The present study tested quantified predictors based on the bottom-up principles of Narmour's (1990) implication-realization model of melodic expectancy against continuity ratings collected for a tone that followed a two-tone melodic beginning. Twenty-four subjects (12 musically trained, 12 untrained) were presented with each of eight melodic intervals-two successive tones which they were asked to consider as the beginning of a melody. On each trial, a melodic interval was followed by a third tone, one ofthe 25 chromatic notes within the range one octave below to one octave above the second tone of the interval. The subjects were asked to rate how well the third tone continued the melody. A series of regression analyses was performed on the continuation ratings, and a final model to account for the variance in the ratings is proposed. Support was found for three of Narmour's principles and a modified version of a fourth. Support was also found for predictor variables based on the pitch organization of tonal harmonic music. No significant differences between the levels of musical training were encountered.451
The present research addresses whether music training acts as a mediator of the recall of spoken and sung lyrics and whether presentation rate is the essential variable, rather than the inclusion of melody. In Experiment 1, 78 undergraduates, half with music training and half without, heard spoken or sung lyrics. Recall for sung lyrics was superior to that for spoken lyrics for both groups. In Experiments 2 and 3, presentation rate was manipulated so that the durations of the spoken and the sung materials were equal. Withpresentation rate equated, there was no advantage for sung over spoken lyrics. In all the experiments, those participants with music training outperformed those without training in all the conditions. The results suggest that music training leads to enhanced memory for verbal material. Previous findings of melody's aiding text recall may be attributed to presentation rate.
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.
Recognition of a transposed sequence of three tones was tested under four conditions of tone context. The melodic sequence was presented either without context or embedded in one of three types of context that varied according to the number of musical rules applied in their derivation. The recognition test (two-alternative forced choice) involved detection of a shift of one semit of one tone of the sequence, the shift being to a tone either within or without the musical key of the sequence. In addition, the test sequences were transposed either to the tritone or to the dominant of the tonic of the original sequence. Results, replicated for both piano and sine-tone stimuli, indicated significant effects of contextual conditions, key of error, and key of transposition. Ease of recognition in transposition is related to the identification and application of rules defining structures among tones and among tone sets, and to the use of rules for detecting structural violations.
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