Arthurs, Y, Beeston, AV orcid.org/0000-0003-2796-1947 and Timmers, R (2018) Perception of isolated chords: Examining frequency of occurrence, instrumental timbre, acoustic descriptors and musical training. Psychology of Music, 46 (5). pp. 662-681. ISSN 0305-7356
Abstract
This study investigated the perception of isolated chords using a combination of experimental maipulation and exploratory analysis. Twelve types of chord (five triads and seven tetrads) were presented in two instrumental timbres (piano and organ) to listeners who rated the chords for consonance, pleasantness, stability and relaxation. Listener ratings varied by chord, by timbre, and according to musical expertise, and revealed that musicians distinguish consonance from the other variables in a way that other listeners did not. To further explain the data, a principal component analysis and linear regression examined three potential predictors of the listener ratings. First, each chord’s frequency of occurrence was obtained by counting its appearances in selected works of music. Second, listeners rated their familiarity with the instrumental timbre in which the chord was played. Third, chords were described using a set of acoustic features derived using the Timbre Toolbox and MIR Toolbox. Results of the study indicated that listeners’ ratings of both consonance and stability were influenced by the degree of musical training and knowledge of tonal hierarchy. Listeners’ ratings of pleasantness and relaxation, on the other hand, depended more on the instrumental timbre and other acoustic descriptions of the chord.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Authors 2017. This is an author produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Psychology of Music. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | consonance; frequency of occurrence; musical chords; musical training; timbre familiarity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Music (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 26 Jun 2017 14:00 |
Last Modified: | 14 Aug 2018 07:45 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Sage |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0305735617720834 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:118163 |