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A seventh diatonic mode, Locrian, contains half-steps between the first
I
T IS WIDELY ASSUMED THAT THE PERCEPTION OF
and second scale degrees, and between the fourth and fifth scale degrees. It
pitch organizationkey, scale, harmony, and is the only diatonic mode that has a diminished fifth rather than a perfect
melodyis shaped by the listeners experience. Evi- fifth above the tonic. It is rarely found in either Western art music or
dence for this is found in the classic work of Krumhansl popular music, and we did not include it in the studies discussed here.
Music Perception, VOLUM E 34, ISSU E 3, PP. 352365, IS S N 0730-7829, EL ECTR ONI C ISSN 1533-8312. 2017 B Y THE R E GE N TS OF THE UN IV E RS I T Y O F CA LI FOR NIA A LL
R IG HTS RES ERV ED . PLEASE DIR ECT ALL REQ UEST S F OR PER MISSION T O PHOT O COPY OR R EPRO DUC E A RTI CLE CONT ENT T HRO UGH T HE UNI VE R S IT Y OF CALI FO RNIA P R E SS S
R EPR IN TS AN D P ERMISSI ONS WEB PAG E , HT T P :// W W W. UCPR ESS . E DU / JOU RNA LS . PHP ? PREPR IN TS . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ M P.2017.34.3.352
Perception and Familiarity of Diatonic Modes 353
FIGURE 1. The six diatonic modes employed in this study with a fixed tonic of C. Whole (W) and half (H) steps indicated.
identical. In its scalar form, the major key shares the whether listeners can rapidly orient themselves to a dia-
same pattern of half- and whole-steps as the Ionian tonic modal framework and use it to evaluate subse-
mode. The minor key can be expressed through several quent melodic continuations. Our study also sheds
different scalar orderings: natural minor, harmonic light on the relative familiarity of different diatonic
minor, and melodic minor; additionally, melodic minor modes. Our interest in these issues stems partly from
differs in its ascending and descending form. Only nat- a previous study on the emotional connotations of
ural minor and the descending melodic minor corre- modes, which we now describe.
spond to the Aeolian mode.
Diatonic modes are widely used in modern Western HAPPINESS AND FAMILIARITY OF DIATONIC MODES
popular music (further evidence for this will be pro- In an earlier study (Temperley & Tan, 2013), we inves-
vided below); one need not have any specialized music tigated the perceived happiness of diatonic modes.
training to encounter these pitch structures. The set of It is widely accepted that major and minor keys have
modes can therefore serve as a test case for studying expressive implications, notably as happy and sad,
more general issues of music cognition; namely the cog- respectively, and experimental studies have confirmed
nitive representation and implicit learning of scale hier- this (Kastner & Crowder, 1990; Peretz, Gagnon, & Bou-
archies. Existing research has demonstrated the chard, 1998). Several theories have been put forth to
importance of learned scale structures for music percep- explain these associations. Based on these theories and
tion in a range of systems and cultures, including clas- the relationship between modes and keys, we consid-
sical major/minor scales (Krumhansl, 1990), North ered several predictions for the emotional connotations
Indian ragas (Castellano, Bharucha, & Krumhansl, of diatonic modes. For instance, the consonance
1984), and Sami yoiks (Krumhansl et al., 2000). These hypothesis predicts that modes with major tonic triads
studies have shown that listeners can quickly select the (Lydian, Ionian, Mixolydian) will be positively valenced,
appropriate scale structure for a given stimulus. For while those with minor triads (Dorian, Aeolian, Phry-
example, in evaluating the fit of pitches, listeners gian) will be negatively valenced. Another hypothesis,
respond quite differently to major contexts than to based on the height of modes relative to each other,
minor ones (Krumhansl, 1990). A study by Bartlett and predicts that modes will decrease in expressed happi-
Dowling (1988) offers further evidence that familiar ness as flats are added (Lydian is happiest, Phrygian is
scalar structures inform Western listeners perceptions least happy). Finally, we discussed the possibility that
of melodies. The researchers found an asymmetry in the participants happiness ratings would be influenced by
perceived similarity of melody pairs: when participants their familiarity with each of the modes. This hypothesis
heard melodies in the order diatonic-nondiatonic, they predicts that Ionian would be perceived as the happiest
perceived them as less similar than the same melodies in mode, since it is (arguably) the most familiar. It should
the reverse order (nondiatonic-diatonic). The authors be noted that our 2013 experiment was specifically
posit that a diatonic melody evokes a small set of alter- designed to probe emotional recognition rather than
natives, among which the nondiatonic melody does not inductionthe emotion that listeners perceived in
belong. the melodies, rather than the one that they felt while
In the present study, we examine listeners ability listening (Evans & Schubert, 2008; Gabrielsson, 2002).
