Creativity and tradition: Music and bifocal stance theory

Loui, Psyche; Margulis, Elizabeth Hellmuth

doi:10.1017/s0140525x22001212

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Along similar lines, higher semantic distance between words has been linked to verbal creativity (Olson et al, 2021). The simultaneous importance of creativity and conventionality is especially apparent in cultural tasks that require social learning (Jagiello et al, 2022), such as music perception and production (Loui & Margulis, 2022; Savage, Loui, et al, 2021). One speculative interpretation of these results is that within an individualistic culture such as the United States, higher absorption to music is related to higher creativity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaginings from an unfamiliar world: Narrative engagement with a new musical system.

Loui,

Kubit,

et al. 2023

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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Human imagination is generative and creative yet deeply rooted in culture and familiarity. Recent studies have quantified the effects of culture on stories that are imagined during music listening, but the music used in previous work was always drawn from a tradition familiar to participants from at least one of the cultures. Here we report the first study of imagined stories to music written in a musical system that is novel to participants from each culture, thus allowing for a direct comparison of narratives prompted by the same set of excerpts that is comparably unfamiliar to both groups. Music composed in the Bohlen–Pierce scale was presented to participants from two geographically defined cultures: Boston, United States and Beijing, China. We also examined how individual differences, such as in musicality and sensitivity to musical reward, might affect narrative engagement and semantic content of the imagined stories as measured by tools from natural language processing. Results showed that semantic spaces of music-evoked imaginings differed between Boston and Beijing cohorts. While both cultures were similarly engaged by the story response task, differences emerged in the semantic content of the imagined stories. Boston participants who reported being more absorbed by music wrote more unconventional stories, whereas Beijing participants who reported more emotional responses to music wrote more conventional stories. These results reveal the roles of culture and individual differences in modes of narrative engagement and imagination during music listening.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imaginings from an unfamiliar world: Narrative engagement with a new musical system.

Loui,

Kubit,

et al. 2023

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Along similar lines, higher semantic distance between words has been linked to verbal creativity (Olson et al, 2021). The simultaneous importance of creativity and conventionality is especially apparent in cultural tasks that require social learning (Jagiello et al, 2022), such as music perception and production (Loui & Margulis, 2022;Savage et al, 2021). One speculative interpretation of these results is that within an individualistic culture such as the US, higher absorption to music is related to higher creativity.…”

Section: Individual Differences In Conventionality and Creativitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Imaginings from an Unfamiliar World: Narrative Engagement with a New Musical System

Loui¹,

Margulis³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Human imagination is generative and creative yet deeply rooted in culture and familiarity. Recent studies have quantified the effects of culture on stories that are imagined during music listening, but the music used in previous work was always drawn from a tradition familiar to participants from at least one of the cultures. Here we report the first study of imagined stories to music written in a musical system that is novel to participants from each culture, thus allowing for a direct comparison of narratives prompted by the same set of excerpts that is comparably unfamiliar to both groups. Music composed in the Bohlen-Pierce scale was presented to participants from two geographically-defined cultures: Boston, USA and Beijing, China. We also examined how individual differences, such as in musicality and sensitivity to musical reward, might affect narrative engagement and semantic content of the imagined stories as measured by tools from natural language processing. Results showed that semantic spaces of music-evoked imaginings differed between Boston and Beijing cohorts. While both cultures were similarly engaged by the story response task, differences emerged in the semantic content of the imagined stories. . Boston participants who reported being more absorbed by music wrote more unconventional stories, whereas Beijing participants who reported more emotional responses to music wrote more conventional stories. These results reveal the roles of culture and individual differences in modes of narrative engagement and imagination during music listening.

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“…The mode is more about the tendency of pairs of tones that appear and often interact. For example, in the tritonic Maowey mode, which consists of the notes mi (3) -sol ( 5) -la (6). It is possible that in the expression of the melody, there are side notes or inserts that appear in connection with the singer's emotional mood.…”

Section: Form and Structure Of The Mahzani Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shi offers digitized music to achieve traditional musical heritage, which is considered to contain the spiritual wealth of Chinese society [5]. In Addition, Soul Louis and Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, in their research on Creativity and Tradition, assert that music can function as a time-sensitive lens into the interaction between instrumental and ritual attitudes in the cultural evolution [6]. Apart from preserving traditional music, the meaning and form of traditional music can also shape the cultural identity of a community, collective memory, and building peace [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unveiling the melodic traditions of Mahzani: an ethnomusicological investigation of Tombulu music in Indonesia's Minahasa region

Pogalin,

Lestari

2023

Gelar.Jurnal.Seni.Budaya

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This research explores the Mahzani ethnic music tradition, which holds significance among the Tombulu sub-ethnic group of the Minahasa region. As an expression of their cultural identity, Mahzani encapsulates the richness of Tombulu music, encompassing artistic diversity, spiritual values, and the philosophy of life cherished by the Tombulu people. The aim of this study is to analyze the distinctive musical elements that contribute to the unique atmosphere of the Mahzani tradition. This study uses an ethnomusicological approach. This approach collects and analyzes data, namely the melodies of traditional Mahzani music in the cultural context of the Tombulu people as the owners of the music. The ethnomusicological analysis is carried out by analyzing the physical and non-physical forms of Mahzani music to reveal its melodic richness and its aesthetic and philosophical meanings. This comprehensive approach ensures a thorough examination of the musical elements and their cultural implications within the context of the Mahzani tradition. In the end, the result of this research is that the combination of poetry and melody in a single unit of Mahzani's expression at the time has unveiled a unique and mystical atmosphere. At this level, the Tombulu people believe that music has vibrations that are connected to nature and the creator. Music is no longer just a medium for expressing itself, but it is the intention of the expression of human life in relation to their living environment.

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Creativity and tradition: Music and bifocal stance theory

Cited by 3 publications

References 320 publications

Imaginings from an unfamiliar world: Narrative engagement with a new musical system.

Imaginings from an unfamiliar world: Narrative engagement with a new musical system.

Imaginings from an Unfamiliar World: Narrative Engagement with a New Musical System

Unveiling the melodic traditions of Mahzani: an ethnomusicological investigation of Tombulu music in Indonesia's Minahasa region

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