Western music’s privileged intervals show no perceptual detection advantage

Evidence

The idea that relative pitch perception depends solely on detecting a pattern of invariant pitch intervals is not supported by our results. Although the invariant property of the patterns in each trial is the sequence of pitch intervals defining the standard, listeners often could not use this information in the current experiment. Our results are compatible with the notion that in constructing object representations, the tolerance of the representation is a function of the variance in the pattern, i.e. increasing variance in object components, leads to more permissive representations. — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5327 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Just as objects are rank-ordered in perspective painting, depending on their distance from the viewer, so musical sounds are rank-ordered by means of their dynamic emphasis in the virtual space of the soundscape. It is an equally deliberate illusion which centuries of training turned into a habit. — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 513 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Western dynamic hierarchy in music is a trained perceptual illusion — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 513; Recognizing interval patterns fails when tested on transposed melodic deviants; Musical intervals trace directly to harmonic-series frequency ratios (+7 more)

Related

• Exact repetition allows direct pitch comparison whereas transposition forces interval processing (similarity 0.85)
• Relative pitch perception resists explanation by invariant interval ratios (similarity 0.85)
• The same musical interval’s dissonance changes with pitch register (similarity 0.85)
• Western dynamic hierarchy in music is a trained perceptual illusion (similarity 0.85)
• Large melodic intervals and multiple transpositions each independently impair deviant detection. (similarity 0.85)
• Neural detection of transposed melodies coexists with surprisingly poor explicit interval recognition (similarity 0.84)
• Consonance perception is continuous and not tied to musical intervals (similarity 0.84)
• Relative pitch perception is more limited than commonly assumed (similarity 0.83)
• Dissonance depends on musical interval, not a fixed beat rate across frequencies (similarity 0.83)
• Rapid pattern detection rests on memory for absolute pitch rather than relative pitch relationships (similarity 0.82)
• Acoustic illusions reveal perception mechanisms and shape music performance (similarity 0.81)
• Even trained musicians have great difficulty detecting deviant melodic patterns under transposition (similarity 0.81)
• Untrained listeners judge two-tone consonance continuously without musical interval prominence (similarity 0.81)
• Musical illusions only work when the listener’s expectations have been pre-established (similarity 0.81)
• Interval patterns are recognized by relative pitch relations, not absolute frequencies (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Recognizing interval patterns fails when tested on transposed melodic deviants #corroborates (0.85)
• Relative pitch perception resists explanation by invariant interval ratios #corroborates (0.84) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5327
• Western dynamic hierarchy in music is a trained perceptual illusion #corroborates (0.82) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 513
• Pitch’s musical expressiveness may rest on detecting pitch differences, not complex interval patterns #complicates (0.80)
• Consonance perception is continuous and not tied to musical intervals #corroborates (0.78) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 951
• Formal musical training and playing experience both improve deviant-tone pattern detection #corroborates (0.78) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 5263
• Dissonance depends on musical interval, not a fixed beat rate across frequencies #contradicts (0.78)
• Musical intervals trace directly to harmonic-series frequency ratios #contradicts (0.75)
• Acoustic illusions reveal perception mechanisms and shape music performance #corroborates (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 1615
• Musical scales universally favor intervals with small integer frequency ratios #contradicts (0.72)