to discriminate among different scalar orderings of Familiarity has generally been found to influence felt
the diatonic collection within melodic contexts. We ask rather than perceived emotion (Gaver & Mandler,
354 Daphne Tan & David Temperley
that many rock melodies do not consistently adhere to 2009 (25 songs).
FIGURE 5. All four versions of one of the melodies used in the Ionian-Lydian experiment. Participants were placed into two groups, one that heard
contexts in Ionian and the other that heard contexts in Lydian; both groups heard endings in both modes.
higher than Aeolian (though the difference was only our pairs of modes to those that differed by one scale
significant for the musician subjects). Generally speak- degree (adjacent modes in Figure 1). The case of Ionian-
ing, then, the corpus data offers limited support for the Phrygian illustrates the difficulties of doing otherwise:
idea that familiarity plays a role in participants judg- in order to establish a Phrygian ending after three mea-
ments of conveyed happiness in modal melodies. sures of an Ionian context, four new scale degrees would
At the same time, corpus data is only an indirect way need to be introduced in the one-measure span. The
of studying the familiarity of modes. The group of case of Ionian-Lydian presents a less daunting compo-
experiments presented below was thus designed to sitional challenge; as Figure 5 demonstrates, only 4
investigate this issue more directly. In our Discussion, needs to be altered to shift from one mode to the other.
we will compare the results of the current study to the We designed four similar experiments, each comparing
corpus data shown in Figure 4. We will also consider the a different mode pair: Mixolydian and Ionian (MI),
results of the current study in relation to our 2013 study. Ionian and Lydian (IL), Dorian and Aeolian (DA), and
If the results from this set of experiments align with the Aeolian and Phrygian (AP). Each participant completed
pattern shown in Figure 2, we could say with greater two different experiments during a single session, either
confidence that familiarity explains our happiness MI and DA or IL and AP. Thus each participant heard
results. If our results do not align with the previous melodies in Ionian and Aeolian as often as melodies in
happiness data, we would have further evidence that two other modes.
other factors contribute to judgments of perceived Before discussing details of the four experiments, sev-
emotions. eral possible outcomes are worth considering. First, an
ending in mode X could produce higher fit ratings in
A PROBE-MODE APPROACH a mode-X context than in a mode-Ycontext. Such a find-
In the present study, participants with minimal formal ing would suggest that participants were able to inter-
music training listened to diatonic melodies that con- nalize the context mode. Given a Lydian ending in
tained a three-measure context in mode X or Y, followed Lydian and Ionian contexts, for instance, the Lydian
by a one-measure ending in mode X or Y. On each trial, context would produce higher ratings if participants are
participants judged how well the melodic ending fit its listening in Lydian. Conversely, if participants rate
preceding context. In devising melodies that began in a Lydian ending equally high in both Lydian and Ionian
one mode and ended in another, it was practical to limit contexts, we would have evidence that participants did
Perception and Familiarity of Diatonic Modes 357
not internalize the Lydian context and were instead 17.7 hours of music listening per week. A free-response
hearing it as a major melody with 4 inflections. question asked participants to name the styles of music
We can also consider the overall ratings for a given to which they enjoyed listening. Among University of
ending mode, across contexts. For instance, participants Rochester participants, the top three styles were rock
may rate all mode-X endings higher than mode-Y end- (N 18), pop (N 14), and classical (N 7).
