Cross-cultural music cognition: cognitive methodology applied to North Sami yoiks

This article is a study of melodic expectancy in North Sami yoiks, a style of music quite distinct from Western tonal music. Three different approaches were taken. The first approach was a statistical style analysis of tones in a representative corpus of 18 yoiks. The analysis determined the relative frequencies of tone onsets and two- and three-tone transitions. It also identified style characteristics, such as pentatonic orientation, the presence of two reference pitches, the frequency of large consonant intervals, and a relatively large set of possible melodic continuations. The second approach was a behavioral experiment in which listeners made judgments about melodic continuations. Thr…

Timbre Similarity: Convergence of Neural, Behavioral, and Computational Approaches

The present study compared the degree of similarity of timbre representations as observed with brain recordings, behavioral studies, and computer simulations. To this end, the electrical brain activity of subjects was recorded while they were repetitively presented with five sounds differing in timbre. Subjects read simultaneously so that their attention was not focused on the sounds. The brain activity was quantified in terms of a change-specific mismatch negativity component. Thereafter, the subjects were asked to judge the similarity of all pairs along a five-step scale. A computer simulation was made by first training a Kohonen self-organizing map with a large set of instrumental sounds…

Statistical features and perceived similarity of folk melodies

Listeners are sensitive to pitch distributional information in music (N. Oram & L. L. Cuddy, 1995; C. L. Krumhansl, J. Louhivuori, P.Toiviainen, T. Järvinen, & T. Eerola, 1999). However, it is uncertain whether frequency-based musical features are sufficient to explain the similarity judgments that underlie listeners' classification processes. A similarity rating experiment was designed to determine the effectiveness of these features in predicting listeners' similarity ratings. The material consisted of 15 melodies representing five folk music styles. A multiple regression analysis showed that the similarity of frequency-based musical properties could account for a moderate amount …

Interaction Between Systematic Musicology and Research on Traditional Music

The origin of systematic musicology is strongly linked to the studies of music cultures of non-Western origin. From the methodological point of view, folk music research applied systematic methods to collect and analyze data. Anthropology of music and later ethnomusicology had a different focus: musical phenomena should be interpreted in their cultural context. The cognitive approach was the third paradigm change in the field of systematic musicology, which again changed both methodology as well the point of view of research topics. In cross-cultural music cognition, as well as in cognitive ethnomusicology, previous approaches in systematic musicology, ethnomusicology, and cognitive science…

Expectancy in Sami Yoiks revisited: The role of data-driven and schema-driven knowledge in the formation of melodic expectations

This study extends a previous study concerning melodic expectations in North Sami yoiks (Krumhansl et al., 2000) in which a comparison between expert and non-expert listeners demonstrated the existence of a core set of principles governing melodic expectancies. The previous findings are reconsidered using non-Western listeners (traditional healers from South Africa) in a modeling investigation. Comparison of different models made it possible to separate the role of data-driven and schema-driven models in melodic expectancies and to reveal any possible Western bias in previous studies. The results of the experiment, in which African listeners rated the fitness of probe-tones as continuation…

John Blacking Revisited—Comparative Analysis of Venda Tshikone Dance (1958 and 2009)

One of the first research topics of interest for folk music researchers was the stability/instability of folk tunes. Particularly the question which parts and elements in folk tunes are sensitive to change and what are the stable elements of the melodies. Researchers had data collected over several decades, which gave a great opportunity to systematically explore stability of melodies over the years and decades.

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Beneficial effects of choir singing on cognition and well-being of older adults: Evidence from a cross-sectional study.

