Scales and Predictability Flashcards
What scale is most Western music based around?
Diatonic scale (12 notes/semitones)
Why are simple tunes or scales easy to learn?
Intervals are predictable
Usually based on a 7-note scale
What mode is C major?
Ionian mode
What scale do Chinese people use?
Pentatonic scale of 5 notes
When is the cultural specificity of scales learnt?
During the first year of life
Explain the study by Lynch & Eilers (1992) which looked at infant scale identification
Tested infants on identification of Western vs Javanese scales
At 6 months, infants failed to respond to ‘wrong notes’. At 1 year, children only respond to violations of their culturally learned scale.
Can older children identify wrong notes in other cultural scales?
No. 10-13 year-olds with musical training could not identify wrong Javanese notes.
Suggests that cultural expectations are very verbally engrained by the age of 10.
What can we infer about familiarity with cultural scales?
The more familiar you become with your own cultural expectations, the harder it becomes to spot things that are wrong about other types of musical structure.
