Pitch

Abstract

pitch-related information in tonality induction. In both experiments, participants were asked to: 1) identify (sing) the tonic of either an original sequence of tones or a distorted version in which pitch class distribution was preserved but pitch class ordering, pitch contour, and/or pitch proximity were altered; and 2) rate how confident they were in the tonic they identified. In Experiment 2, the sequences were presented with an isochronous rhythm, in order to eliminate the potential confounding effects of time-related information. The results of both experiments showed that participants' ability to identify the tonic of the sequences, as well as their confidence in the tonic they identified, decreased

Listeners perceive complex pitch-temporal structure in melodies

“…Although distributional statistics account for a remarkably large portion of the variation in key finding (Schmuckler & Tomovski, 2005), they are not the only factor (Temperley & Marvin, 2008). Indeed, recent research suggests that scattering pitches (as done here by randomizing pitch contour) degrades the tonal strength of melodies (Anta, 2015). If the sequences of the current experiment did not successfully establish a tonal center, the metric placement of pitch classes would be irrelevant (i.e., there can be no tonal-metric hierarchy without a tonal hierarchy).…”

“…Accordingly, in Experiment 1 the alignment of the tonal and metric hierarchies had no effect on ratings because the prevalence of nondiatonic pitches prevented the activation of the tonal hierarchy. Comparing Experiments 1 and 2 also reveals that although scrambling pitch contour may interfere with establishing a tonal percept (Anta, 2015), it does not prevent it. Both experiments had a scrambled pitch contour, and yet one succeeded in demonstrating effects of the tonal-metric hierarchy whereas the other did not.…”

“…For instance, Matsunaga and Abe (2005) found that changing the order of a pitch sequence altered which note listeners chose as the tonic (the central note of the musical key). Similarly, Anta (2015) found that identifying the tonic of a sequence was more difficult when the contour was distorted. Additionally, although Prince (2014a) observed largely independent effects of tonality, meter, contour, and rhythm, there were interactions between tonality and contour, such that changing the tonality of a melody only decreased its perceived similarity when the contour was kept the same.…”