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NICOLA DIBBEN
Universityof Sheffield
265
266 Nicola Dibben
Experiment 1
METHOD
Subjects
Sixteensubjectsparticipatedin the experiment.All werevolunteers,studentsof musicat
degreelevel,and familiarwith atonalmusic(havingstudiedaspectsof earlytwentiethcen-
turymusichistoryand theory).Beforethe experiment,none of the subjectswere familiar
with the pieceof musicused.
Materials
The extractof music used for this experimentwas the thirdof Schoenberg'sSix Little
PianoPieces(op. 19, no. 3, mm. 1-4). This piece was chosen as being an exampleof the
earlyatonalstyle.As such,it not only retainsa phrasestructureand texturequitesimilarto
thatof tonalclassicalmusicbut its ambiguouspitchstructure(neithercompletelytonal nor
atonal)also allows considerationof the relativestrengthand role of stabilityand salience
conditions.The extractwas segmentedinto 19 shorterfragmentsas shown in Figure3, a
processfacilitatedby its fairlyslow tempo and chordaltexture.Eachsuccessivefragment
endedon the next consecutiveevent.The end point of the firstsegmentoccurredat the end
of the firstmeasure,so thatsubjectsheardsomecontextbeforehavingto performthe rating
taskfor the firsttime.Previousresearchsuggeststhatperformanceexpressionprovidescues
to the perceptionof musicalstructure,particularlyin cases where structuralrelationships
betweenmusicaleventsareambiguous(Palmer,1996; Thompson& Cuddy,1997). There-
forefragmentswererecordedfroma computer-generated performancedevoidof expressive
deviationin orderto restrictlisteners'abstractionof musicalstructureto the musicalmate-
rialsas far as possible.
Apparatus
The fragmentsof musicwere encodedon a computer-controlled sequencerby a pianist
playing a DisklavierMIDI piano. The timing deviationsand all dynamic differentiation
were then removedto create "dead-pan"versionsof the fragments,which were then re-
cordedto tape. Subjectswere tested individuallywith fragmentsplayed from tape via a
high-qualityamplifierand speakers.
Procedure
Listenerswerepresentedwith a musicalfragmentand were askedto ratehow complete
the phrasesoundedusinga seven-pointscale (wherea scoreof 1 representsan incomplete
phrase,and a scoreof 7 representscompletion).By presentingthe fragmentwith one addi-
tional event on each successivetrial, a stabilityprofilefor the fragmentwas derivedfrom
subjects'responses.Fragmentswerepresentedin chronologicalorderso that subjectsheard
moreof the fragmenteachtime,but had no previoushearingsof the actualcontinuationsof
eachparticularfragmentbeforemakingtheirratings.An earlierexperimentby Bigandfound
that subjects'judgmentswere influencedby the orderin which successivefragmentswere
heard(Bigand,1993). This experimentthereforeconstrainedthis effectby presentingfrag-
mentsin chronologicalorderonly,thusensuringthatthe ratingsgivenwerebasedon listen-
ers'experienceof the fragmentup to and includingthe end point of each segmentand not
272 Nicola Dibben
on their memory of how the piece continued. Subjects were also asked whether they were
familiar with the piece before the experiment. The experiment took 10 minutes to run.
RESULTS
Fig. 3. Mean stability ratings and musical score showing the 19 segments of Schoenberg's,
op. 19, no. 3, mm. 1-4.
Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 273
with an increasein tension just before the final chord of the phrase (a
patternobservedby Krumhansl,1996). The othernoticeablefeatureof the
stabilityprofileis that it moves in regularlyalternatingpeaks and troughs:
thereis a regularpatternof more stabilityfollowed by less on each succes-
sive event,which at firstglancecoincideswith the durationaland metrical
emphases.
