Specific Musical Characteristics Research Articles

Changing Your Tune: Lessons for Using Music to Encourage Physical Activity

Our research investigated whether music can communicate physical activity levels in daily life. Past studies have shown that simple musical tunes can provide wellness information, but no study has examined whether musical feedback can affect daily behavior or lead to healthier habits. We conducted a within-subject study with 62 participants over a period of 76 days, providing either musical or text-based feedback on their daily physical activity. The music was built and personalized based on participants' step counts and baseline wellness perceptions. Results showed that participants were marginally more active during the music feedback compared to their baseline period, and significantly more active compared to the text-based feedback (p = 0.000). We also find that the participant's average activity may influence the musical features they find most inspiration within a song. Finally, context influenced how musical feedback was interpreted, and specific musical features correlated with higher activity levels regardless of baseline perceptions. We discuss lessons learned for designing music-based feedback systems for health communication.

Is Melody “Dead?”: A Large-scale Analysis of Pop Music Melodies from 1960 through 2019

In this paper we theorize that there are specific musical features that contribute to a melody’s character which we define as melodiousness and conduct a large-scale corpus analysis to examine whether there are differences in the melodiousness of popular hit songs from the 1960s compared with present-day pop songs. To carry out the corpus analysis, we use a new approach for generating symbolic data for popular music melodies to overcome the lack of preexisting symbolic data. In addition, we attempt to answer the question of whether any key characteristics of melodiousness appear to have changed or shifted in notable ways over time.

Eye blinking, musical processing, and subjective states-A methods account.

Affective sciences often make use of self-reports to assess subjective states. Seeking a more implicit measure for states and emotions, our study explored spontaneous eye blinking during music listening. However, blinking is understudied in the context of research on subjective states. Therefore, a second goal was to explore different ways of analyzing blink activity recorded from infra-red eye trackers, using two additional data sets from earlier studies differing in blinking and viewing instructions. We first replicate the effect of increased blink rates during music listening in comparison with silence and show that the effect is not related to changes in self-reported valence, arousal, or to specific musical features. Interestingly, but in contrast, felt absorption reduced participants' blinking. The instruction to inhibit blinking did not change results. From a methodological perspective, we make suggestions about how to define blinks from data loss periods recorded by eye trackers and report a data-driven outlier rejection procedure and its efficiency for subject-mean analyses, as well as trial-based analyses. We ran a variety of mixed effects models that differed in how trials without blinking were treated. The main results largely converged across accounts. The broad consistency of results across different experiments, outlier treatments, and statistical models demonstrates the reliability of the reported effects. As recordings of data loss periods come for free when interested in eye movements or pupillometry, we encourage researchers to pay attention to blink activity and contribute to the further understanding of the relation between blinking, subjective states, and cognitive processing.

Rhythmic serious games as an inclusive tool for music-based interventions.

Technologies, such as mobile devices or sets of connected sensors, provide new and engaging opportunities to devise music-based interventions. Among the different technological options, serious games offer a valuable alternative. Serious games can engage multisensory processes, creating a rich, rewarding, and motivating rehabilitation setting. Moreover, they can be targeted to specific musical features, such as pitch production or synchronization to a beat. Because serious games are typically low cost and enjoy wide access, they are inclusive tools perfectly suited for remote at-home interventions using music in various patient populations and environments. The focus of this article is in particular on the use of rhythmic serious games for training auditory-motor synchronization. After reviewing the existing rhythmic games, initial evidence from a recent proof-of-concept study in Parkinson's disease is provided. It is shown that rhythmic video games using finger tapping can be used with success as an at-home protocol, and bring about beneficial effects on motor performance in patients. The use and benefits of rhythmic serious games can extend beyond the rehabilitation of patients with movement disorders, such as to neurodevelopmental disorders, including dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder.

Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music, and Migration in Post-World War II ParisJazz Diaspora: Music and Globalisation

Jazz Diasporas: Race, Music, and Migration in Post-World War II ParisJazz Diaspora: Music and Globalisation

Appropriating Copland’s Fanfare

This video explores the stylistic and associative evolution of the emblematic sound Aaron Copland forged in his Fanfare for the Common Man (1942). This style, called here the triumphant exordium, consists of a constellation of specific musical features that has been imitated and troped by other composers—and by Copland himself—to carve out musical landscapes with evocative expressive qualities that include both clear and ambiguous connections with Americana. After summarizing the Fanfare’s original musical and extra-musical contexts, this video illuminates this legacy through three case studies.

