The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures

David Temperley

ISBN 10: 0262701057 / ISBN 13: 9780262701051

Published by MIT Press, 2004

About this Item

nach der Bestellung gedruckt Neuware - Printed after ordering - In this book, David Temperley addresses a fundamental question about music cognition: how do we extract basic kinds of musical information, such as meter, phrase structure, counterpoint, pitch spelling, harmony, and key from music as we hear it Taking a computational approach, Temperley develops models for generating these aspects of musical structure. The models he proposes are based on preference rules, which are criteria for evaluating a possible structural analysis of a piece of music. A preference rule system evaluates many possible interpretations and chooses the one that best satisfies the rules.

Seller Inventory # 9780262701051

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262701057
• ISBN 13: 9780262701051
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 178H x 23D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 178 millimeters height by 23 millimeters depth
• Weight: 712 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In this book, David Temperley addresses a fundamental question about music cognition: how do we extract basic kinds of musical information, such as meter, phrase structure, counterpoint, pitch spelling, harmony, and key from music as we hear it? Taking a computational approach, Temperley develops models for generating these aspects of musical structure. The models he proposes are based on preference rules, which are criteria for evaluating a possible structural analysis of a piece of music. A preference rule system evaluates many possible interpretations and chooses the one that best satisfies the rules.

After an introductory chapter, Temperley presents preference rule systems for generating six basic kinds of musical structure: meter, phrase structure, contrapuntal structure, harmony, and key, as well as pitch spelling (the labeling of pitch events with spellings such as A flat or G sharp). He suggests that preference rule systems not only show how musical structures are inferred, but also shed light on other aspects of music. He substantiates this claim with discussions of musical ambiguity, retrospective revision, expectation, and music outside the Western canon (rock and traditional African music). He proposes a framework for the description of musical styles based on preference rule systems and explores the relevance of preference rule systems to higher-level aspects of music, such as musical schemata, narrative and drama, and musical tension.

About the Author

David Temperley is Associate Professor of Music Theory at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, and the author of The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures (MIT Press, 2001).