In order to determinewhether these ratings are predicted by atonal
prolongationaltheory,theseresultswerecorrelatedwith a measureof struc-
tural stabilityderivedfrom atonal prolongationaltheory (Lerdahl,1989,
1996).A prolongationalanalysisof the extractderivedfromLerdahl'stheory
is shown in Figure4. This analysis takes into account the operation of
tonal stabilityconditionsat cadentiallocations as well as the effect of sa-
lience conditionselsewhere.For example,there is a clear Bt-minorscalar
ascentin the bass, endingon a half-cadenceon F on the downbeatof mea-
sure 3. This, togetherwith the delayedresolutionto Bl>in the bass at the
end of the extract and the Ct/Dt in the soprano with which the extract
opened,is a clearindicatorof tonalstabilityconditionsoperatingat cadential
locations. In orderto comparethis analysiswith the stabilityratingsob-
tainedfrom subjects,scoresare assignedto eventsby countingthe number
of hierarchicallevelspassedthroughin the prolongationaltree structureof
the music.3These scoreswere then reversedso that highervaluesindicated
greaterstability,in line with the ratingscale used by subjects.This adjust-
ment providesa measureof the stabilityof each event in termsof its posi-
tion within the prolongationalhierarchyof the extract.
Listeners'stabilityratingswere then correlatedwith a measureof rhyth-
mic structuretaken from Bigand (1993). Accordingto this model, each
segmentis assigneda scoreby usingthe following formula:rhythmicscore
= durationx metricalweight. A numberis assignedto each durationac-
cording to its length in eighth notes (the smallest unit in this extract of
music):thus, eighthnote = 1, quarternote = 2, dotted quarternote = 3. In
orderto measurethe metricalweight of each musicalevent, a numberwas
assignedto each event accordingto where the event occurredwithin the
measure.So, for a meter of 4/4, an event occurringon the first beat is
assigneda scoreof 4, an event on the thirdbeat is assigneda score of 3, an
event on the second or fourth beats is assigneda score of 2, and an event
on the half beat is assigneda score of 1. For each event, the durationand
metricalweight are multipliedto produce a theoreticalscore measuring
the structuralimportanceof the eventwithinthe context of the piece (Table
1). Two metricalinterpretationsof the piece were considered.The first is
the irregularmeter that arises from phenomenalaccents at the musical
surface:accordingto this interpretation,the meterstartsin 2/4, then 3/4,
3. This methodof quantifyingstructuralimportancewithin the prolongationalreduc-
tion is derivedfromDibben(1994).
274 Nicola Dibben
3/4, 2/4, 2/4, and 3/4 with the phrase ending at Event 19 on the downbeat.
The second is the nota ted meter of 4/4. Two versions of each of these
metrical interpretationswere used: a composite measure based on the rhyth-
mic structure of the right and left hands, and a measure based on the rhyth-
mic structure of the right hand only (where the melodic line is absent, the
left hand is used). This latter measure of rhythmic structure attempts to
Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 275
Table 1
Rhythmic and Prolongational Importance of Schoenberg's Op. 19, No. 3,
Measures 1-4
Phenomenal Phenomenal Prolongational
Segment 4/4 Composite 4/4 Right Hand* Composite Right Hand* Importance (rev.)
î ï ï ï Ï 2
2 4 4 2 2 2
3 1111 1
4 4 8 6 12 3
5 6 (6) 4 (4) 1
6 2 4 2 4 2
7 1111 1
8 8 (8) 6 (6) 4
9 2 2 2 2 3
10 1 1 1 1 2
11 3 3 3 3 4
12 1 1 1 1 2
13 2 2 2 2 2
14 1 1 1 1 1
15 4 32 3 24 3
16 1 (1) 1 (1) 1
17 6 (6) 6 (6) 2
18 1 (1) 1 (1) 1
19 4 (4) 6 (6) 5
*Numbersin parenthesesare for left hand.
take into account perceptualbias toward the upper voice in this poly-
phonic piece.
Statisticalanalysisrevealsa high correlationbetweenthe mean ratings
given by subjectsand both the atonal prolongationaltheoryscore (r = .49,
p < .05) and the rhythmicscores:4/4 meter,compositerhythm(r = .75, p <
.01); 4/4 righthand (r = .48, p < .05); phenomenalmeter,compositerhythm
(r = .77, p < .01); phenomenalmeter,righthand (r = .54, p < .05). When all
variablesareenteredinto a stepwiseregressiononly the phenomenal-meter,
composite-rhythmicscore emergesas a significantpredictorof listeners'
perceptionsof structuralstability.Thus, although both the rhythmicand
atonal prolongationaltheory scores providegood models of listeners'in-
ferenceof the relativestability of events in atonal music, the composite
scorebasedon the meterarisingfromphenomenalaccentsat the surfaceof
the musicboth providesa betterfit to the data and is a moreparsimonious
model. The correlationbetween the atonal prolongationaltheory scores
andthose of the phenomenalmeter(compositescore)is significant(r = .65,
p <.01), suggestingthat, in the case of these musical materials,duration
and metricalstructureaccountsfor a large proportionof the variationin
the measureof prolongationalstructure.
