Dimensions of Sensitivity in Harmonic Perception

An empirical music perception study with Prof. Charles Chubb, cognitive scientist at UC Irvine, and members of his lab.

How sensitive are listeners to harmonic difference? Experimental data show that most people (~70%) cannot distinguish—and cannot be trained to distinguish—between simple major and minor triads when presented as bursts of rapid, randomly-ordered tones. However, the 30% of listeners who can hear the distinction demonstrate similar sensitivity to a range of other, more complex scale properties.

What are the dimensions of this cognitive resource we call “scale sensitivity,” and how might it map onto musical experience?

“Interactions Between the Tonic and Major and Minor Tones in Major vs Minor Judgments” by Tyler Dean, Charles Chubb, and Christopher Douthitt presented as a poster at the Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC) Annual Meeting in 2017.