Prior research has amply documented that happy music tends to be faster, louder, higher in average pitch, more variable in pitch, and more staccato in articulation, whereas sad music tends to be slower, lower, less variable, and more legato in articulation. However, the bulk of existing studies are either correlational or allow these expressive cues to covary freely, thereby making it difficult to confirm the causal influence of a given cue. To help address this gap, we experimentally assessed whether the average height (F0) of a pitch gamut independently impacts the perceived emotional expression of melodies derived from the gamut. Study participants rated the perceived happiness/sadness of a set of isochronous and semi-random tone sequences derived from the Bohlen-Pierce scale, an unconventional scale based on pitch intervals that do not appear in common practice music. Results were consistent with the notion that higher average pitch height communicates happiness and/or that lower pitch height communicates sadness. Moreover, they suggested that the effect is: (1) sufficiently robust to be detected using rudimentary melodies based on an unconventional musical scale; and, (2) independent of interval size.
Skip Nav Destination
Close
Article navigation
April 2018
Research Article|
April 01 2018
Average Pitch Height and Perceived Emotional Expression Within an Unconventional Tuning System
Ronald S. Friedman;
University at Albany, State University of New York
Ronald S. Friedman, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222. E-mail: rfriedman@albany.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
W. Trammell Neill;
University at Albany, State University of New York
W. Trammell Neill, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222. E-mail: wneill@albany.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
George A. Seror, III;
George A. Seror, III
University at Albany, State University of New York
Search for other works by this author on:
Ronald S. Friedman, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222. E-mail: rfriedman@albany.edu
W. Trammell Neill, Department of Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222. E-mail: wneill@albany.edu
Music Perception (2018) 35 (4): 518–523.
Article history
Received:
January 23 2017
Accepted:
November 05 2017
Citation
Ronald S. Friedman, W. Trammell Neill, George A. Seror, Abigail L. Kleinsmith; Average Pitch Height and Perceived Emotional Expression Within an Unconventional Tuning System. Music Perception 1 April 2018; 35 (4): 518–523. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2018.35.4.518
Download citation file:
Close
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.