The Relative Perceptual Salience of Tn and TnI

Abstract

Trained musicians rated the similarity of 24 instances of set classes [0137/0467] and [0157/0267] at three different transposition levels and two different spacing types. Stringent criteria for retention of participants, to ensure greater reliability and predictive power, resulted in a final count of 30 participants. Participants' data were analyzed by using multidimensional scaling and additive tree methods. A three-dimensional multidimensional scaling solution showed clear effects for spacing type and transposition level (Tn). Additive tree analysis showed no grouping according to set-class type, but rather according to pitch height of inner voices or ordered location of semitones. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that even musicians with significant experience of atonal music do not use the equivalence relation TnI in making similarity judgments.

Making an Impression

“…It should also compare ratings of unknown works with a specialized cohort familiar with its structure, language, and style, either through prior experience or an experimental intervention. A growing body of research has demonstrated the ability of listeners to remember and perceive errors in non-tonal contexts when first given an accurate reference (e.g., Dienes & Longuet-Higgins, 2004;Kuusi, 2015;Ockelford & Sergeant, 2013;Samplaski, 2004).…”

Subset-Class Relation, Common Pitches, and Common Interval Structure Guiding Estimations of Similarity

“…Previous studies have also shown that chordal characteristics are more important than abstract properties for estimations (Bruner 1984;Gibson, 1988Gibson, , 1993Samplaski, 2000). In certain studies however, abstract concepts were found to play a key role in estimations (Kuusi, 2001(Kuusi, , 2005a(Kuusi, , 2005bSamplaski, 2004;Williamson & Mavromatis, 1999).…”

“…The most important of these is the shared pitch content of the two chords; other factors being the degree of consonance, chord span, associations with familiar (tonal) chords, shared pitch-class content, and the actual chordal setting (see Bruner, 1984;Gibson, 1988Gibson, , 1993Kuusi, 2001Kuusi, , 2005aKuusi, , 2005bSamplaski, 2000Samplaski, , 2004Williamson & Mavromatis, 1999). In certain studies a connection has been found between the perception of chords and certain pitch-class set-theoretical abstract concepts such as set-class (Kuusi, 2001(Kuusi, , 2005a(Kuusi, , 2005bSamplaski, 2004;Williamson & Mavromatis, 1999), total interval-class content, and total subset-class content (Kuusi, 2001). At the time of this writing however, no studies of the subset-class relation have been published.…”

Ambiguity

“…It wasn't until thirty years after Browne's review that anyone thought to test this empirically. Art Samplaski (2004) asked a simple, commonsensical question: "If T /I-relatedness is a reasonable means of categorizing sonorities, do trained listeners actually hear these relationships?" (546).…”