Measuring Musical Forces

Larson, S. B.; VanHandel, Leigh

doi:10.1525/mp.2005.23.2.119

Cited by 28 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Music theory involves frequent references to tonal or harmonic motion (Lerdahl and Krumhansl, 2007), even gravitational forces between tones and chords (Larson and Van Handel, 2005), which can create “tension,” “release,” “climax,” “repose,” and “relaxation.” Although Meyer's (1956) well-known theory focused primarily on how the thwarting of musical expectations might arouse emotion in listeners, it seems likely that this internal play within the musical structure could also affect perceived emotions (e.g., the emotional intensity; see Sloboda and Lehmann, 2001; Timmers and Ashley, 2007, for examples). Intrinsic sources of musical expression in music have rarely been investigated thus far, but they are unlikely to express specific emotions by themselves.…”

Section: How Does Music Express Emotions? Three Types Of Codingmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does music express? Basic emotions and beyond

Juslin¹

2013

Front. Psychol.

126

150

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Numerous studies have investigated whether music can reliably convey emotions to listeners, and—if so—what musical parameters might carry this information. Far less attention has been devoted to the actual contents of the communicative process. The goal of this article is thus to consider what types of emotional content are possible to convey in music. I will argue that the content is mainly constrained by the type of coding involved, and that distinct types of content are related to different types of coding. Based on these premises, I suggest a conceptualization in terms of “multiple layers” of musical expression of emotions. The “core” layer is constituted by iconically-coded basic emotions. I attempt to clarify the meaning of this concept, dispel the myths that surround it, and provide examples of how it can be heuristic in explaining findings in this domain. However, I also propose that this “core” layer may be extended, qualified, and even modified by additional layers of expression that involve intrinsic and associative coding. These layers enable listeners to perceive more complex emotions—though the expressions are less cross-culturally invariant and more dependent on the social context and/or the individual listener. This multiple-layer conceptualization of expression in music can help to explain both similarities and differences between vocal and musical expression of emotions.

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Section: How Does Music Express Emotions? Three Types Of Codingmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does music express? Basic emotions and beyond

Juslin¹

2013

Front. Psychol.

126

150

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“…Magnetism of unstable tones compliments the gravity of stable tones, generating melodic motion with assistance from inertia: the tendency to proceed in the direction set by the resolution of an unstable tone into a stable one. Kurth's idea that instability charges melodic motion has received experimental support: Larson and Vanhandel ( 2005 ) found magnetism to present a greater force than gravity and inertia; Vega ( 2003 ) discovered that the tendency of unstable tones to move exceeded the tendency of stable tones to stand; Hubbard and Ruppel ( 2013 ) show how gravity affects inertia.…”

Section: The Cognitive Science Framework Of Study Of Tonal Organizatimentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of tonal organization in music mirrors symbolic representation of perceptual reality. Part-1: Prehistoric

Nikolsky¹

2015

Front. Psychol.

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This paper reveals the way in which musical pitch works as a peculiar form of cognition that reflects upon the organization of the surrounding world as perceived by majority of music users within a socio-cultural formation. The evidence from music theory, ethnography, archeology, organology, anthropology, psychoacoustics, and evolutionary biology is plotted against experimental evidence. Much of the methodology for this investigation comes from studies conducted within the territory of the former USSR. To date, this methodology has remained solely confined to Russian speaking scholars. A brief overview of pitch-set theory demonstrates the need to distinguish between vertical and horizontal harmony, laying out the framework for virtual music space that operates according to the perceptual laws of tonal gravity. Brought to life by bifurcation of music and speech, tonal gravity passed through eleven discrete stages of development until the onset of tonality in the seventeenth century. Each stage presents its own method of integration of separate musical tones into an auditory-cognitive unity. The theory of “melodic intonation” is set forth as a counterpart to harmonic theory of chords. Notions of tonality, modality, key, diatonicity, chromaticism, alteration, and modulation are defined in terms of their perception, and categorized according to the way in which they have developed historically. Tonal organization in music, and perspective organization in fine arts are explained as products of the same underlying mental process. Music seems to act as a unique medium of symbolic representation of reality through the concept of pitch. Tonal organization of pitch reflects the culture of thinking, adopted as a standard within a community of music users. Tonal organization might be a naturally formed system of optimizing individual perception of reality within a social group and its immediate environment, setting conventional standards of intellectual and emotional intelligence.

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“…The term "attraction" refers to the intuition that melodic or voice-leading pitches tend toward other pitches in greater or lesser degrees. Bharucha (1984) refers to melodic anchoring; Larson (2004;Larson & VanHandel, 2005) speaks of musical forces; Margulis (2005), Meyer (1956), and Narmour (1990) couch attraction in terms of melodic expectation or implication. Attraction can also be seen as a kind of tension: the more attracted a pitch is to another pitch, such as the leading tone to the tonic, the more the listener experiences the tension of anticipation.…”

Section: Modeling Tonal Tensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling Tonal Tension

2007

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THIS STUDY PRESENTS AND TESTS a theory of tonal tension (Lerdahl, 2001). The model has four components: prolongational structure, a pitch-space model, a surfacetension model, and an attraction model. These components combine to predict the rise and fall in tension in the course of listening to a tonal passage or piece. We first apply the theory to predict tension patterns in Classical diatonic music and then extend the theory to chromatic tonal music. In the experimental tasks, listeners record their experience of tension for the excerpts. Comparisons between predictions and data point to alternative analyses within the constraints of the theory. We conclude with a discussion of the underlying perceptual and cognitive principles engaged by the theory's components.

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Measuring Musical Forces

Cited by 28 publications

References 18 publications

What does music express? Basic emotions and beyond

What does music express? Basic emotions and beyond

Evolution of tonal organization in music mirrors symbolic representation of perceptual reality. Part-1: Prehistoric

Modeling Tonal Tension

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