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From Tone to Melody to Music: Some Directions for a Theory of Musical Cognition
Author(s): Lola Cuddy
Source: Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, No. 71 (Summer, 1982), pp. 15-
29
Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Council for Research in Music
Education
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40317728
Accessed: 19-12-2015 11:41 UTC
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75
article
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16 MusicalCognition
and Identification
on theDiscrimination
Experiments of Tones
Pitchdiscrimination
The method of constantstimulifor pitch discrimination in-
volves the presentationof a standardtone followedby a com-
parisontonethatmaybe thesame, higherthan,or lowerthanthe
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Lola Cuddy 17
Pitchscaling
A scale of linearpitchheight,the mei scale, was developed
through psychophysical scalingtechniques byS. S. Stevens(e.g.,
Stevens& Volkman,1940).The meiscaledescribes pitchextent;
twopairsoftonesseparated bythesamenumber ofmelsaresaid
to be separatedbythesamepitchdistance.The classicmeiscale
doesnotpreserve constancy offrequency ratio,however, andwith
themeiscale,harmonic musicis impossible (Harris,1969).Does
thismeanthattheharmonic system, andthediatonicscale,areun-
natural,orat anyrate,lessnaturalthanthemeiscale?Underwhat
conditions can we judgetheintervals of theharmonic systemas
opposed to themei system?Why is itso difficult
to name melodic
intervals without
correctly considerable musicaltraining?
Pitchidentification
Classicstudiesto measurethechannelcapacityfortheabsolute
judgment of pitchhaveshownthattheabilityto name(identify)
individual tonesis severelylimited(Pollack,1952).The average
listenercando nobetter thanidentifythreeorfourtonescorrectly;
witha greater number oftones,thelistenerbecomesconfused. An
immediate musicalconcernis thattheincidence of absolutepitch
clearlyrunscontrary to the psychoacousticfinding.But apart
fromabsolutepitch,can musicians improve theirpitchjudgment
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18 MusicalCognition
Pitchmemory
Although we are a longwayfroma comprehensive accountof
howpitchis retained inmemory, wehavea greatdealofevidence
thatmemory forthepitchof a tonedeteriorates overtimepar-
inthepresence
ticularly ofothertones(e.g.,Deutsch,1970,1972).
Deutsch'sresultsshowquiteconclusivelythatmemory forpitchis
extremelypoor if the for
tones thetestareselected randomly from
the chromaticscale. How then do we remember tunesand
melodies? Does ithavesomethingto do withtheunderlyingstruc-
tureof tonalmusic?WouldDeutsch'sresults holdtrueifthetest
toneswereselectedfromthediatonicscale? Fromthediatonic
scale withsequentialrulesbuiltin? Is musicaltrainingcritical
here?
Experiments to considermusicalquestions:
therole of diatonicismand tonality
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Lola Cuddy 19
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20 Musical Cognition
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Lola Cuddy 21
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22 Musical Cognition
of tonesequencesaccordingto harmonic
Figures2: A crossclassification
structure,contourand excursion(fromCuddy, Cohen, and
Mewhort,,1981).
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Lola Cuddy 23
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24 MusicalCognition
Some futuredirections
The researchfindingspointdirectionsbothforthespecificstudy
of pitchperceptionand forthegeneralstudyof musicalcognition.
