| Absolute Pitch
The ability to identify and name a specific pitch in the absence of any reference pitch and independently from any other
attribute of the sound (i.e. timbre). (Implicit process believed to develop during the concrete
operations stage of a child's development).
Relative Pitch: The ability to identify a specific pitch based
on its distance (interval) from a reference pitch. (Explicit process).
Behaviorism
An approach to psychology that understands the human
organism as a machine, breaking behavior down to Stimulus-Response chains (SR chains). Responses are related isomorphicaly to stimuli through
instinct (i.e. tissue needs) and Classical (Pavlov) or Operant (Skinner) Conditioning.
(Neo) Behaviorism
An approach to psychology that explains behavior in
terms of Stimulus-Organism-Response chains (SOR chains). Responses are not related isomorphicaly to stimuli
although the same stimulus-organism pair is expected to elicit the same response. Organism
represents perception and is itself represented by some sort of function of variable
complexity and flexibility (i.e. Hull)
(Classical) Conditioning
Arbitrary association between a (conditioned) stimulus and a response
to another (unconditioned) stimulus, resulting from temporal contiguity between the two stimuli (Pavlov).
(Operant) Conditioning
Adaptation of a behavior (operant behavior) that is associated, through
temporal contiguity, with positive results (Skinner).
Cognitivism
Cognitivism (developed as a reaction to behaviorism) argues that the
stimulus-response view is too simple to explain behaviors such as communication and
language. Cognitivism studies the mental processes 'underlying' human behavior rather than
the stimuli that 'cause' them.
Chromaesthesia
The ability to see specific
colors when specific pitches are heard. Although not all people with chromaesthesia
associate the same colors with the same pitches, they are all internally consistent.
Chromaesthesia is a special case of Synesthesia: Perceptual,
cross-modal connection of the senses.
Consonant melody
A melody with melodic (pitch) and temporal (rhythmic) contours that
share the same clock.
D.T.P.O.T.
(Darling they're playing
our tune). Term introduced by Davis as an example of referentialism in music. What makes
the tune ours is a type of knowing that can be best understood in terms of classical
conditioning.
Deutsch's crossing scales
An example of the proximity principle overriding the good continuation or common
direction principle (Gestalt.) This implicit rule groups together notes that are close in
pitch even in the presence of conflicting cues (different direction/melodic motion,
different spatial orientation, or both.)
Dowling's melodic contour theory
At first hearing melodies are not coded as individual pitch chromas.
Points of change in the direction of the melodic contour constitute accents (salient
points). It is the pattern of accents that is coded, resulting in a melody being
remembered in terms of the pitch motion implied by the pitch and rhythmic
contours.
Embodied meaning
Meaning arising out of music as temporally organized sound and silence. Syntactical meaning.
Expressionism.
Entropic systems
Complex,
non-periodic/random, chaotic systems. (high entropy: high complexity, low order)
Expectations
Predictions based on
previous knowledge. There are 3 types:
a) Expectations based on cultural or other
associations that are often arbitrary in nature.
b) Expectations based on explicit formal musical knowledge: rhythmic and
melodic contours as general stylistic features (typical rhythmic patterns or
melodic lines) or as specific features established during the unfolding of a piece of
music in time.
c) Expectations based on implicit knowledge of the structural
organization of music in time (i.e. gestalt principles of organization). Implicit rules
allow for prediction based on the fact that, in an organized system, not all events are
equally likely.
Expressionism
Term referring to music's embodied meaning:
music's temporal organization of sound and silence. Patterns of tension and release within
music's unfolding in time.
Figure-Ground effect
In perception, it is often the case that more than one principles are
operating simultaneously, with decisions based on multiple cues and/or selective
attention. What is therefore considered as foreground or background in a given context
depends on directed attention.
Fission/Coherence
Examples of the proximity
principle in music. Rapid alterations between sequential pitches (a trill) can result in
the sequence splitting apart (fission) if the musical interval is larger than a minor third (approx.),
so that it is grouped according to frequency proximity. When the interval is smaller or
the alteration slower the sequence is perceived as a unit (coherence). In
general, the slower the trill, the larger the frequency difference must be for fission to
occur.
Formalism
Term referring to explicit knowledge of
musical (notational) structure and its formal (spatial - temporal) resemblance with
structures from other frames of reference. [i.e. formal structure of a musical piece and
its relationship to established musical or other formal structures.]
