Search results for "melody"
showing 10 items of 43 documents
Melodic and contextual similarity of folk song phrases
2007
Various models of melodic similarity have been proposed and assessed in perceptual experiments. Contour and pitch content variables haven been favoured although music-theoretical and statistical variables have also been claimed to explain similarity ratings. A Re-analysis of earlier work by Rosner & Meyer (1986) suggests that simple contextual features can also be highly explanatory with more complex stimuli. A new experiment containing short melodic phrases investigated the effectiveness of several global and comparative variables. A multi-dimensional scaling solution indicated that both melodic direction and pitch range are highly relevant for making such similarity judgments and tha…
Divided attention in music
2000
Two models have been advanced to account for the apparent ease with which attention can be divided in music: a “divided attention” model postulates that listeners effectively manage to follow two or more melodic lines played simultaneously. According to a “figure-ground model,” the harmonic coherence of Western polyphonies allows a listener to focus on one melody while staying aware of the other melody, which acts as a background. This figure-ground processing compensates for the inability to divide attention. The present study was designed to further investigate these two models. Participants were required to detect melodic errors in two familiar nursery tunes played simultaneously an octa…
Reading ahead: Adult music students’ eye movements in temporally controlled performances of a children’s song
2014
In the present study, education majors minoring in music education ( n = 24) and music performance majors ( n =14) read and performed the original version and melodically altered versions of a simple melody in a given tempo. Eye movements during music reading and piano performances were recorded. Errorless trials were analyzed to explore the adjustments of visual processing in successful performances. The temporal length of the eye–hand span (time between gaze and the performed note) was typically around one second or less. A measure of gaze activity indicated that performers generally inspected two quarter-note areas between two metrical beat onsets. The performance majors operated with s…
Computational Analysis Workshop: Comparing Four Approaches to Melodic Analysis
2009
We compare four computational approaches of melodic analysis according to diverse approach aspects: input type (monophonic or polyphonic), pattern identification type (strict or similar), analysis segmentation, aim of approach, motivic pattern representation, and type of result representations. The considered four computational approaches are the following: a similarity neighbourhood approach by Adiloglu (Adiloglu and Obermayer 2006a, b), a multiple viewpoint representation and discovery approach by Anagnostopoulou (Anagnostopoulou, Share and Conklin 2006), a topological approach by Buteau (2005), and an approach based on multidimensional closed pattern mining by Lartillot (Lartillot and To…
Moved through music: The effect of experienced emotions on performers’ movement characteristics
2012
Do performers who feel sad move differently compared to those who express sadness? Although performers’ expressive movements have been widely studied, little is known about how performers’ experienced emotions affect such movements. To investigate this, we made 72 motion-capture recordings of eight violinists playing a melodic phrase in response to three different instructions. The first instruction was to focus on the technical aspects of playing. The second instruction was to give an expressive performance. Before the third instruction, performers were subjected to a mood induction task. Following this, performers played while focusing on their experienced emotions. After each playing co…
Does Pathological Aging Affect Musical Learning and Memory?
2012
the effect of pathological aging on explicit memory is very well documented, but relatively few studies have addressed this issue in the musical domain. To examine learning and consolidation of melodies, we designed a melodic recognition task involving immediate and delayed recognition of 16 target melodies (8 familiar and 8 unfamiliar). Seventeen patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 17 age-matched controls were tested. During the initial presentation of the targets, the participant had to decide whether or not the melody was familiar. Recognition was tested after one and three presentations of the target melodies using a yes/no recognition paradigm. Delayed recogniti…
A Fuzzy-Clustering Based Approach for Measuring Similarity Between Melodies
2017
Symbolic melodic similarity aims to evaluate the degree of likeness of two or more sequences of notes. In this work, we propose the use of fuzzy c-means clustering as a tool for the measurement of the similarity between two melodies with a different number of notes. Moreover, we present an algorithm, FOCM, implemented in a computer program written in C\(\sharp \) able to read two melodies from files with MusicXML format and to perform the clustering to calculate the dissimilarity between any two melodies. In addition, for each iteration step in the convergence process of the algorithm, a family of intermediate states (transition melodies) are obtained that can be used as new thematic materi…
John Blacking Revisited—Comparative Analysis of Venda Tshikone Dance (1958 and 2009)
2019
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.
Modeling the Target-Note Technique of Bebop-Style Jazz Improvisation: An Artificial Neural Network Approach
1995
In cognitive science and research on artificial intelligence, there are two central paradigms: symbolic and analogical. Within the analogical paradigm, artificial neural networks (ANNs) have recently been successfully used to model and simulate cognitive phenomena. One of the most prominent features of ANNs is their ability to learn by example and, to a certain extent, generalize what they have learned. Improvisation, the art of spontaneously creating music while playing or singing, fundamentally has an imitative nature. Regardless of how much one studies and analyzes, the art of improvisation is learned mostly by example. Instead of memorizing explicit rules, the student mimics the playing…
Melodic improvisation at the age of 6–11 years: Development of pitch and rhythm
2007
The keyboard melodic improvisations of 6–11-year-old children (N = 36) were explored for age-related development and representational types of production. The hypotheses were founded on a model of musical development by the present author. The participants heard a 24-bar ABA-formed piano-bass-percussion- accompaniment. Section A was tonal and section B was modal, lacking the tonic. Age was a significant factor in the development of the tonal hierarchy. The 6–7-year-old children's general emphasis was on the first five tones of the diatonic scale. The 8–9-year-old children preferred tones present in both sections (event hierarchical orientation). In the 10–11-year-old children's products, t…