The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures available in Paperback

The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures
- ISBN-10:
- 0262701057
- ISBN-13:
- 9780262701051
- Pub. Date:
- 08/20/2004
- Publisher:
- MIT Press
- ISBN-10:
- 0262701057
- ISBN-13:
- 9780262701051
- Pub. Date:
- 08/20/2004
- Publisher:
- MIT Press

The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures
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Overview
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.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780262701051 |
---|---|
Publisher: | MIT Press |
Publication date: | 08/20/2004 |
Series: | The MIT Press |
Edition description: | New Edition |
Pages: | 422 |
Product dimensions: | 7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d) |
Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
05/23/2022How would people behave if they knew the length of their lives, asks the moving but predictable debut novel from Erlick. One night, mysterious wooden boxes appear outside every door on Earth, each holding a string, the length of which corresponds to how long its recipient will live, which the recipients begin to figure out and share on social media. Erlick introduces seemingly unconnected characters as they grapple with the news. There’s Hank, a physician who joins a support group for “short-stringers”; Jack, the long-stringed scion of a Kennedy-like political family; and Maura and Nina, a couple two years into their relationship, whose contentment is ruptured when they find that Maura’s string is half the length of Nina’s. Some people, like Nina’s sister, Amie, choose not to look at their strings at all, but even conscious abstainers cannot deny the strings’ devastating impact. Then, a charismatic and villainous presidential candidate looks to capitalize on an older generation’s fears over the short-stringers and the hell they could raise. Late-breaking connections between the characters feel more schematic than revelatory, and details of diverse supporting players such as Jack’s Latino college roommate, who “couldn’t afford to be seen as failure,” read like paint-by-numbers. Still, the scenes of grief and love are poignant. There’s plenty of drama, but overall, it’s a bit too anodyne. Agent: Cindy Uh, CAA. (July)
What People are Saying About This
This book definitively transforms music theory from a discipline yielding interesting and sophisticated, but mostly abstract, theories of music into a science that develops precise and testable models of music perception, thus providing genuine insights into the structures and mechanisms involved in the processing of music. In addition to its own substantial contribution to the field, this work sets the stage for future developments in both music theory and music psychology.
Temperley's book is a landmark effort that integrates three strands of contemporary music theory: preference rule formalisms, music cognition, and computational modeling. Temperley wisely encourages music scholars to reconsider basic topics such as key, meter, and harmony. In addressing anew these concepts the books lays the most solid foundations yet described for the analysis of music. At the same time, the book provides lucid insights into such phenomena as rock music and African rhythms. A major contribution to music theory.
This book makes substantial progress in the computer modeling of basic aspects of musical cognition. The author's presentation of complex subject matter is as direct and straightforward as one could wish. His writing is natural, clear, and unfailingly logical.
Temperley's book is an interesting computational application of forward-looking ideas current in music cognition with regards to conventional, tonal music. Offering a diverse, wide-reaching discussion of 'common practice' music, it gives a strong nod towards the formality induced by necessity from computational models, and is very welcome in so doing.
Temperley's book is a landmark effort that integrates three strands of contemporary music theory: preference rule formalisms, music cognition, and computational modeling. Temperley wisely encourages music scholars to reconsider basic topics such as key, meter, and harmony. In addressing anew these concepts the books lays the most solid foundations yet described for the analysis of music. At the same time, the book provides lucid insights into such phenomena as rock music and African rhythms. A major contribution to music theory.
David Huron, Professor of Music, Ohio State University, and author of Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation
Temperley's book is an interesting computational application of forward-looking ideas current in music cognition with regards to conventional, tonal music. Offering a diverse, wide-reaching discussion of 'common practice' music, it gives a strong nod towards the formality induced by necessity from computational models, and is very welcome in so doing.
Larry Polansky, Joseph Straus 1922 Professor of Music, Dartmouth College, co-author of the computer music language HMSL and co-director, Frog Peak MusicThis book makes substantial progress in the computer modeling of basic aspects of musical cognition. The author's presentation of complex subject matter is as direct and straightforward as one could wish. His writing is natural, clear, and unfailingly logical.
Fred Lerdahl, Fritz Reiner Professor of Music, Columbia UniversityThis book definitively transforms music theory from a discipline yielding interesting and sophisticated, but mostly abstract, theories of music into a science that develops precise and testable models of music perception, thus providing genuine insights into the structures and mechanisms involved in the processing of music. In addition to its own substantial contribution to the field, this work sets the stage for future developments in both music theory and music psychology.
Dirk-Jan Povel, Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information (NICI)Temperley's book is a landmark effort that integrates three strands of contemporary music theory: preference rule formalisms, music cognition, and computational modeling. Temperley wisely encourages music scholars to reconsider basic topics such as key, meter, and harmony. In addressing anew these concepts the books lays the most solid foundations yet described for the analysis of music. At the same time, the book provides lucid insights into such phenomena as rock music and African rhythms. A major contribution to music theory.
David Huron, Professor of Music, Ohio State University, and author of Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation