Wk 3 - Why do we like music?

Question 1

Levitin (2007) possible evolutionary explanations for its success

Answer 1

mate attraction - teens listening to music more than other ages, after second world war

dancing - clubbing etc, display of fitness, more attractive etc

Musical performance – social activity

Music is part of the way in which infants are prepared for language. Babbling has musical quality. Lots of exposure to music, singing to children, lullabies etc

Question 2

structural elements of musical appeal - basic elements (3)

Answer 2

Rhythm
Pitch (variations in)
Timbre (sound quality)

Question 3

structural elements of musical appeal (4)

Answer 3

Organisation (actual or perceived)
Meaning (actual or perceived)
Expectancies
Memory (for specific elements)

Question 4

the biology of rhythm

Answer 4

Preference for ‘comfortable’ rhythm, matching walking pace rather than heart (Fraisse, 1982)

Generally around 100-120 beats/minute

Ideal tempo for CPR (‘Stayin’ Alive’)

Motoric evidence: People match long/short beats to a 2:1 ratio

Musical doctors better at spotting cardiac irregularities (Mangione & Nieman, 1997)

Question 5

example of most Western popular music based around four beats in a bar

Answer 5

twinkle twinkle little star

baa baa black sheep

Question 6

who found optimal complexity and complexity predicted liking of pop songs

Answer 6

North & Hargreaves (1995)

Question 7

what did Berlyne (1971) say Aesthetic judgement was based on

Answer 7

relationship between novelty and complexity

Question 8

why is familiarity important

Answer 8

there’s got to be a bit of predictability where you know what’s coming next

Question 9

what did (Dobson, 2016) find about CDs and concerts

Answer 9

Given CDs to listen to before going to concert to see if priming yourself with the music and enjoying the performance were linked – found no significant difference

Question 10

The importance of expectancies

Answer 10

Gap-fill principle (Rosner & Meyer, 1982): perceived structure/pattern allows us to anticipate

Small intervals: anticipate movement in same direction (e.g. first four notes of scale) - build up enough expectancy but not too much

Can lead to errors in performance (“born the king of angels” in O

Come All Ye Faithful, though this is also partly an example of rhythmic anticipation)

Question 11

what song has big intervals where you’d anticipate change

Answer 11

Somewhere over the rainbow

Question 12

predictability with the Western 12 note ‘diatonic’ scale

Answer 12

Most instruments tuned to these intervals: we are usually good at detecting notes that are ‘sharp’ or ‘flat’ (Levintin, 2007)

Simple tunes and songs usually based in one key based on 7-note scale (‘Ionian mode’ is C Major)

This makes them easy to learn, because the intervals are predictable

Question 13

how many notes does the Chinese pentatonic scale

Answer 13

5 notes

cut out F and B

Question 14

cultural specificity of scales

Answer 14

These expectations are learned in first year of life

Lynch & Eilers (1992): tested infants on identification of Western vs Javanese scales

At 6 months, fail to respond to ‘wrong notes’, but at 1 year, only respond to violations of culturally learned scale

Same authors (1991) found even 10-13 year olds with musical training could not identify wrong Javanese notes

Question 15

role of long-term memory in songs

Answer 15

simple songs like happy birthday are remembered irrespective of pitch

Question 16

what did Levitin (2007) find in terms of long-term memory

Answer 16

irrespective of musical ability or training – we remember our favourite pop songs at the recorded pitch (and tempo)

Question 17

what is a deceptive cadence

Answer 17

dominant chord followed by unexpected chord

pattern of notes we wouldn’t expect