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Understanding the Science Behind Musical Perception: From Guitar Sounds to Cultural Rhythm

This exploration delves into the intricate dynamics of music perception, focusing on elements like tone height, frequency, and how guitars produce sound through vibrating strings. It covers the physical principles of string tension and length on pitch, the structure of chords, melodies, and harmonies, and the psychological experience of rhythm. Additionally, it discusses the cultural context of music, contrasting Western analytic traditions with Eastern philosophies, such as Indonesian cyclic patterns. This comprehensive analysis reveals how diverse musical elements shape our understanding and appreciation of sound.

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Understanding the Science Behind Musical Perception: From Guitar Sounds to Cultural Rhythm

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Presentation Transcript

  1. PSYC 330: Perception Music

  2. Notes Tone height – frequency - but notice what happens at an octave Tone chroma – “color” shared by tones at octaves

  3. How does a guitar make sound? • Plucked strings vibrate • More massive strings vibrate more slowly  lower frequency  lower pitch • Less massive strings vibrate more rapidly  higher frequency  higher pitch • Tension of string matters  tighter string  faster vibration  higher pitch • Length of string also matters  manipulate by playing (fretting) • “Soundboard” vibrates • String vibration travels to bridge which moves soundboard (whole body) • Air inside guitar vibrates • Sound comes out sound hole  ear or bust!

  4. Harmonics

  5. Chords, Melody, Harmony • All define/describe the relationship of notes that are played together (distributed in time) • Chords = simultaneous • Defined by the root (~fundamental frequency) • Further described by relationship between notes • Major/minor • Consonance/dissonance • Melody = distributed in time • Defined by psychological experience • Can be recognized by infants as young as 7 months • Harmony = distributed in relationship to melody • http://www.chordbook.com/guitarchords.php

  6. Timing • Tempo • Average duration of notes in a melody • But relative differences entirely intertwined with melody • Rhythm • Part of nature  pattern of repetition • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqeR94k0uFg • Psychological experience of rhythm (we add stress/accent and complexity psychologically, even when it is not there). Fundamental to our organization of sounds in time. • Syncopation = unpredictable variation in rhythm

  7. Music and Culture • Modern conceptions • Music as entertainment • Reflection of philosophy • E.g. Western music reflects analytic tradition, elements put together to form whole • E.g. Indonesian music reflect mandalic philosophy (circular repetition), epicycle within cycle http://cybermesa.com/~bjackson/Papers/audiofiles/gamela24.wav • Analysis of rhythm (organization of sounds in time) • Human nature to hear rhythm, but not necessarily to present it the same • Western – precision, mathematical (syncopation – two rhythms which converge to provide interest) • Native American – physical drone drum, heartbeat http://cybermesa.com/~bjackson/Papers/audiofiles/ojibwa4.wav • Japan – unpredictability of naturehttp://cybermesa.com/~bjackson/Papers/audiofiles/gagaku1.wav

  8. Types of scales • Octaves pretty universal, how many steps to divide the rest? • My guitar: 12 equal steps – but how to divide it beyond that? • Heptatonic (7 note) • Pentatonic (5 notes) Quarter step inclusion: • Indian http://cybermesa.com/~bjackson/Papers/audiofiles/saran1-2.wav • Arabic http://cybermesa.com/~bjackson/Papers/audiofiles/islam1-4.wav • Indonesian – two scales • Pelog scale consists of seven unequally spaced notes of which five are used depending on the mode of the song • Slendro scale has five equally spaced notes and uses all notes in the songs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ku9iH2pU9g

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