Shaping Structure Through Sound: Effects of Repeated Listening on Musical Segmentation in Musicians and Non-Musicians

Repeated listening gradually shapes listeners’ perception of musical structure, making it a critical behavioral factor to consider in music information retrieval (MIR) systems. However, how this process varies with musical training remains unclear. This study investigates how musicians and non-musicians segment music over repeated exposure to an unfamiliar piece. Thirty-three participants (13 music majors, 20 non-majors) listened five times to the second movement of Bartók’s Piano Sonata Sz. 80, marking perceived structural boundaries during each trial. Their responses were compared to two analytical models: Traditional Harmonic Analysis (TA) and Schenkerian Analysis (SA). Over time, music majors increasingly aligned with TA, while non-majors showed greater variability without converging on a consistent framework. Statistical analysis confirmed a significant group difference in response consistency during later trials. These findings suggest that musical training facilitates reliance on structural schemata, whereas those without formal training rely more on perceptual features such as dynamics or mood. By revealing group-specific strategies in structural listening, this study contributes to a human-centered understanding of musical segmentation and offers empirical insights for designing adaptive music information retrieval systems that account for listener expertise and perceptual tendencies.