Some Observations on Agrarian Life and Performing Arts in Today’s Sri Lanka

The main objective of the article is to present some observations on the singing styles that have been used in relation to Agrarian Life in Sri Lanka. They were sung until the late 1990s by people who were employed in agriculture or who were peasants themselves. Today’s commercial entertainment singers, in the 21st century, are performing these poems with great enthusiasm using audio-visual media. It is questionable whether they are well aware of the environment related to those songs. The agricultural society that promoted these songs has been widely transformed through changed working processes and demographic shifts. Therefore, the modern society is in a position where stage performers cannot have a real experience of these past times. This study is to observe and investigate the specific musical features of those songs that have been transmitted over the centuries. These observations may help to increase a conscious dealing with musical traditions in the context of Sri Lankan agrarian life and their future representation.

Peak Experiences with Electronic Dance Music

This paper investigates the role of musical features in shaping peak-pleasurable experiences of electronic dance music (EDM). Typically, large structural and dynamic changes occur in an EDM track, which can be referred to as the break routine, consisting of breakdown, build-up, and drop. Twenty-four participants listened to four EDM excerpts featuring break routines, and one excerpt without a break routine. Measures were taken of skin conductance, self-reported affect, and embodied aspects of subjective experience, and incidence of pleasant bodily sensations. Participants reported intense affective experience with EDM despite being removed from the club context, and attributed this experience to the drop in particular. They described these experiences as energizing and uplifting, and pointed to an embodied, kinaesthetic experience of the music. Drop sections of the music were associated with significantly higher skin conductance response than other sections of the break routine. Analysis confirms correlation between specific acoustic and musical features and peak-response as observed with other music genres, and also identifies novel musical characteristics particular to EDM associated with peak experience. This shows that pleasurable peak experience with EDM is related to specific musical features, and has embodied spatial and kinaesthetic experiential qualities even when listened to without dancing and away from the club context.

Studying Neural Correlates of Music Features in the Early Years Education and Development Process: A Preliminary Understanding based on a Taxonomical Classification and Logistic Regression Analysis

Studying Neural Correlates of Music Features in the Early Years Education and Development Process: A Preliminary Understanding based on a Taxonomical Classification and Logistic Regression Analysis

J-POP’S ELUSIVE “J”

In the following article, Terry Lancashire attempts to pin down what might be specifically Japanese in J-pop – “whether a ‘J’ in fact exists in J-pop” (PAGE), and explores language, melody and subject matter in a select song corpus. The range of styles explored is quite considerable, so it is not surprising when an attempt to pin down specific musical characteristics evades generalisation, and leads to the conclusion that ultimately performer identity, performance, and shared experience is most critical to understanding that “J”. How it is created, by who, and how it is used are as valuable in extrapolating generalisations about the genre as are specific musical characteristics, and this is a theme long evident throughout Perfect Beat’s history. That said, there is a great deal of value in the detailed analysis of lyric structure, phrasing, melodic style and subject matter, showing the subtleties of expression evident in the broad range of genres represented.

An analysis of performance practices in African American gospel music: rhythm, lyric treatment and structures in improvisation and accompaniment

AbstractAfrican American gospel music is a unique and distinctive idiom that has had a pervasive influence upon the development of contemporary popular music. While there are now many sources available on African American gospel music, the focus of the vast majority of these studies is on the sociological, historical and stylistic aspects of the genre, rather than on identifying and codifying specific musical characteristics and performance practices. This paper extends the discussion of gospel singing techniques in Andrew Legg's 2010 article ‘A taxonomy of musical gesture in African American gospel music’ (Popular Music, 29/1) by examining some of the key performance practices associated with rhythm and lyric treatment in African American gospel music, as well as common structures in gospel music improvisation and accompaniment. Through analysis of selected recordings, this research proposes a codified frame of reference for the definition and discussion of terminologies and performance practice techniques inherent within African American gospel music.

Games Unplugged!Dolanan Anak, Traditional Javanese Children’s Singing Games in the 21st-Century General Music Classroom

Educated in a digital world, millennial children lack social interaction and actual hands-on activities involving tactile and kinesthetic training. To counteract this educational trend, traditional singing games that allow children to explore and make sense of their world physically can be valuable. This article introduces the traditional Javanese children’s singing games, dolanan anak, and their function in developing children’s cognitive and social skills. Children learn to follow rules and commands; acquire general information about themselves, their family, and their natural environment; and internalize sociocultural values, such as collaboration. The article also highlights the culturally specific musical characteristics of the songs, tembang dolanan anak, for example, the traditional Indonesian gamelan principles, such as tuning systems and the concept of stratified polyphony. In addition, it presents teaching strategies and ideas modified for music teachers to incorporate dolanan anak into their curriculum to meet the national standards and the goal of globalized education.

