215
2. Annett M. Handedness and brain asymmetry: The right shift theory. New York: Psychology Press ; 2002:
3. Bangert M., Schlaug G.. Specialization of the specialized in features of external human brain morphology. European Journal of Neuroscience. 2006 ; 24 (6). 1832-1834
4. Bryden P. J., Roy E. A., Rohr L. E., Egilo S.. Task demands affect manual asymmetries in pegboard performance. Laterality. 2007 ; 12 (4). 364-377
5. Cho J., Park K. S., Kim M., Park S. H.. Handedness and asymmetry of motor skill learning in right-handers. Journal of Clinical Neurology. 2006 ; 2 (2). 113-117
6. Christman S. D.. Handedness in musicians: Bimanual constraints on performance. Brain & Cognition. 1993 ; 22 (2). 266-272
7. Christman S. D.. Eclectic lefty-hand: Conjectures on Jimi Hendrix, handedness, and Electric Ladyland. Laterality. 2010 ; 15 (1-2). 253-269
8. Cohen J. Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum ; 1988:
9. Costa P. T., McCrae R. R. Revised NEO personality inventory (NEO PI-R) and NEO five factor inventory. Professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Ressources ; 1992:
10. Dane S., Gümüstekin K.. Sex and handedness differences in hearing durations of the right and left ears in healthy young adults. International Journal of Neuroscience. 2006 ; 113 (3). 411-416
11. Deutsch D.. Pitch memory: An advantage for the left handed. Science. 1978 ; 199 (4328[3]). 559-560
12. Elbert T., Pantev C., Wienbruch C., Rockstroh B., Taub E.. Increased cortical representation of the fingers of the left hand in string players. Science. 1995 ; 270 (13). 305-307
13. Engel J. Uncommon sound: The left-handed guitar players that changed music. Brussels: Left Field Ventures ; 2006:
14. The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the arts and sciences, sports and games. Ericsson K. A., ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum ; 1996:
15. Ericsson K. A., Krampe R. T., Tesch-Römer C.. The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review. 1993 ; 100 (3). 363-406
16. Faul F., Erdfelder E., Lang A.-G., Buchner A.. G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods. 2007 ; 39 (2). 175-191
17. Gaser C., Schlaug G.. Brain structures differ between musicians and non-musicians. Journal of Neuroscience. 2003 ; 23 (27). 9240-9245
18. Goebl W.. Melody lead in piano performance: Expressive device or artifact?. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 2001 ; 110 (1). 563-572
19. Jabusch H.-C. Hanover: Hanover University of Music and Drama/Insitute for Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine ; 2005:
20. Jabusch H.-C. Music, motor control and the brain. Altenmüller E. Wiesendanger M. Kesselring J., ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press ; 2006: 91-108.
21. Jabusch H.-C., Alpers H., Kopiez R., Vauth H., Altenmüller E.. The influence of practice on the development of motor skills in pianists: A longitudinal study in a selected motor task. Human Movement Science. 2009 ; 28 (1). 74-84
22. Jabusch H.-C., Altenmüller E. Music, motor control and the brain. Altenmüller E. Wiesendanger M. Kesselring J., ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press ; 2006: 265-282.
23. Jabusch H.-C., Vauth H., Altenmüller E.. Quantification of focal dystonia in pianists using scale analysis. Movement Disorders. 2004 ; 19 (2). 171-180
24. Jäncke L., Baumann S., Koeneke S., Meyer M., Laeng B., Peters M., Lutz K.. Neural control of playing a reversed piano: Empirical evidence for an unusual cortical organization of musical functions. NeuroReport. 2006 ; 17 (4). 447-451
25. Jäncke L., Schlaug G., Steinmetz H.. Hand skill asymmetry in professional musicians. Brain & Cognition. 1997 ; 34 (3). 424-432
26. Judge J., Stirling J.. Fine motor skill performance in left- and right-handers: Evidence of an advantage of left-handers. Laterality. 2003 ; 8 (4). 297-306
27. Kemp A. E. The musical temperament. Psychology and personality of musicians. Oxford: Oxford University Press ; 1996:
28. Klöppel S., Mangin J.-F., Vongerichten A., Frackowiak R. S. J., Siebner H. R.. Nurture versus nature: Long-term impact of forced right-handedness on structure of pericentral cortex and basal ganglia. Journal of Neuroscience. 2010 ; 30 (9). 3271-3275
29. Kopiez R., Galley N. Begabungsförderung und Begabungsforschung in der Musik. Gembris H., ed. Münster: LIT ; 2010: 111-136.
