Mode and tempo relative contributions to “happy-sad” judgements in equitone melodies

Gagnon, Lise; Peretz, Isabelle

doi:10.1080/02699930302279

Cited by 186 publications

(206 citation statements)

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“…If we model emotion as a combination of different contributions that include major versus minor tonality and other features investigated by Huron and colleagues (tempo, average pitch, dynamic level, timbre, articulation; cf. Gabrielsson & Lindström, 2010), few music psychologists today would question the psychological reality of the major-happy versus minor-sad association, given the strength and diversity of the empirical evidence (Costa, Fine, & Ricci Bitti, 2004;Gabrielsson, 2009;Gabrielsson & Juslin, 2003;Gagnon & Peretz, 2003;Juslin & Laukka, 2004). That is true in spite of some contradictions in the literature.…”

Section: Historical Origin Of the Major-happy/minor-sad Associationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Major-Minor Tonality, Schenkerian Prolongation, and Emotion: A commentary on Huron and Davis (2012)

Parncutt

2013

EMR

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On average, melodies in minor keys have smaller intervals between successive tones than melodies in major keys-consistent with the emotional difference between major and minor (Huron, 2008). Huron and Davis (2012) additionally showed that a part of this difference is inherent in the structure of major and minor scales, in combination with typical patterns of transition between scale steps: if one takes a typical major melody and lowers scale steps 3 and 6 by a semitone, then the average interval size is optimally reduced. I present an alternative theory of the origin of major and minor scales/keys and their emotional connotations. Huron's (2006) data on scale-step transitions in typical melodies is consistent with Schenker's (1922Schenker's ( , 1935 idea that a piece of tonal music can be interpreted as a prolongation of its tonic triad (mediated by the Ursatz). The emotional difference between major and minor may ultimately and primarily depend on the third of the tonic triad in the psychological background. Major music may tend toward positive valence simply because emotionally positive music is more common than emotionally negative music, and major triads and keys are more common than minor. Minor music may tend toward negative valence simply because scale degrees 3 and 6 sound lower than expected, consistent with emotional cues in speech (Huron, 2008).Submitted 2012 October 20; accepted 12 December 2012. KEYWORDS: major, minor, emotion, Schenker, prolongation WHY are major and minor scales like they are (with a specific ordering of tones and semitones) and not completely different? Why are major keys associated with positive emotional valence (happiness, contentment, serenity, grace, tenderness, elation, joy, victory, majesty…), and minor with negative emotional valence (sadness, anger, fear, tension, solemnity, lament, tragedy…)? For Meyer (1956), "the minor mode is not only associated with intense feeling in general but with the delineation of sadness, suffering and anguish in particular" (p. 227). Why? One would think that music psychologists would have answered these apparently simple questions by now. Evidently we have not, but things are moving in a promising direction. The contribution by Huron and Davis (2012) is a significant step towards a new explanation, and it also has interesting broader implications. In this extended commentary, I will present a new approach that builds upon their work.Consider first the origin of the ordering of tones and semitones in major and minor scales. I addressed that question in Parncutt (2011a). My basic assumption was that any passage of music in a major or minor key may be considered a Schenkerian prolongation of its tonic triad. I will examine this idea in detail below. For the moment, allow me to quickly consider the relationship between tones of the tonic triad and scale degrees in major-minor tonality (MmT).In Parncutt (2011a), I proposed that scale degrees in major and minor keys may be divided into three categories: the tones of the tonic triad, ...

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Section: Historical Origin Of the Major-happy/minor-sad Associationmentioning

confidence: 76%

Major-Minor Tonality, Schenkerian Prolongation, and Emotion: A commentary on Huron and Davis (2012)

Parncutt

2013

EMR

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“…Some of these features are apparently more important than others. For example, tempo and mode are both salient features, but, when contrasted, tempo can overrule the effect of mode to distinguish happy from sad sounding music (Gagnon & Peretz, 2003).The exact influence of musical features on the perception of emotions is, however, not always clear and consistent. In their overview of musical variables and their emotional connotations, Gabrielsson and Lindström (2001) noted that musical features are often associated with many (even contrasting) emotions, and interactions between features are Emotional Ornamentation 4 often found.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Emotional Ornamentation In Performances Of a Handel Sonatamentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotional Ornamentation in Performances of a Handel Sonata