Multicentre evaluation of music perception in adult users of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants

ObjectivesTo document musical listening and enjoyment in recipients of Advanced Bionics cochlear implants (CIs) and to compare musical perception in those using early coding strategies with subjects using the newer HiRes and HiRes 120 strategies.MethodsA questionnaire was completed by 136 adult subjects, including questions on the ability to identify specific musical features. The subjects were in three groups: those using early coding strategies (n = 29), HiRes (n = 59), and HiRes 120 (n = 48), and results were compared with a group of 84 normally hearing (NH) subjects.ResultsOf the CI users, 79% reported listening to music. The NH group rated listening frequency and enjoyment higher than the CI users. Thirty-five users reported that they sang and this group had significantly higher overall performance. There were no significant differences in overall perception of specific musical features among the strategy groups, though some individual questions showed significantly higher performance in the HiRes 120 users.DiscussionUsers of current CI technology show a high level of musical appreciation, though still significantly less than NH subjects. Frequency of listening and enjoyment were significantly correlated and active participation in musical activities, specifically singing, resulted in significantly higher overall performance scores.

Reciprocal Modulation of Cognitive and Emotional Aspects in Pianistic Performances

BackgroundHigh level piano performance requires complex integration of perceptual, motor, cognitive and emotive skills. Observations in psychology and neuroscience studies have suggested reciprocal inhibitory modulation of the cognition by emotion and emotion by cognition. However, it is still unclear how cognitive states may influence the pianistic performance. The aim of the present study is to verify the influence of cognitive and affective attention in the piano performances.Methods and FindingsNine pianists were instructed to play the same piece of music, firstly focusing only on cognitive aspects of musical structure (cognitive performances), and secondly, paying attention solely on affective aspects (affective performances). Audio files from pianistic performances were examined using a computational model that retrieves nine specific musical features (descriptors) – loudness, articulation, brightness, harmonic complexity, event detection, key clarity, mode detection, pulse clarity and repetition. In addition, the number of volunteers' errors in the recording sessions was counted. Comments from pianists about their thoughts during performances were also evaluated. The analyses of audio files throughout musical descriptors indicated that the affective performances have more: agogics, legatos, pianos phrasing, and less perception of event density when compared to the cognitive ones. Error analysis demonstrated that volunteers misplayed more left hand notes in the cognitive performances than in the affective ones. Volunteers also played more wrong notes in affective than in cognitive performances. These results correspond to the volunteers' comments that in the affective performances, the cognitive aspects of piano execution are inhibited, whereas in the cognitive performances, the expressiveness is inhibited.ConclusionsTherefore, the present results indicate that attention to the emotional aspects of performance enhances expressiveness, but constrains cognitive and motor skills in the piano execution. In contrast, attention to the cognitive aspects may constrain the expressivity and automatism of piano performances.

Emotional and psychophysiological responses to tempo, mode, and percussiveness

People often listen to music to influence their emotional state. However, the specific musical characteristics which cause this process are not yet fully understood. We have investigated the influence of the musical characteristics of tempo, mode, and percussiveness on our emotions. In a quest towards ecologically valid results, 32 participants listened to 16 pop and 16 rock songs while conducting an office task. They rated experienced arousal, valence, and tension, while skin conductance and cardiovascular responses were recorded. An increase in tempo was found to lead to an increase in reported arousal and tension and a decrease in heart rate variability. More arousal was reported during minor than major mode songs. Level and frequency of skin conductance responses increased with an increase in percussiveness. Physiological responses revealed patterns that might not have been revealed by self-report. Interaction effects further suggest that musical characteristics interplay in modulating emotions. So, tempo, mode, and percussiveness indeed modulate our emotions and, consequently, can be used to direct emotions. Music presentation revealed subtly different results in a laboratory setting, where music was altered with breaks, from those in a more ecologically valid setting where continuous music was presented. All in all, this enhances our understanding of the influence of music on emotions and creates opportunities seamlessly to tap into listeners’ emotional state through their physiological responses.

