An Empirical Study Concerning Terminology Relating to Aesthetic Response to Music

Abstract

This study was designed to determine if a relationship exists among the terms “aesthetic response, ” “felt emotional response, ” and “perceived tension ” when used by individuals to describe their personal response to music. Subject groups, music majors (n = 128) and nonmusic majors (n = 128), were randomly divided into three experimental groups, one for each term, and one control group for free response. Data were gathered as subjects manipulated the dial of the Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) to indicate the magnitude of their response to the musk heard during four taped listening segments. Written responses were collected following each segment in a packet provided to each subject. The four pieces heard were “Nessun dorma” from Turandot by Giacomo Puccini, “Fugue” from Toccata and Fugue in D minor by J. S. Bach, “Scherzo” from Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”) by Ludwig van Beethoven, and “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa. These selections were presented in four different orders in an attempt to control for a possible order effect. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated no significant difference between the responses of music majors and nonmusic majors. However, a significant difference was found among the terms. Analysis of group graphs indicated a strong similarity between aesthetic-response and felt-emotional-response conditions. Surprisingly, the free-response condition, where subjects were given no instructions except to move the dial, demonstrated a remarkable similarity to the aesthetic-response and felt-emotional-response conditions. The perceived-tension condition showed marked differences to the other three conditions.