In pitchperception,researchhas tracedthe differencesbetween
and the relationsbetweenthe perceptionof singletones and the
structural
perceptionof tonesequences.In doingso, different sys-
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Lola Cuddy 25
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26 Musical Cognition
regularharmonicprogressions.Harmonicprogressions in thetone
patternprovide stable information about a tonal structure. In-
dividualpitchesare coded and are providedfunctionalvaluesthat
representthe positionwithrespectto the tonic (e.g., dominant,
mediant,etc.). Further,thesefunctionalvalues existin a hierar-
chical arraywithnotesof the tonicchordtakingprecedenceover
otherdiatonicnotes, whichthemselvestake precedenceover ac-
cidentals(nondiatonic)notes (Krumhansl,1979). This process,
however,is notstaticbutis in a continuing stateof development as
thesequenceunfoldsin time.We havepreviously characterizedthe
processas a searchforinvariance(stability)of a tonal structure in
the presenceof changingacoustic events (Cuddy & Lyons, in
press). The structureof a novel melodyis to be discoveredin a
mannerlikesolvinga puzzle. A hypothesis is setup about thetonic
or centralreference pointand each note is subsequentlytestedor
examinedto determinewhetheror not it fitsthe hypothesis.If it
does, it is givena functionalvalue withinthe structure;if it does
not, the hypothesismust be rejected and a new hypothesis
adopted. A reasonableset of workingassumptions,and one that
appears to be supportedby experimental evidence,is to assume
thatthe firstnote is the tonic,to assumesubsequentnotesare an
embellishment of thetonicchord,and to assumemovementaway
fromthetonicwillbe to a closelyrelatedkey(whichitselfcan be
consideredan embellishment of the tonic). These are the cues or
clues to a sourceof invarianceunderlying the movingpattern.
But whatif such regularities do not existin the pattern?What
happensto thefunctionalcode fora notethatdoesn'tquitefitthe
pattern,such as occursin our modulatingsequences?Thereare a
numberof possibilities:one is thatthecodingsystemis simplynot
applied; only a roughapproximationof pitchheightis retained.
Anotheris thatthenoteis providedwithmultiplecodes indicating
thealternative hypothesesabout structure thatmustnow be enter-
tained.The recognition data tendto favorthelatteralternative. A
note in theregionof modulationwas moreeasilyconfusedwitha
neighboringdiatonic note than witha neighboringnondiatonic
note.For thesequenceswe have studieditcould be arguedthatthe
neighboring diatonicnotessharesome membersof theirmultiple
codes, thenondiatonicdo notand are therefore moredistinctively
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Lola Cuddy 27
A further
different. implicationof thenotionof multiplecodingis
thata recognitionmistakemayin factnotbe an errorof memory.
It mayreflecttherichnessor complexity
of thecognitivestructures
thatare beingevaluatedat thattime.
Musical Cognition
The theoreticalimplicationsof experimental findingson single
notes and tone sequenceswithmelody-likepropertieshave been
considered.In summary,thefindings emphasizethepsychological
realityof tonalsystems and theroleof tonalsystemsin settingup a
cognitivestructurethatdescribesthe invariances(or lawfulrela-
tions) among constantlychangingperceptualevents.Can we go
further,however,and speculateas to how thesenotionsmightap-
ply to the perceptionand cognitionof music?
Listeningto music involves the detectionof relations and
associations.It seemsreasonableto suppose thatthe regularities
and functions ascribedto pitchperceptionapplyto largerfieldsof
experience.Veryobviouslyand veryclearlyas one questionthat
must be addressedis the question of how otherdimensionsin-
fluenceor interactwiththe apprehensionof a melodicline. One
issue we are considering,forexample,is the extentto whichthe
provisionof harmonyin lowervoices would help resolvethe am-
biguitiesof themodulatingsequences.Anotheris to followup the
preliminary findingthatitis easierto detectharmonicprogressions
in melodiclinesif the line has a smoothcontourthan if it has a
complex patternof ups and downs. In the last instance,no
responseto contouror contourchangeswas requiredin theexperi-
ment,yettheoverallshape did influencetheresponseto harmonic
structure.The impressionis one of many aspects working
simultaneously yetorganizedin a regularlawfulfashion.Further,
and withregardto musicthisis purespeculationat thispoint,we
can organize dimensionsat differentlevels of attentionin an
overallhierarchy.2
The tonalansweris a particularinstanceof a subtletypeof flexi-
ble structuring.Is it or is it nottheoriginalmelody?The construc-
tionof thepatternsetsup thepotentialforambiguity, whilethein-
tervalsare changedand the melodyis therefore different,certain
otheraspectsof the melody,its contourand its keymembership,
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28 MusicalCognition
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Lola Cuddy 29
Acknowledgements
The researchwas supportedbygrantsfromtheNaturalScienceand Engineer-
ing ResearchCouncil of Canada and theAdvisoryResearchCouncil of Queen's
University.I thankM. G. Wiebe forvaluable discussions.
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