Gestalt Theory
Gestalt is the German word for
"form" and,
as it applied in gestalt psychology, it means "unified whole" or
"configuration". The essential points of gestalt are a) the idea of a good
figure, and b) the belief that in perception the whole is greater than the sum of its
parts. Gestalt theory postulates laws that are best understood as rules of
prediction. Rather
than concentrating on stimuli, gestalt theory concentrates on the implicit rules that help
us make sense of stimuli and on the processes that bring those rules about.
Gestalt Principles (rules/laws)
1) Proximity: Items placed in close (spatial) proximity tend to be grouped
together as a unit. (frequency proximity in music).
2) Similarity: Similar items tend to be grouped together as a unit. (timbral
similarity in music).
3) Good continuation: In perception we tend to continue contours whenever the elements
of a pattern establish an implied direction. (melodic motion/contour in music)
4) Closure: In perception we tend to enclose a space by completing a contour and
ignoring gaps in a figure. (tonal resolution in music)
5) Pragnanz (good figure): A stimulus will be organized into as good a figure as possible.
Here, good means symmetrical, simple, regular, but most importantly (for our class)
familiar. (established forms in music, or patterning based on the other gestalt
principles)
Index
Related to referentialism. It denotes an
arbitrary association between signifier and signified (between a symbol and its referent).
Examples include national anthems, the idea of leitmotif or idee fixe in
the manner of Berlioz or Wagner, etc. The key aspect of indexes is that the connection
between the music and the external visual concept or general idea is entirely arbitrary, a
matter of learned association.
Icon
Partly referential. It denotes a
connection across different frames of reference suggested by common patterns or forms. In
the case of music, sound patterns/forms (in terms of pitch, dynamics, tempo, timbre, etc.)
can suggest connections to iconic features in other frames of reference. Unlike index, the
connection is not arbitrary but is based on some form of resemblance in terms of form,
shape, pattern, motion, transferred from one domain to another.
Difference
between Icon and Syntax
Matching accents: Syntax;
Matching contours: Icon.
Iconic features are also called
physiognomic features.
According to S. Langer's theory of emotion, music has physiognomic emotional qualities. In
other words, music's patterns of tension and release (: signifier) suggest
emotional patterns of tension and release (: signified). There are 3 basic iconic
archetypes: a) rising pattern, b) falling pattern, c) arch.
Inflection
A point in a melody where there is a change in the pitch direction ('pitch
contour inflection'), or a change in the pattern of sound/silence duration ('rhythmic
contour inflection'). Inflections outline contrasts.
Information
Anything that reduces
uncertainty and
increases predictive power.
Melodic contour (or pitch contour)
The pattern of pitch-direction-changes (contrasts) outlined by successive notes in a melody. The pitch
can either go up: '+', go down: '-', or remain the same: '='. Two melodies have the same pitch contour if they have the same sequence of
up and down intervals (: same contour inflections), even if the interval sizes differ.
Melodic contour clock
Periodicity of a melodic contour.
Melody
Perceptually it can be
thought of as the superimposition (layering) of temporal (rhythmic) and pitch (melodic)
contours.
Meyer's theory of emotion in music
Affect (emotion felt) is aroused when an expectation (a tendency to
respond) activated by musical organization is temporarily inhibited or permanently
blocked. Adopted from Dewey's conflict theory of emotion.
Miller & Selfridge
The study by Miller and
Selfridge demonstrates that when we break a whole down to a chain of order 0
(:series of unrelated and isolated bounded units) we destroy the level of meaning that is
based on syntax (:relationship between units that creates a larger, single, bounded
event).
Monophony / Homophony / Polyphony
Classification of music based on how many melodic lines are performed
simultaneously during a musical piece, and on their contour relationships
a) Monophonic pieces: Pieces that have a single melodic line.
a) Homophonic pieces: Pieces with more than one lines that share the same rhythmic and
melodic contours.
a) Polyphonic pieces: Pieces with more than one lines that have different rhythmic and/or
melodic contours.
Piaget's Genetic Epistemology
(Epistemology: Theory of
learning/knowing). According to Piaget, the human mind can be understood metaphorically as
a 'muscle' that develops through 'exercise' (exposure to the
environment). This development is
Epigenetic (: it entails gradually unfolding
capabilities, just like the gradually increasing specificity of cellular division).
Redundant systems
Simple systems that are
highly periodic.
