Topic
Semitone
About: Semitone is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 76 publications have been published within this topic receiving 837 citations.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
TL;DR: For instance, this paper found that children from 4 to 6 years of age were superior in detecting the semitone change in the diatonic context compared with the nondiatonic context.
Abstract: In the present research we examined the development of sensitivity to two musical relations significant in Western tonal music, the semitone and diatonic structure. Infants and preschool children were tested for their detection of a semitone change in any position of a five-note melody. Two standard melodies were used, one composed of diatonic tones only and the other containing a nondiatonic tone. In Experiment 1, children from 4 to 6 years of age were superior in detecting the semitone change in the diatonic context compared with the nondiatonic context. In Experiment 2, infants 9 to 11 months of age detected the semitone change in all positions, but their performance was not influenced by diatonic context. These findings indicate that infants and children can discriminate a semitone in a musical context and that the priority of diatonic structure emerges by 4 to 6 years of age. In the present research we examined the development of sensitivity to two musical relations significant in Western tonal music: the semitone, a musical unit, and diatonic structure, a more complex musical configuration. In Western tonal music, the semitone is the smallest interval between two notes. It represents the frequency ratio o f 2 ~ / ~ 2 (i. e., 1:1.059 ) and divides the octave into 12 equal intervals. Thus, Western tonal music is composed from 12 notes separated by semitones and replicated in successive octaves. Musical compositions differ in their specific selection of these notes, but, nevertheless, the subsets of tones comprising musical compositions share many characteristics. In particular, music is written in a key that specifies a tonic note, which functions psychologically as a reference note (Krumhansl, 1979), and a set of six other tones related as the major or minor mode. The set of relations specified among these seven tones is known as diatonic structure. The ability of adults to discriminate the smallest musical interval, a semitone, in short melodies has been shown in a variety of recognition tasks (e.g., Cohen, 1982; Cuddy, Cohen, & Mewhort, 1981). In these studies, listeners are better able to detect semitone changes in melodies that conform to diatonic structure, and they make more errors in melodies with increasing violations of diatonic structure. Further evidence for the psychological significance of diatonic structure has been revealed by the probe-tone technique (Krumhansl & Kessler, 1982; Krumhansl & Shepard, 1979). Here a diatonic context is established on each trial by presentation of a diatonic scale, a
103 citations
Patent•
IBM1
TL;DR: In this article, audio is analyzed based on semitone intervals (402-406) and an average is calculated for each semitone channel (408-410) and running averages are calculated and compared to see if they cross (414, 416).
Abstract: Audio is analyzed based on semitone intervals (402-406) and an average is calculated for each semitone channel (408-410). Running averages are calculated for each semitone channel (412) and averages are compared to see if they cross (414, 416). Crossing events are marked and utilized in combination with frequency spectrum data to determine a match between stored sound patterns and the input audio.
60 citations
TL;DR: Interference effects in memory between tones of similar pitch are concerned and tones are more similar acoustically to each other than they are to spoken numbers, which demonstrates a general effect of similarity.
Abstract: Pitch recognition was required alter a 4-sec. delay during which 4 other tones were played. When the standard (S) and comparison (C) tones were identical in pitch, the inclusion of a tone in the intervening sequence that was a semitone higher or lower than the S tone produced an increase in errors. Including tones both a semitone higher and a semitone lower in the same intervening sequence produced a further increase in errors. Analogous results were obtained when the S and C tones differed in pitch. However, when the critical intervening tone was identical in pitch to the C tone, errors were further increased. This paper is concerned with interference effects in memory between tones of similar pitch. Studies of long-term verbal memory have repeatedly demonstrated similaritybased interference. However, the existence of such effects in short-term verbal memory has been the subject of considerable controversy (Brown, 1958; Conrad, 1964; Wickelgren, 1965). It has been shown that short-term recognition memory for tonal pitch is subject to interference produced specifically by the interpolation of tones in the retention interval and not by the interpolation of numbers presented acoustically at equal loudness (Detitsch, 1970). Since tones are more similar acoustically to each other than they are to spoken numbers, this finding demonstrates a general effect of similarity. A more specific effect has also been found in a study in which pitch recognition was required after an interval during which other tones were played (Deutsch, 1972a). The standard (S) and
55 citations
TL;DR: Performance improved from 5 to 8 years of age, reaching adult levels at 8 years, and performance accuracy decreased as the size of the shift decreased.
Abstract: Musically untrained participants in five age groups (5-, 6-, 8-, and 11‐year-olds, and adults) heard sequences of three 1s piano tones in which the first and third tones were identical (A5, or 880Hz) but the middle tone was displaced upward or downward in pitch. Their task was to identify whether the middle tone was higher or lower than the other two tones. In experiment 1, 5‐year-olds successfully identified upward and downward shifts of 4, 2, 1, 0.5, and 0.3 semitones. In experiment 2, older children (6-, 8-, and 11‐year-olds) and adults successfully identified the same shifts as well as a smaller shift (0.1 semitone). For all age groups, performance accuracy decreased as the size of the shift decreased. Performance improved from 5to8years of age, reaching adult levels at 8years.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, listeners were tested on their ability to discriminate "standard" and "comparison" pure-tone musical intervals that differed in size by 20 cents (1/ 5 of an equal-tempered semitone).
Abstract: Listeners were tested on their ability to discriminate "standard" and "comparison" pure-tone musical intervals that differed in size by 20 cents (1/ 5 of an equal-tempered semitone). Some of the intervals
were prototypic, equal-tempered perfect fifths (exactly 7 semitones, or 700 cents). Others were mistuned to various degrees (660, 680, 720, or 740 cents). The intervals were melodic (sequential) in Experiments
1 and 2 and harmonic (simultaneous) in Experiment 3. Performance was neither enhanced nor impaired in comparisons that included the prototype. In other words, no "perceptual magnet" or "perceptual anchor"
effects were observed. Nonetheless, performance was markedly asymmetric. Regardless of listeners9 musical expertise, discrimination was superior when the standard interval was more accurately tuned than
the comparison interval (e.g., 700- cent standard, 680-cent comparison), compared with when the comparison was more accurately tuned than the standard (e.g., 680-cent standard, 700-cent comparison).
43 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2023 | 10 |
| 2022 | 16 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2019 | 3 |