276 Nicola Dibben
DISCUSSION
Experiment 2
THEORETICALMODELS
Dissonance
One of the main factorsthat may contributeto the perceptionof struc-
tural stability is the relativeconsonance of events. Prevailingmodels of
sensorydissonanceassumethat the dissonanceof a chord is dependenton
its degreeof perceivedroughness.Roughnessis due to beating, which is
maximalwhenthe distancebetweenpuretone componentsis approximately
one quarterof a criticalbandwidth(a criticalbandwidthlies betweentwo
278 Nicola Dibben
HorizontalMotion
As opposed to the model just described,which emphasizesthe vertical
aspect of music, this factor considersthe contributionof the horizontal
dimensionto intuitionsof structuralstability.One featureof commonprac-
tice in tonal music is that smallerintervalswithin each voice are preferred
as they providea more coherentand smooth progression.4
Althoughpsychoacousticexplanationsbasedon auditorysceneanalysis
have been suggestedfor the influenceof horizontalmotion on the percep-
tion of chord sequences(Huron, 1995), little researchhas investigatedthe
influence of horizontal motion on the perceptionof structuralstability.
Carlsenfound that, when askedto completea melodicfragment,subjects
producedpitchesclose in pitch (and register)to the final note of the frag-
ment (Carlsen,1981; Unyk & Carlsen,1987). This tendencyfor unstable
pitches to move to proximatepitches has been theorizedas a process of
4. Althoughvoice leadingis not explicitlyincorporatedinto GTTM,certainof the rules
do take it into account.Forexample,the proximityruledeterminesthat a groupboundary
should fall where the intervalgap betweentwo events is larger,and good progressionis
determinedby the tonal stabilityconditions.Of the rulesprovidedby atonalprolongational
theory(Lerdahl,1989), only that of proximityappliesto thesereducedmaterials.
Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 279
Pitch Commonality
Parncutt'spsychoacousticmodel of the relatednessof chords predicts
the strengthof harmonicrelationshipsbetweenchordsas a productof the
degreeto which they have perceivedpitches in common (Parncutt,1989;
for recent reviews see Parncutt& Strasburger,1994; and Thompson &
Parncutt,1997). Perceivedpitchesarenot simplythe notatedpitchesof the
chord,or even the pure-tonecomponents:a chord may imply a pitch even
though that pitch is not physicallypresent.Its applicationhere is an at-
temptto encompassLerdahl'sobservationsaboutthe role of virtualpitches
andto investigatethe influenceof sharedpitcheson the perceptionof struc-
turalstability.It is a sensorymodel ratherthan a model basedon listeners'
schematicknowledge(implicitor otherwise)of a pitch spaceand accounts
for the way "impliedpitches"contributeto the perceivedrelationshipbe-
tween chords. For each chord, the amplitudesof pure-tonecomponents
and virtualpitchesare identified,extendingacrossthe entireaudiblepitch
range.The modelthencomparessuccessivepairsof suchprofiles:this pitch
commonalityis expressedas a correlationcoefficientbetweenthe two pro-
files.Inpreviouscorrelationswith stabilityratingsof tonalchordsequences,
the pitch commonalityof adjacentchords successfullypredictedlisteners'
ratingsof stability(Bigandet al., 1996): it was found that the higherthe
pitchcommonality,the lowerthe perceivedtension(and,hence,the greater
the stability).5However,thereis reasonto believethat the model may pro-
vide a less good fit in the case of atonal music because, in this case, the
5. A significantcorrelationwas foundbetweenpitchcommonalityandperceivedtension
of tonal chordsequencesfor both musiciansand nonmusicians(p < .05).
280 Nicola Dibben
METHOD
Subjects
Twelvesubjectsparticipatedin the experiment:six subjectsfor each of the two sets of
the materials.All subjectswere studyingmusicat the undergraduatedegreelevel and were
familiarwith atonalmusic.All were volunteers.
