The Levitin effect is a phenomenon whereby people, even those without musical training, tend to remember songs in the correct key.
[citation needed] Cognitive disorders can affect a person's ability to experience the Levitin effect.
Upon arrival, the students filled out a background questionnaire and selected two songs from 56 previously chosen CDs.
[6] These studies demonstrate that people can typically remember songs in a way that is similar to how they heard them, even without a reference to the music.
When compared to Levitin's original study, the replication showed a lower trend in the data, indicating that a smaller percentage of the population was able to recall the relative pitch.
Researchers at Lawrence Parsons and Peter Fox of University of Texas Health Science Center ran brain scans on conductors and saw an increase of blood flow to the cerebellum when they were following along to sheet music and listening to it at the same time.
One theory states our ancestors needed to synchronize their steps in nature to avoid making more noise than necessary while hunting.
Another theory suggests that those early humans who were able to distinguish rudimentary rhythms may have been able to hear and interpret different footsteps making them more attuned to the environment around them and have better survival instincts.
While most humans have an innate ability to distinguish musical intervals, musicians of many backgrounds find extensive ear training, to formalize their understanding, essential.
Those with congenital amusia can process speech, differences in people's voices and hear environmental sounds, but most cannot identify patterns in music.