Background and objectivesChoir singing has been associated with better mood and quality of life (QOL) in healthy older adults, but little is known about its potential cognitive benefits in aging. In this study, our aim was to compare the subjective (self-reported) and objective (test-based) cognitive functioning of senior choir singers and matched control subjects, coupled with assessment of mood, QOL, and social functioning.Research design and methodsWe performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study in 162 healthy older (age ≥ 60 years) adults (106 choir singers, 56 controls), including measures of cognition, mood, social engagement, QOL, and role of music in daily life. The choir singers…

Comparison of well-being of older adult choir singers and the general population in Finland: A case-control study

Previous research suggests that singing in a choir as an older adult is associated with better quality of life (QOL). However, the degree to which sociodemographic variables and level of engagement in hobbies contribute to this relationship is largely unknown. The aim of the study was to compare quality of life (QOL) of older adult choir singers with a matched sample of older adults from the general population in Finland, taking into consideration sociodemographic variables, satisfaction with health, and level of engagement in hobbies. Case-control methods were used to match a sample of 109 older adult singers with a sample of 307 older adults from the general population. Tobit regression …

ESCOM as the life work of Irène Deliège: Irène Deliège in conversation with Jukka Louhivuori

ESCOM has established itself as an influential actor in the field of cognitive sciences of music. The journal, Musicae Scientiae, including its special issues, discussions forums, the ESCOM conferences and smaller symposia, have all contributed significantly to the field. Although many people have contributed to ESCOM's activities in important ways, the society is very much the life work of Irène Deliège. She is the founding editor of Musicæ Scientiæ and the founding Permanent Secretary of ESCOM. The aim of publishing the following interview is to ensure that interesting and important details about ESCOM's background will be on record for future use. The conversation took place in Brussels…

Perceived complexity of western and African folk melodies by western and African listeners

Stylistic knowledge and enculturation play a significant role in music perception, although the importance of psychophysical cues in perception of emotions in music has been acknowledged. The psychophysical cues, such as melodic complexity, are assumed to be independent of musical experience. A cross-cultural comparison was used to investigate the ratings of melodic complexity of western and African participants for western (Experiment 1) and African folk songs (Experiment 2). A range of melodic complexity measures was developed to discover what factors contribute to complexity. On the whole, the groups gave similar patterns of responses in both experiments. In Experiment 1, western folk s…

Influence of virtual room acoustics on choir singing.

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted)The aesthetic appreciation of a choir performance heavily relies on both the singers' skills and the acoustical characteristics of the venue. Choir directors usually know that choral performances are greatly influenced by room acoustics, while the choir singers experience the difference between singing in a small room for practice and performing in a comparatively large space like a concert hall. Clearly, it would be beneficial for musicians to understand both the effect of room acoustical features on their performance and how best to adjust tempo, phrasing, dynamics, and other musical parameters with respect to a given venue's acoustical environment.…

Systematic, cognitive and historical approaches in musicology

The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between systematic, cognitive and historical musicology. This will be done by outlining the historical and epistemological backgrounds, and comparing the methods and objects. It is argued that systematic and cognitive musicology have a common methodological background with a focus on the systematic way of conducting research. However, quite a lot of studies in cognitive musicology apply nonsystematic methods as well; even a historical approach to cognition is needed. The main tenet of this paper is that the backgrounds of cognitive and systematic musicology are sufficiently similar for a close and fruitful cooperation. However, because th…

Sengenyadance of theDigocommunity: Documentation of social context, music transcriptions and acoustic measurements of selected instruments

ABSTRACTThis paper documents social and cultural aspects of Sengenya music which is practiced by Digo community (from the coast region in Kenya). Specifically the paper addresses (a) Background and Regional (Country) Context, (b) Social Context and Description of Sengenya Music, (c) Melodic transcriptions of Chivoti melodies, rhythmic transcriptions of the Six Drum Rhythms, and (d) Acoustic Measurement of selected chivoti Instruments and pitch registers of the drums used to accompany the dance. While there has been some documentation (Zake 1986, Darkwa 1991, Nyakiti 2007) of general social /cultural aspects of the Digo people (including other Coastal communities), scanty information exists …

Quality of life (QOL) of older adult community choral singers in Finland.

ABSTRACTBackground: Enhancing quality of life (QOL) of older adults is an international area of focus. Identifying factors and experiences that contribute to QOL of older adults helps promote optimal levels of functioning. This study examines the relationship between perceived benefits associated with choral singing and QOL among community-dwelling older adults.Methods: One hundred seventeen older adults who sing in community choirs in Jyväskylä, Finland, completed self-report measures of QOL (WHOQOL-Bref), depressive symptoms, and a questionnaire about the benefits of singing in choir. Correlational analyses and linear regression models were used to examine the association between the bene…