The interplay of music perceptual abilities and experiences with episodic musical memory

Despite a longstanding interest in associations between musical competency and memory, the multi-dimensional facet of musical competency remains understudied. The current study thus examines (1) the relationship between music perceptual abilities and episodic musical memory, and (2) the influence of musical behaviors, such as music listening and instrument playing, on music perception skills. Sixty-one participants (35M, 26F) completed an episodic musical memory task, adapted from the Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST; Stark et al., 2015), which measures general recognition and precision memory for music. Participants also completed a music perception task (Law & Zentner, 2012) and provided data on musical behaviors. Regression analyses revealed that general recognition memory for music was predicted by overall music perception proficiency. Proficiency in music perception is in turn predicted only by the extent of music instrument playing, independent of formal musical training or other musical experiences. In contrast, precision memory for music was not predicted by overall music perception proficiency, but only by melody and tempo perception, underscoring distinct links between specific musical skills and memory. These findings highlight the nuanced connections between musical habits, perceptual skills and musical memory skills, emphasizing the role of music production activities in nurturing musical competence.