Perception of structure in short melodic sequences.

Abstract

Three experiments studied the perception of tone sequences having various degrees of musical structure. Ratings of perceived structure and ease of recognition in transposition were both influenced by harmonic progression (as defined by music theory), the contour (directional changes in pitch), and the excursion or repetition pattern within the sequence. The relation between the original and transposed sequence also affected ease of recognition in accordance with the number of tones shared between the two sequences. The results are described in terms of the abstraction and analysis of levels of pitch relations, an analysis conducted even by musically untrained listeners. The conceptual framework emphasizes the application of musical rules as an illustration of rules governing auditory sequences in general.

Expectancy effects in memory for melodies.

“…As already discussed, previous research has demonstrated that musical tonality has a significant impact on memory, with tonal melodies better remembered than atonal melodies (Cuddy et al, 1981;Cuddy et al,, 1979;Frances, 1988). Although the melodies employed in this experiment were all tonal, the randomization procedure creating the different variants of each melody did produce differences between the variants in the total durations of the notes of these melodies.…”

“…For example, research has shown that memory for tonal melodies is better than memory for atonal melodies (Cuddy, Cohen, & Mewhort, 1981;Cuddy, Cohen, & Miller, 1979;Frances, 1988). .…”

The influence of height and key on the perceptual similarity of transposed melodies

“…With regard to key distance, several studies reported that transpositions to near keys (keys at nearby positions on the circle of fifths) are perceived as more similar to the original melody than are far-key transpositions (e.g., Cuddy, Cohen, & Mewhort, 1981;Cuddy, Cohen, & Miller, 1979;Takeuchi & Hulse, 1992;Trainor & Trehub, 1993). In addition, part of the results obtained in research Copyright 1996 Psychonomic Society, Inc. On the outside of the circle, key distance relative to the key of C major is presented.…”

“…One might assume logically that key distance effects would depend on how strongly a melody actually induces a key in the listener. Several characteristics in melodic sequences have been shown to playa role in key induction: (1) the presence of the tones of a diatonic scale (Bartlett & Dowling, 1980;Dowling, 1978Dowling, , 1991Krum- hansl, 1990), (2) the presence of rare intervals, such as the tritone (Brown & Butler, 1981;Butler, 1983Butler, , 1989, (3) the order ofthe tones (Bartlett & Dowling, 1980;Bharucha, 1984b;Brown, Butler, & Jones, 1994;Deutsch, 1984), and (4) the underlying harmony (Croonen, 1991;Croonen & Kop, 1989;Cuddy et al, 1981). A second factor is related to the possibility that a transposition may be perceived as a shift on the scale of the original melody, which will be referred to as a tonal transposition.…”

“…The second characteristic was added to enhance key induction, as discussed in the introduction. The melody used can be conceived of as a sequence of broken chords (I-II-V-I) and is based on the characteristics of strong tonal melodies, as described by Cuddy et al (1981).…”