Emotional and Psychophysiological Responses to Tempo, Mode, and Percussiveness

People often listen to music to influence their emotional state. However, the specific musical characteristics which cause this process are not yet fully understood. We have investigated the influence of the musical characteristics of tempo, mode, and percussiveness on our emotions. In a quest towards ecologically valid results, 32 participants listened to 16 pop and 16 rock songs while conducting an office task. They rated experienced arousal, valence, and tension, while skin conductance and cardiovascular responses were recorded. An increase in tempo was found to lead to an increase in reported arousal and tension and a decrease in heart rate variability. More arousal was reported during minor than major mode songs. Level and frequency of skin conductance responses increased with an increase in percussiveness. Physiological responses revealed patterns that might not have been revealed by self-report. Interaction effects further suggest that musical characteristics interplay in modulating emotions. So, tempo, mode, and percussiveness indeed modulate our emotions and, consequently, can be used to direct emotions. Music presentation revealed subtly different results in a laboratory setting, where music was altered with breaks, from those in a more ecologically valid setting where continuous music was presented. All in all, this enhances our understanding of the influence of music on emotions and creates opportunities seamlessly to tap into listeners' emotional state through their physiological responses.

Affective Priming Effects of Musical Sounds on the Processing of Word Meaning

Recent studies have shown that music is capable of conveying semantically meaningful concepts. Several questions have subsequently arisen particularly with regard to the precise mechanisms underlying the communication of musical meaning as well as the role of specific musical features. The present article reports three studies investigating the role of affect expressed by various musical features in priming subsequent word processing at the semantic level. By means of an affective priming paradigm, it was shown that both musically trained and untrained participants evaluated emotional words congruous to the affect expressed by a preceding chord faster than words incongruous to the preceding chord. This behavioral effect was accompanied by an N400, an ERP typically linked with semantic processing, which was specifically modulated by the (mis)match between the prime and the target. This finding was shown for the musical parameter of consonance/dissonance (Experiment 1) and then extended to mode (major/minor) (Experiment 2) and timbre (Experiment 3). Seeing that the N400 is taken to reflect the processing of meaning, the present findings suggest that the emotional expression of single musical features is understood by listeners as such and is probably processed on a level akin to other affective communications (i.e., prosody or vocalizations) because it interferes with subsequent semantic processing. There were no group differences, suggesting that musical expertise does not have an influence on the processing of emotional expression in music and its semantic connotations.

The Moon and the Insomniac: Musical Personae in Elliott Carter's ";Insomnia";

Elliott Carter's system of setting a text is examined by means of an analysis of the song 'Insomnia' from A Mirror on Which to Dwell. The close relationship between the poetry and the music is seen in the way that Carter relates his music to the details of the poem, both in form and content. Linear continuities in the music, defined in terms of textural streams with specific musical characteristics, signify personae in the poem through their extra-musical connotations, while stream interaction and textural processes within individual streams relay Carter's interpretation of the text. The formal structure of the poem generates the large-scale tripartite form of the song and plays a role in determining smaller-scale musical subsections. The analytical method presented in this paper, with its focus on linear texture, is appropriate for the analysis of other recent compositions by Carter. (SA J Musicology: 1999/2000 19/20: 57-70)

Verbal and Operant Responses of Young Children to Vocal versus Instrumental Song Performances

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of the presence or absence of lyrics in children s musical selections on two types of young children's responses to music. Of additional interest were differences in responses due to subjects' ages and genders. Two studies were designed to compare responses to recorded lullabies with the melodies performed either by a woman singing the lyrics or by a solo instrument. In Study 1, a pictographic rating scale was used to obtain like-dislike responses to 10 music excerpts from 40 children, ages 4 and 5 years. Results of a three-way repeated-measures ANOVA indicated no significant differences due to the main effects of performance medium, age, or gender, with no significant interactions. Subjects for Study 2 were 51 preschool and kindergarten children. Each child individually listened to two pieces with lyrics and two without lyrics for as long as he or she chose, up to the compute duration of each piece. Time spent listening was recorded to the nearest second. Results of a three-way repeated-measures ANOVA indicated no significant differences due to the main effects of performance medium or song although girls did listen significantly longer than boys did. The results of both studies are consistent with the results of previous research indicating that young children s music attitudes and preferences do not seem to be based on specific musical characteristics and that children may have very idiosyncratic responses and listening styles. The use of time spent listening as a dependent measure for music preference is called into question.