2006 Volume 10. Number 1.
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/18630
2024-03-29T06:21:30ZBook reviews
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/19331
Book reviews
Various
2009-01-11T18:41:28ZImpact of melodic organization on perceived structure and emotional expression in music
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/19330
Impact of melodic organization on perceived structure and emotional expression in music
Lindström, Erik
The traditional view of tonality has been criticized for being static in neglecting the impact of other musical features such as melody, rhythm and loudness on tonality. The purpose of this paper was to investigate a dynamic view of melodic organization which may have implications for listeners' perception of both structure and emotional expression. It was hypothesized that unstable/tense notes in the melody promote perception of instability and anger, stable/relaxed notes promote perception of stability and tenderness, notes important for major mode promote perception of happiness whereas notes important for minor mode promote perception of sadness. If these notes are emphasized and activated by means of accent structure they will affect listeners' judgements in rating scales. In order to achieve variation in accent structures, 72 computer-generated versions of the well-known tune Frère Jacques were produced by systematic manipulations of tonal progression, rhythm, melodic contour, and melodic direction. Melodies were assessed by listeners on scales "stable - unstable", "simple - complex", "relaxed - tense", "happy - sad", "tender - angry", and "expressionless - expressive". ANOVA and inspection of maximum contrasts in ratings showed evidence for the dynamic impact (stress) of accent structures on certain notes, according to the predictions. Further evidence was found in stepwise multiple regression analyses, where predictor variables called "Non Triad" and "Triad", representing accents on tense (non triadic) and relaxed (triadic) notes, significantly entered the models usually next after mode, harmony and rhythm.
2009-01-11T18:40:26ZConstructions of jazz: how jazz musicians present their collaborative musical practice
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/19329
Constructions of jazz: how jazz musicians present their collaborative musical practice
MacDonald, Raymond A. R.; Wilson, Graeme B.
The collaborative processes of jazz improvising are of considerable academic interest as a unique form of creativity. While recent work highlights the utility of interviewing practitioners with the aim of gaining an authoritative view, there is still a need for research to apprehend the gamut of what can be constituted as "jazz". A previous study has shown how understandings of the music arising in focus group interviews with jazz improvisers are shaped by the need to establish identities (MacDonald and Wilson, 2005; Wilson and MacDonald, 2005). This paper reports on a further series of semi-structured individual interviews with 10 (6 male and 4 female) professional UK jazz musicians on the theme of jazz and musical identity. Specifically, the interviews investigated the social and psychological implications of the collaborative nature of this music. Discursive analysis of the interview transcripts shows how understandings of the music were constructed in relation to identity positions for the speaker. Identity as a jazz musician was negotiated with other individual identities; the relationship between gendered identities and identity as a jazz musician is examined as an instance of how conflict between these identities may allow hegemonic influences to operate. These findings are discussed in relation to current debates in identity theory, and implications for music education.
2009-01-11T18:38:49ZCan experts identify "open throat" technique as a perceptual phenomenon?
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/19328
Can experts identify "open throat" technique as a perceptual phenomenon?
Mitchell, Helen F.; Kenny, Dianna T.
Singing pedagogues have identified "open throat" as a widely used pedagogical tool in the singing studio and a critical technique to achieve good classical vocal quality. This study is the first to assess the perceptual validity of open throat. Fifteen expert singing pedagogues assessed 48 messa di voce and 24 song samples with six repeats of six advanced singing students under two conditions: "optimal" (O), representing use of maximal open throat technique and "sub-optimal" (SO), representing reduced open throat. Correctly identified responses were counted by condition (O/SO), by judge and by singer. Data were analyzed using Cohen's Kappa. Hypotheses that correct identification would be greater than chance were confirmed for both messa di voce and the song samples, with thirteen of the fifteen judges correctly identifying 82.7% of song samples as O or SO. Singers' self-ratings attributed their best singing to maximal use of open throat technique. These results indicate that listeners are consistent in making a dichotomous choice in identifying use of a singing technique through auditory-perceptual evaluation. The findings from this study suggest that there is a sound quality associated with the use of open throat technique, which is a perceptual reality to singing pedagogues and singers and that the specific vocal quality in classical singing that it produces can be reliably identified by expert listeners. If singers and expert listeners' of singing accord, focussing future research on specific singing techniques could enhance singing pedagogy.
2009-01-11T18:37:14ZSuppressing reflexive behaviour: Saccadic eye movements in musicians and non-musicians
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/19327
Suppressing reflexive behaviour: Saccadic eye movements in musicians and non-musicians
Gruhn, Wilfried; Litt, Friederike; Scherer, Annette; Schumann, Till; Weiss, Eva Maria; Gebhardt, Christine
Musicians who practice from notation and sight read every day can be said to perform a special eye training and could therefore possibly be distinguished from non-musicians. If a difference between both groups could be demonstrated it would be interesting to know whether this difference remains stable over the entire life span. In a cross-sectional study we tested 115 participants of three age groups (36 pupils M= 11.5 years, 41 university students M= 23.1 years, 38 adults M= 55.6 years) and varying degrees of musical training (57 were musicians) with respect to their saccadic eye movements (overlap and anti gap paradigm). An infra-red beam helmet (Express Eye) was used to collect data for the reaction time of pro and anti saccades, mean distribution, percentage of express saccades, correction time, and percentage of directional errors. Data were analyzed separately for each age group and served as factors for fixation and voluntary control. Data from measures of general intelligence (Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices), music aptitude (Gordon's Advanced Measures of Music Audiation), handedness, and sight reading were used as covariates. The data exhibit an advantage for musicians regarding those parameters that involve involuntary control and fixation. But in general there is no evidence to show that music aptitude and saccadic behavior interact.
2009-01-11T18:31:42ZZipf's law and the creation of musical context
https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/19326
Zipf's law and the creation of musical context
Zanette, Damián H.
This article discusses the extension of the notion of context from linguistics to the domain of music. In language, the statistical regularity known as Zipf s law which concerns the frequency of usage of different words has been quantitatively related to the process of text generation. The connection is established by Simon s model, on the basis of a few assumptions regarding the accompanying creation of context. This model captures the essential mechanism of repetition of perceptual elements, which underlies the construction of a structured, comprehensible message. Here, it is shown that the statistics of note usage in musical compositions are compatible with the predictions of Simon s model. This result, which gives objective support to the conceptual likeness of context in language and music, is obtained through automatic analysis of the digital versions of several compositions. As a by-product, a quantitative measure of context definiteness is introduced, and used to compare tonal and atonal works.
2009-01-11T18:24:45Z