Materials
The stimulusmaterialsconsistedof a chordsequencederivedfromthe firstmovementof
Webern'sCantatano. 1, a piece that is serial in structureand involvesthe simultaneous
unfoldingof four row forms.Althoughthe selectionsmadefrom the piece disruptthe un-
foldingof theserows, theyretainthe limitedrepertoryof chordsand theirinversionalsym-
metry(aroundeitherCl or G/Gf).This piece was chosen for its passagesof homophonic
four-partwriting.By removingall rhythmicdifferentiationand any rests,a completelyiso-
chronoussequenceof chordswas created.The passagewas segmentedinto 13 fragmentsas
shown in Figure5, with the end of the firstsegmentoccurringaftera numberof chordsso
that the listenerwas presentedwith some context beforehavingto performthe ratingtask
for the first time. This first set of materials(SetA) controlledfor the effect of durationby
assigningthe same durationto all the chords.In orderto controlfor the effectof meter,a
secondset of materials(SetB) was constructed,identicalto the firstbut with the firstbeat
(thefirstchord)deletedso as to displacethe whole sequenceof chordsby one beat.Averag-
ing the resultsfromthe two sequencesshouldreducethe effectsof subjectsoverlayinga 4/4
Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 281
Apparatus
As with the extractused in Experiment1, the chordsequencewas firsttransferredto a
sequencer,and then the timingand dynamicdeviationswere removed.The extractswere
recordedon tape by usinga synthesizedpresetflute sound:this sustainedsoundprevented
any silencesbetweensuccessivechordswithin segments.The segmentswere recordedsuc-
cessivelyso that subjectsheardthe shortestsegmentfirst, and the segmentswere played
backto subjectsfromtape via a high-qualityamplifierand speakers.
Procedure
AND DISCUSSION
RESULTS
Dissonance
Two differentmeasuresof dissonancewere used to test for the influence
of dissonanceon the perceptionof stabilityin the atonal chord sequence.
The first of these is a count of the number of occurrencesof dissonant
intervalswithin eachtargetchord (i.e., the final chordof each segment;see
Table2). A dissonantintervalis definedhereas a majoror minorsecondor
a tritoneat any octave displacement.The correlationbetweendissonance
and the stabilityratingsis significantat a level of p <. 01 (r = .791), that is,
the greaterthe dissonance,the less stablean event is judgedto be.
This measureof dissonanceis rathercrude, based as it is on the occur-
renceof certainintervalsratherthan on propertiesof roughnessobtaining
betweenthe partialsof pitchesmakingup the chord. For this reason, the
stability ratings were correlatedwith a measure of sensory dissonance:
Hutchinsonand Knopoff's measureof roughness(Hutchinson& Knopoff,
1978). Hutchinsonand Knopoff's model was appliedto the experimental
materialsand a measureof roughnesswas obtainedfor each of the chords8
(Table2). No significantcorrelationwas found between this measureof
roughnessandthe completenessratings(r = .157), suggestingthatthe crude
measureof the dissonanceof the final chord of each segmentprovidesa
betterfit to the data than does this psychoacousticmeasure.
HorizontalMovement
In orderto test the effect of the horizontalmovementof voices on the
ratingsgiven by subjects,the intervalsize betweenadjacentchordswithin
8. Thisimplementationof Hutchinsonand Knopoff's modelwas performedby Richard
Parncutt(personalcommunication).
286 Nicola Dibben
Table 2
Dissonance, Roughness, Pitch Commonality, and Cumulative Pitch
Commonality of the Final Chord of Each Segment
Segment No. of Dissonant Roughness Pitch Cumulative Pitch
Intervals Commonality Commonality
1 2 Ô3Ï 025 Ô62
2 3 0.26 0.26 0.65
3 2 0.10 0.27 0.66
4 3 0.27 0.23 0.66
5 5 0.22 0.76 0.76
6 3 0.35 0.36 0.56
7 5 0.35 0.60 0.71
8 3 0.22 0.52 0.67
9 3 0.26 0.91 0.85
10 4 0.18 0.34 0.51
11 2 0.15 0.24 0.64
12 3 0.35 0.25 0.63
13 5 0.35 0.60 0.72
all four voices was taken for each segment.Intervalsize was measuredas
the numberof semitonesfrom the penultimatechord to the final chord of
the segmentwithin each voice. No significantcorrelationwas found be-
tween the intervalsize of individualvoices and stabilityratings.Becauseno
correlationwas found for intervalsize alone, a subsequentcorrelationwas
performedbetweenthe intervalsize and directionof each individualvoice
and the stabilityratings.Intervaldirectionwas measuredas movementei-
ther up or down from the penultimatechord to the final chord of each
segmentand was representedas eithera positiveor a negativesign. Figure
7 shows the scattergramof stabilityratingsand intervalsize, with regres-
sion lines shown for each of the four voices.
