Hymns vs. rock

Melodic expectation is influenced by a number of factors, including music style. We aim to explore differences between expectations in two distinct Western styles. To what degree will the listener’s expectation conform to style-specific rules, as opposed to universal rules of melodic expectation, such as expecting tonally stable tones? Corpus analysis (note-to-note transition probabilities) was performed to identify main differences between a corpus of hymns and a corpus of rock songs. In a subsequent probe-tone task, 26 listeners were asked to rate on a 1 to 7 scale how well the continuation tone fit into the given style. Every test sample offered two continuations, each typical for one style but less common for the the other. The pattern of responses for the hymn samples displayed a better fit to the style-specific transitions of the corpus than to the general tonal hierarchy model as proposed by Krumhansl (1991). The opposite was true for the rock songs. We assume that in cohesive, well-defined styles, the listeners might be more likely to reflect style-specific knowledge in their expectations. In varied, broadly defined styles, however, they will adhere to a general tonal model.

Zuzana Cenkerová is a Junior researcher at the Musicology Department of the Slovak Acad-emy of Sciences and lectures music psychology at the College of Music and Performing Arts in Bratislava. She holds a PhD. in musicology, as well as a Mag. degree in business mathe-matics and a Bc. in psychology.