ings, regardless of contextthat is, regardless of Among Indiana University participants, the top three
whether the ending mode matches the context mode. styles were pop (N 14), rock (N 13), and hip
Such a result would suggest that our participants were hop (N 10). In neither group did participants name
more familiar with mode X than with mode Y. By exten- any other style more than four times.
sion, if the results of our 2013 happiness study represent
listeners familiarity with modes, the order of fit rat- MATERIALS
ings in the current experiments should match Figure 2: We composed four melodies for each of the four experi-
Ionian endings would produce the highest fit ratings, ments (each mode pair). All 16 appear in the Appendix.
followed in descending order by Mixolydian, Lydian, Using the notation software Sibelius, we generated MIDI
Dorian, Aeolian, and Phrygian. We acknowledge that sound files with a piano timbre. Using iTunes, we con-
other factors besides familiarity, notably psychoacoustic verted the resulting files to MP3 format. All melodies are
ones, could affect the overall fit ratings for different four measures long in 4/4 time, with a three-measure
modal endings, and we will return to this possibility context and a one-measure ending. The context and end-
in our Discussion. ing modes were varied systematically for each melody,
producing four different versions; Figure 5 (above) pro-
Method vides an example. As we discuss in detail in Temperley
and Tan (2013), ensuring that listeners hear the intended
PARTICIPANTS tonal center of a modal melody is a distinct composi-
Participants in the MI and DA experiments were tional challenge. In the present study, all melodies (and
18 students from the University of Rochester (average all versions of each) have a tonal center of C, which we
age 21, range 18-25) and 12 students from Indiana emphasize in several ways. C is the final note in every
University (average age 20, range 18-24). Partici- melody, and it also appears on the downbeats of mea-
pants in the IL and AP experiments were 16 students sures 1 and 3. Each melody contains identical material in
from the University of Rochester (average age 20, measures 1 and 3, and overall, there is durational empha-
range 18-25) and 12 students from Indiana Univer- sis on 1 and 5. We included a four-beat click-track at the
sity (average age 24, range 18-35). None of the beginning of each excerpt to encourage listeners to
participants were music majors. University of Roche- entrain to the 4/4 meter.
ster participants reported an average of 1.5 years of
private music lessons; none reported more than five PROCEDURE
years. Indiana University participants reported an Participants were told that they would hear melodies
average of 0.75 years of private music lessons; none containing four short phrases of approximately two sec-
reported more than three years. All participants were onds each. Their task was described as follows: rate
paid $10 for completing the study. how well the 4th phrase (the end of the melody) fits with
A post-test questionnaire asked participants whether the rest of the melody. Participants sat at a Macintosh
they had ever learned about diatonic modes. No parti- computer and used a web-based interface to initiate
cipants at Indiana University reported learning about each trial. They only listened to each melody once.
diatonic modes. At the University of Rochester, two When the final measure (4th phrase) began, the word
participants reported that they had. A follow-up ques- Ending appeared on the screen. Participants were
tion asked: A melody using the C major scale with asked to rate the fit of the ending on a scale of 1 (fits
a tonal center of G would be in ___ mode. Neither very poorly) to 7 (fits very well), and they recorded their
participant was able to answer this question correctly. responses on paper.
Participants were also asked if they had absolute pitch. Participants at each school and in each experiment
Two of the Rochester participants and none of the Indi- were divided into two groups. One group heard contexts
ana participants reported that they did. in mode X and endings in modes X and Y, and the other
University of Rochester participants reported listen- group heard contexts in mode Y and endings in modes
ing to an average of 12.6 hours of music per week, while X and Y. Each participant heard all eight trials (4 mel-
Indiana University participants reported an average of odies x 2 ending modes) in two different and unique
358 Daphne Tan & David Temperley
FIGURE 6. Results for each experiment. Each chart shows, for each modal context, the average fit rating for the two possible endings. Error bars
represent standard error.