Referentialism
Term referring to arbitrary association
between musical features and meaning/emotion, established through temporal contiguity
and/or reinforcement. (i.e. any national anthem and the relevant nationality; Davis'
notion of D.T.P.O.T.; major/minor tonalities and happy/sad connotations.) When something simply points to something else (a referent) by arbitrary
association, its relationship to the referent is also called indexical.
Therefore, referentialism outlines indexical relationships.
Semantic differential
A technique that quantifies meaning and emotion in terms of responses
of listeners on scales outlined by pairs of polar adjectives. (i.e. good-bad).
Stages of epigenetic development
a) Sensory-motor: 0-2yrs. At that stage of a child's development, the
world exists only to the extend that it can be sensed. All experience and thought is
directly linked to sensory-motor capacities.
b) Concrete operations: 2-7yrs. At that stage children can deal with
objects in their absence. Both, the sensory-motor and the concrete operations stages, are
characterized by automatic acquisition of information from the environment, and the years ~0 to 7 are
often referred to as the period when the automatic
acquisition window of language is open.
c) Formal operations: At that stage abstract thought processes become
possible. Language learning moves to the explicit level and ideation can take the place of
physical reality.
Syntax
Level of musical meaning related to
Meyer's expressionism.
It denotes meaning that arises out of our efforts to temporally organize a series of
events into a coherent whole by identifying boundaries, categories, structures. Signifier
and signified can be seen as one and the same thing since the signifier does not have an
external referent but points to itself (or better, to its organization in time). In
audio/visual composites, the pure superposition of musical/visual accent structures (as
found in some animation, dance sequences etc. where we essentially have to deal with
relationships of contrast patterns in the visual and musical domains) is the best
expression of syntactical meaning. The accents do not suggest forms, shapes or motion as
in icon, nor are arbitrary associations as in index. Syntactical meanings arise from pure
juxtapositions in time-ordered elements.
Temporal contour (or rhythmic
contour)
The pattern of duration of sound and silence (i.e.: notes and rests. A
sound event can become longer: '+', shorter: '-', or remain the same: '=' ). In other
words, the relationship between rhythm and beat that creates patterns of
contrast and determines accent points in a melody.
Two melodies have the same rhythmic contour if they
have the same sequence of duration changes (: same rhythmic contour inflections), even if
the actual duration differ.
(Temporal) Rhythmic contour clock
Periodicity of a rhythmic contour.
Wundt curve
A graph by Wundt
postulating a relationship between complexity and preference. Highly simple or highly
complex systems result in low preference. Preference reaches its highest for an optimal
degree of complexity that is, on average, moderate.
Short Answer Questions
1) Discuss melody in terms
of melodic contours (clocks) and rhythmic contours (clocks).
2) Outline the Gestalt principles
of perception with musical examples.
3) Outline the basic principles of
behaviorism, neo-behaviorism and cognitivism.
4) Discuss the Wundt curve.
5)
Discuss the Lipscomb & Kendall study on film music (i.e. interchange of the musical
background in 5 scenes; model of musical communication.)
6)
Discuss the following major contributions to music, meaning, and emotion: Susanne
Langer, Leonard Meyer, Charles Peirce, and Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum.
..........
Summary of the main points presented in the class
To summarize,
the class has approached music as follows:
The physical properties of sound are important but constitute only one of the aspects
involved in the making, communication, and appreciation of music. Higher level cognitive
operations interpret physical stimuli based on physiology, formal training, and more
importantly, experience, giving rise to schemata. Cognitive schemata have been presented
as being at the basis of the interaction between implicit and explicit rules/knowledge, an
interaction implied and assumed by the Gestalt theory as applied to music. Gestalt laws
were approached as principles/rules for prediction rather than laws of behavior.
Information theory was introduced as one link between predictability / uncertainty
(redundancy / randomness; periodicity / chaos) and preference or interest. Periodicity -
predictability gives rise to expectations. Works of art play with those expectations by
temporarily inhibiting them, blocking them, or, more importantly, gradually changing them,
with this inhibition/blocking/change being at the very root of our intellectual and
affective response to art's embodied meaning (i.e. Dewey's conflict theory of emotion as
applied to music by Meyer.) Music, with its powerful a-referential potential, occupies a
special place in art's games with expectations. It can shape, rather than simply mirror
expectations and, in terms of its embodied meaning (temporal organization of sound and
silence - patterns of tension and release), the expectations it mirrors/shapes are related
to our experience of time and our affective state or mood. |
