Tonal Schemata in the Perception of Music in Bali and in the West

Abstract

Krumhansl and Shepard's probe-tone method, in which listeners rate the musical relatedness of probe tones to preceding musical contexts, was adapted for a cross-cultural comparison of the perception of Western and Balinese melodies by both Western and Balinese listeners. Half of the Balinese listeners were remote villagers with no previous exposure to the diatonic scales or music of the West, and the Western listeners were unfamiliar with the pelog and slendro scales and the music of Bali. The Balinese and Western listeners used similar response strategies, but tended to demonstrate an internalization of tonal schemata most often in response to music of their own culture.