randomized orderings, resulting in 16 trials per exper- ending by participants at the two schools. (Recall that
iment. Each participant completed two experiments, each modal context was followed by one of two modal
either DA and MI or AP and IL. Note again that parti- endings.) We found no significant differences between
cipants heard music in Ionian and Aeolian just as fre- the mean ratings of University of Rochester students
quently as the other two modes used in the experiment. and Indiana University students, so we aggregated the
At Indiana University, every participant completed one data for the remaining analyses.
experiment (one mode-pair), took a break by watching For each experiment, we ran a mixed ANOVA with
a music video of their choice on YouTube, and then three within-subject factors: phase (2: first eight trials,
returned to the interface to complete a second experi- second eight trials), melody (4), and ending mode (2);
ment. At the University of Rochester, stimuli from two there was one between-subject factor: context mode (2).
different experiments were intermixed, and participants Notably, there was a significant effect of ending mode,
took a YouTube break between the two blocks of 16 and a significant interaction between ending mode and
trials. context mode for each mode pair. Figure 6 displays the
specific results for each experiment. In every case, an
Results ending was rated higher if its mode matched the context
mode than if it did not. And in all but one case, an
In analyzing our data, we first conducted eight unpaired ending whose mode matched the context mode was
t-tests to compare the mean ratings of each modal rated higher than an ending whose mode did not match
Perception and Familiarity of Diatonic Modes 359
FIGURE 7. Average fit ratings for all six modal endings, for same and
different contexts. FIGURE 8. Strength of each mode in its context: (rating of ending X in
context X) minus (rating of ending Y in context X).
ratings. Because of this, Figures 7 and 8 are suggestive effect in Ionian endings but not in Mixolydian endings.
only; one should be wary of concluding, for example, Thus despite our care, melodic contours may still have
that Aeolian is more familiar than Mixolydian. In this influenced ratings for adjacent modes. Future replica-
study, we were most interested in comparing adjacent tions could consider other ways to control the critical
modes on the line of fifthsin particular, Dorian and scale degree within a melodic context.
Aeolian. Devising experiments to compare non- Despite the above caveats, the current study supports
adjacent modes is a possible project for the future, the conclusion that Western listeners without music
though (as noted above) it might be difficult, using the training are able to internalize diatonic modal frame-
current paradigm, to compare modes that differ by sev- works. The study also reveals a pattern of familiarity of
eral scale degrees. diatonic modes that accords well with their use in mod-
In designing melodies, we were also mindful of the ern popular music. This familiarity pattern partly aligns
differing melodic tendencies of modes, due largely to with the results from a previous study on the perceived
the location of half-steps. In Aeolian mode, the flattened happiness of modes (Temperley & Tan, 2013), but it
sixth degree is a half-step above 5 and has a strong conflicts with the earlier results in one important
tendency to resolve to it; in Dorian, the raised sixth respectthe case of Dorian versus Aeolian; this suggests
degree is a whole-step above 5, and its tendency to that factors beyond familiarity influence the emotional
resolve downwards is much weaker. This may well affect connotation of diatonic modes. Altogether, diatonic
the perceived goodness of different endings, irrespec- modes offer a rich opportunity for studying the percep-
tive of the context. We aimed to construct melodies in tion of pitch and scale, one that connects strongly with
each experiment that contained a variety of scale-degree the experiences of modern Western listeners.
patterns; that is, we wanted to ensure that they would be
convincing in both of the modes. For instance, in all
Author Note
four of our Dorian/Aeolian melodies ( )6 moves down
to 5 [( )65 or ( )645] as well as up to 7 [( )6 7 or
Correspondence concerning this article should be
( )612 7]. In the Mixolydian/Ionian contexts, ( )7
addressed to Daphne Tan, Indiana University Jacobs
descends to 5 or 6 more frequently than it ascends to
School of Music, 1201 East Third Street, Bloomington,
1, but in the endings, ( )7 ascends to 1 three out of four
IN 47405. E-mail: datan@indiana.edu
times; participants may have perceived a leading-tone
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APPENDIX