Keeping the Pitch in Mind

Bowed-string intonation requires constant self-correction via an internal pitch reference (Keller, 2012; Zatorre et al., 2007), a magnitude-judgment process tied to the intraparietal sulcus (Schwenzer & Mathiak, 2011) – a region known to function atypically in dyscalculia (Kaufmann et al., 2008), possibly compromising pitch monitoring in individual practice. The study asks whether reinforcing this internal reference through multisensory training can improve intonation in a violin student with dyscalculia. Four strategies were combined: vocalization, guided-active listening, kinesthetic interval mapping, and sing-play transfer. Video recordings of lessons and practice were scored by two raters on consistency, self-regulation, and pitch anticipation, alongside self-reflection. Results showed steady gains on all parameters, supporting the role of internal pitch reference training for intonational autonomy in dyscalculia.