30. Kopiez R., Galley N., Lee J. I.. The advantage of being non-right-handed: The influence of laterality on a selected musical skill (sight reading achievement). Neuropsychologia. 2006 ; 44 (7). 1079-1087
31. Kopiez R., Galley N., Lehmann A. C.. The relation between lateralisation, early start of training, and amount of practice in musicians: A contribution to the problem of handedness classification. Laterality. 2010 ; 15 (4). 385-414
32. Kopiez R., Lee J. I.. Towards a dynamic model of skills involved in sight reading music. Music Education Research. 2006 ; 8 (1). 97-120
33. Kopiez R., Lee J. I.. Towards a general model of skills involved in sight reading music. Music Education Research. 2008 ; 10 (1). 41-62
34. Krampe R. T., Ericsson K. A.. Maintaining excellence: Deliberate practice and elite performance in young and older pianists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 1996 ; 125 (4). 331-359
35. Laeng B., Park A.. Handedness effects on playing a reversed or normal keyboard. Laterality. 1999 ; 4 (4). 363-377
36. Lehmann A. C. Perception and cognition of music. Deliège I. Sloboda J. A., ed. Hove: Psychology Press ; 1997: 161-187.
37. Lehmann A. C., Ericsson K. A.. Performance without preparation: Structure and acquisition of expert sight-reading and accompanying performance. Psychomusicology. 1996 ; 15 (1-2). 1-29
38. Lehmann A. C., Kopiez R. The Oxford handbook of music psychology. Hallam S. Cross I. Thaut M., ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press ; 2009: 344-351.
39. LosoG. (2004). About us: The start. Retrieved 23 March 2010from: http://lefthandpiano.com/en/
40. McCrae R. R., John O. P.. An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality. 1992 ; 60 (2). 175-215
41. Mengler W.. Linkshändigkeit und Streichinstrumentenspiel. Eine Annäherung an ein weitgehend unentdecktes Thema. Das Orchester. 2004 ; 52 (12). 18-23
42. Mengler W. Musizieren mit links. Mainz: Schott ; 2010:
43. Oldfield R. C.. The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia. 1971 ; 9 (1). 97-113
44. Palmer C., van de Sande C.. Units of knowledge in music performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. 1993 ; 19 (2). 457-470
45. Pascual-Leone A., Dang N., Cohen L. G., Brasil-Neto J. P., Cammarota A., Hallett M.. Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills. Journal of Neurophysiology. 1995 ; 74 (3). 1037-1045
46. Peters M.. Handedness: Effect of prolonged practice on between hand performance differences. Neuropsychologia. 1981 ; 19 (4). 587-590
47. Peters M., Durding B. M.. Handedness measured by finger tapping: A continuous variable. Canadian Journal of Psychology. 1978 ; 32 (4). 257-261
48. Preilowski B. Die Hand. Werkzeug des Geistes. Wehr M. Weinmann M., ed. Heidelberg: Elsevier/Spektrum ; 2005: 163-208.
49. Provins K. A.. Motor skills, handedness and behaviour. Australian Journal of Psychology. 1967 ; 19 (2). 137-150
50. Rosnow R. L., Rosenthal R.. Effect sizes. Why, when, and how to use them. Zeitschrift für Psychologie. 2009 ; 217 (1). 6-14
51. Schulze H.-H., Vorberg D.. Linear phase correction models for synchronization: Parameter identification and estimation of parameters. Brain and Cognition. 2002 ; 48 (1). 80-97
52. Sedlmeier P., Renkewitz F. Forschungsmethoden und Statistik in der Psychologie. München: Pearson Studium ; 2008:
53. SeedC. (n.d.). The first left-handed piano. Retrieved 31 March 2010, from: http://www.lefthandedpiano.com/
54. Tapping (2008). Tapping (Version 1.4) [Computer software for the measurement of handedness]. (For description see http://shop.meditech.info/ Software/Tapping-Das-motorische-Testprogramm::1423.html?XTCsid= 56cdb9438851e181bb3defb0adb37e55). Wedemark, Germany: Meditech.
55. Volkmann J., Schnitzler A., Witte O. W., Freund H.. Handedness and asymmetry of hand representation in human motor cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology. 1998 ; 79 (4). 2149-2154
56. von Georgi R. Theorie und Messung körperlicher Beschwerden. Tönning: Der andere Verlag ; 2006:
57. von Hasselbach J., Gruhn W., Gollhofer A... Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Musice Perception and Cognition (ICMPC11) ; 2010 Seattle, USA ; 2010. 388.
58. Watson D., Clark L., Tellegen A.. Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1988 ; 54 (6). 1063-1070