Timmers¹,

Ashley²

2007

Music Perception

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Ornamentation is one aspect of music associated with emotional affect in Baroque music. In an empirical study, the relationship between ornamentation and emotion was investigated by asking a violinist and flutist to ornament three melodies in different ways to express four emotions: happiness, sadness, love, and anger. The performers adapted the type of ornaments to the instructed emotion as well as the characteristics of the ornaments. The flutist specifically varied the duration, timing, and complexity of the ornamentation, while the violinist varied the complexity, density, and sound level of the performances. The ability of the performers to communicate the emotions was tested in a listening experiment.Communication was found to be generally successful, with the exception of the communication of happiness. This success was not due to general consensus about the expression of emotions through ornamentation. Rather the listeners were sensitive to a performer's specific use of ornamentation.Received March 28, 2006, accepted July 10, 2007 Key words: emotion, ornamentation, affects in Baroque music, performance, perception Emotional Ornamentation 3 Emotional Ornamentation in Performances of a Handel SonataThe aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between variations in melodic ornamentation and perceived emotion in the context of modern performances of a Handel sonata. The research aimed to contribute to the understanding of the attribution of emotional qualities to music and the communication of emotion using music. The questions asked were: What musical qualities relate to perceived emotions, and, specifically, what is the role, if any, of ornamentation in the communication of emotion for modern day musicians?These questions are distinct from the question of how listeners come to experience emotions in response to music. Listeners' experience of emotions may be more subjective and socially dependent than their perception of emotion (see for discussions Gabrielsson, 2001Gabrielsson, /2002Scherer, 2004;Scherer & Zentner, 2001).Previous research has shown that listeners are quite consistent in labeling music with an emotional quality, especially where it concerns basic emotions (Gabrielsson & Juslin, 2003). This research has started to distinguish relevant musical features that are responsible for labeling music with a specific emotional category.Perhaps not surprisingly, almost every musical feature, including aspects of the performance, may influence the perception of emotions; this may include harmony, rhythm, melody, tempo, dynamics, timbre, vibrato, and articulation (see e.g., Gabrielsson & Juslin, 1996;Hevner, 1935;Sundberg, Iwarsson, & Hagegård, 1995). Some of these features are apparently more important than others. For example, tempo and mode are both salient features, but, when contrasted, tempo can overrule the effect of mode to distinguish happy from sad sounding music (Gagnon & Peretz, 2003).The exact influence of musical features on the perception of emotions is, howeve...

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“…Future studies should, for instance, attempt to identify specific auditory parameters that correspond to particular taste qualities. For example, research in the field of musicology suggests that the mode (e.g., minor or major) of a scale, a chord, or even a song provides a strong indicator of its emotional valence, with the major mode being associated with positive valence and the minor mode being associated with negative valence (Gagnon & Peretz, 2003;Hevner, 1935). More recently, the argument has been put forward that the differential emotional effect of the minor and major modes may be related to acoustic patterns observable in animal vocalizations and, more particularly, in human speech (Bowling, Gill, Choi, Prinz, & Purves, 2009;Cook, 2007).…”

Section: Identifying Additional Auditory Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crossmodal correspondences between sounds and tastes

2012

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In this article, the rapidly growing body of research that has been published recently on the topic of crossmodal correspondences that involve auditory and gustatory/flavor stimuli is critically reviewed. The evidence demonstrates that people reliably match different tastes/flavors to auditory stimuli varying in both their psychoacoustic (e.g., pitch) and musical (e.g., timbre) properties. In order to stimulate further progress in this relatively young research field, the present article aims at consolidating prior findings concerning specific auditory-gustatory mappings, whereby special attention is given to highlighting (1) any conflicts in the existing experimental evidence and (2) any potential caveats with regard to the most appropriate interpretation of prior studies. Next, potential mechanisms underlying auditory-gustatory crossmodal correspondences are discussed. Finally, a number of potentially fruitful avenues for future research are outlined.

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Mode and tempo relative contributions to “happy-sad” judgements in equitone melodies

Cited by 186 publications

References 33 publications

Major-Minor Tonality, Schenkerian Prolongation, and Emotion: A commentary on Huron and Davis (2012)

Major-Minor Tonality, Schenkerian Prolongation, and Emotion: A commentary on Huron and Davis (2012)

Emotional Ornamentation in Performances of a Handel Sonata

Crossmodal correspondences between sounds and tastes

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