Musicians and non-musicians show different preference profiles for single chords of varying harmonic complexity

Abstract

The inverted U hypothesis in music predicts that listeners prefer intermediate levels of complexity. However, the shape of the liking response to harmonic complexity and the effect of musicianship remains unclear. Here, we tested whether the relationship between liking and harmonic complexity in single chords shows an inverted U shape and whether this U shape is different for musicians and non-musicians. We recorded these groups’ liking ratings for four levels of harmonic complexity, indexed by their level of acoustic roughness, as well as several measures of inter-individual difference. Results showed that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between harmonic complexity and liking in both musicians and non-musicians, but that the shape of the U is different for the two groups. Non-musicians’ U is more left-skewed, with peak liking for low harmonic complexity, while musicians’ U is more right-skewed, with highest ratings for medium and low complexity. Furthermore, musicians who showed greater liking for medium compared to low complexity chords reported higher levels of active musical engagement and higher levels of openness to experience. This suggests that a combination of practical musical experience and personality is reflected in musicians’ inverted U-shaped preference response to harmonic complexity in chords.

Dopamine dysregulation in Parkinson’s disease flattens the pleasurable urge to move to musical rhythms

“…Contrary to our hypothesis, and in contrast to the pattern of ratings in young healthy adults shown here and elsewhere 8,46 , PD patients and healthy older adults showed a greater preference for low complexity chords. A similar pattern was seen in a recent study wherein non-musicians preferred low complexity chords to medium, high, or octave chords, while musicians preferred medium complexity chords 132 .…”

“…Contrary to our hypothesis, and in contrast to the pattern of ratings in young healthy adults shown here and elsewhere 8,46 , PD patients and healthy older adults showed a greater preference for low complexity chords. A similar pattern was seen in a recent study wherein non-musicians preferred low complexity chords to medium, high, or octave chords, while musicians preferred medium complexity chords 132 . Therefore, as with rhythmic complexity, PD and (lack of) musical training seem to show similar effects on chord preferences, again, possibly driven by predictive processes, albeit at a different temporal scale to metric predictions as the chords were static within each trial.…”

Increased body movement equals better performance? Not always! Musical style determines motion degree perceived as optimal in music performance

“…Whilst non-musicians gave significantly higher ratings to Creston in comparison to Debussy, musicians gave proximal ratings to both, indicating that they can equally appreciate performances of analogous quality levels (here, expert performances) independently of their personal musical preference. Studies have demonstrated that musical training translates into a greater preference towards musical complexity (Matthews et al, 2019 ; North & Hargreaves, 1995 ; Witek et al, 2023 ). Furthermore, experts develop distancing mechanisms that attenuate preliminary emotional reactions in art appreciation (Leder & Schwarz, 2017 ; Leder et al, 2014 ), allowing them to focus on aesthetic qualities related to stylistic and formal aspects (Scherer, 2005 ).…”

Dopamine dysregulation in Parkinson's disease flattens the pleasurable urge to move to musical rhythms

“…Recent work suggests that musicianship is associated with an altered pattern liking responses as a function of harmonic complexity (Matthews et al, 2019; Witek et al, 2023). Specifically, non‐musicians preferred low complexity chords to medium, high or octave chords, while musicians preferred medium complexity chords (Witek et al, 2023). Therefore, as with rhythmic complexity, PD, aging and (lack of) musical training seem to a similar influence on chord preferences.…”

“…Contrary to our hypothesis, and in contrast to the pattern of ratings in young healthy adults shown here and elsewhere (Matthews et al, 2019(Matthews et al, , 2020, PD showed greater pleasure and urge to move for low complexity chords, while healthy older adults showed the same pattern for pleasure and an inverted U for the urge to move. Recent work suggests that musicianship is associated with an altered pattern liking responses as a function of harmonic complexity (Matthews et al, 2019;Witek et al, 2023). Specifically, non-musicians preferred low complexity chords to medium, high or octave chords, while musicians preferred medium complexity chords (Witek et al, 2023).…”