The scattergramrevealsa patternin which largedescendingintervalsin
the two upper voices are judged to be more stable than large ascending
intervals,whereas for the two lower voices, the opposite is found: large
ascendingintervalsin the lower two voices are more stablethan largede-
scendingintervals.Smallerintervalsare judgedto be of mediumstability,
that is, neitheras stable as large, descendingintervalsin the soprano, or
large ascendingintervalsin the bass, nor as unstableas their opposites.
These resultssuggestthat judgmentsof stabilitybased on horizontalmo-
tion aredependenton the voice in whichthe intervaloccursand in this case
reflectthe literalmirroringof bass and sopranovoices. There is a signifi-
cant correlationof stabilitywith the intervalsizes betweenvoices of adja-
cent chords for both the outer voices (soprano:r = .76, p < .05; bass:r -
.79, p < .05), but for neitherthe tenor nor alto voice (tenor:r = .22; alto: r
= .24), a findingthat is psychologicallyplausiblegiven researchregarding
the relativesalienceof outer voices (Huron, 1989).
Perception of Structural Stability in Atonal Music 287
Three related explanations of the results were considered. The first pos-
sibility is that there may be a countervailing effect of salience to that sug-
gested by Lerdahl (1989) in which pitch events in extreme registers are
perceived as less stable rather than more so. This seems particularly perti-
nent given the characteristics of the chord sequence in which large intervals
within individual voices results in pitch events that lie outside the norma-
tive range. Comparison of the stability ratings with this account of registral
salience reveals the possibility of such an effect: Events 7, 10, and 13 (Events
7 and 13, in particular) involve chords that lie outside the normative range
and are judged as less stable. The difficulty with this account is in trying to
determine what constitutes the "norm" because what is normative is deter-
mined by the chord or chords immediately preceding the event in question.
A second possibility is that listeners are influenced by the pitch range of
each chord because, in this particular example, this encompasses registral
salience as well (the chords that lie outside the registral norm are also those
with the greatest pitch range). In order to check whether this was a factor,
a correlation was performed between a measure of the range of each chord
(the number of semitone steps between the highest and lowest notated pitch
of each chord) and the stability ratings. A significant correlation was found
(r = -.759, p < .01 ), indicating that the larger the range of the chord, the less
its judged stability.
A partial explanation of this effect can be found in the presence of two
confounding factors: the effect of dissonant spread and that of tonal fu-
sion. Dissonant spread is the effect whereby small intervals in lower regis-
ters are heard as more dissonant than those in higher registers. Strategies
288 Nicola Dibben
General Discussion
Conclusion
Any future researchinto these issues also must consider the method-
ological limitationsof this study.The experimentalmethod used here in-
volvesa techniquethat equateslisteners'judgmentsof "completeness"with
prolongational(structural)stability.Although this method elicited high
intersubjectagreementand a set of consistentlydifferentiatedjudgmentsof
stability,it is still questionablewhetherthis correspondsto the theoretical
notion of "prolongationalstructure."This methodologicalformulationof
prolongationalstabilitywas adoptedhere as a first approachto the issue
and is upheldby the high correlationobservedin the first experimentbe-
tween judgmentsof "completeness"and the prolongationalanalysisof the
music. Nonetheless,alternativemethodsthat accessedlisteners'represen-
tations of atonal musicwould providea usefulcomparisonto the research
presentedhere.
Notwithstandingtheselimitations,this studyoffersempiricaldataabout
the perceptionof structuralstabilityin atonal music. The results suggest
that listenershear atonal music in termsof the relativestructuralstability
of events and that this mode of hearingis influencedby dissonanceand
horizontalmotion as well as salience.In this respect,the researchprovides
initialempiricaldata in supportof theoriesof atonalprolongationalstruc-
tureandhighlightstheoreticaland methodologicalissuesaboutthe percep-
tion of atonal musicthat remainto be addressed.10
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