Despite the plethora of research on the role of tonality and meter in music perception, there is little work on how these fundamental properties function together. The most basic question is whether the two hierarchical structures are correlated – that is, do metrically stable positions in the measure preferentially feature tonally stable pitches, and do tonally stable pitches occur more often than not at metrically stable locations? To answer this question, we analyzed a corpus of compositions by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin, tabulating the frequency of occurrence of each of the 12 pitch classes at all possible temporal positions in the bar. There was a reliable relation between the tonal and metric hierarchies, such that tonally stable pitch classes and metrically stable temporal positions co-occurred beyond their simple joint probability. Further, the pitch class distribution at stable metric temporal positions agreed more with the tonal hierarchy than at less metrically stable locations. This tonal-metric hierarchy was largely consistent across composers, time signatures, and modes. The existence, profile, and constancy of the tonal-metric hierarchy is relevant to several areas of music cognition research, including pitch-time integration, statistical learning, and global effects of tonality.
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February 2014
Research Article|
February 01 2014
The Tonal-Metric Hierarchy: A Corpus Analysis
Jon B. Prince,
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
Jon B. Prince, School of Psychology, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150. E-mail: j.prince@murdoch.edu.au
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Mark A. Schmuckler
Mark A. Schmuckler
University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Canada
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Jon B. Prince, School of Psychology, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150. E-mail: j.prince@murdoch.edu.au
Music Perception (2014) 31 (3): 254–270.
Article history
Received:
October 18 2012
Accepted:
March 17 2013
Citation
Jon B. Prince, Mark A. Schmuckler; The Tonal-Metric Hierarchy: A Corpus Analysis. Music Perception 1 February 2014; 31 (3): 254–270. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2014.31.3.254
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