A comparison of non-musicians' and musicians' aesthetic response to music experienced with and without video

The purpose of this study was to examine aesthetic response to music experienced with and without video — in this case a video produced with a variety of images and not a video of a live performance. The participants (N = 64) were undergraduate and graduate students at a comprehensive university. The aural-only and aural with visual conditions were isolated to determine whether there would be a greater aesthetic response to the aural component when video was paired with it. In addition, the response of musicians or students majoring in music (n =32) was compared to the response of non-musicians or students not majoring in music (n = 32). Results indicated that non-musicians had a stronger response to the stimuli than musicians, particularly when the music was coupled with the video. However, video added to an audio stimulus did not appear to enhance participants' aesthetic response. In addition, musicians and non-musicians demonstrated notable differences in their aesthetic response to the stimulus, in this case a piece of country music.