Integration of metrical and tonal organization in melody perception¹

Abstract

Abstract: The interplay between metrical and tonal organization in melody perception was investigated. Ten musicians listened to five variations of excerpts from each of 12 melodies and judged the keys and rhythms. Original‐condition trials retained the original temporal and pitch patterns of the melodies. Either the temporal or the pitch pattern was shifted in phase by one or two notes and recombined with the other pattern to create the temporal‐shift and the pitch‐shift conditions. The results showed that the listeners’ key interpretation varied between the temporal‐shift conditions, but their metrical interpretation did not vary between the pitch‐shift conditions. These results suggest that the metrical organization was not as influenced by the pitch shifts as the tonal organization was influenced by the temporal shifts. In the process of melody perception, tonal organization is executed using the predictive output of metrical organization.