Music Perception © 1999 by the regents of the

Spring 1999, Vol. 16, No. 3, 265-294 university of California

The Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin Atonal Music:

The Influenceof Salience,Stability,Horizontal Motion,
Pitch Commonality,and Dissonance

NICOLA DIBBEN
Universityof Sheffield

Two experimentsthat investigatethe perceptionof structuralstabilityin

atonal music are reported.The first experimentsuggeststhat listeners
may hearatonal musicin termsof the relativestructuralimportanceof
events and that listeners'hearingis greatlyinfluencedby metricaland
durationalstructure.A second experimentrevealsthat, even in the ab-
senceof clearrhythmic,timbrai,dynamic,and motivicinformation,lis-
tenersinferrelationshipsof relativestructuralstabilitybetweeneventsat
the musicalsurface.The effectsof threemainvariables(pitchcommon-
ality, horizontalmovement,and dissonance)and two saliencecriteria
(registerand parallelism)are considered.The resultsindicatethat in the
absenceof a clearlydifferentiatedsurfacestructure,listeners'judgments
of stabilityareinfluencedby the dissonanceof chordsand the horizontal
movementof voices.It is concludedthat salience(phenomenalaccents),
voice-leading,and dissonanceare potentiallyimportantfactors in the
abstractionof relationshipsof relativestructuralimportance,and hence
to any inferenceof prolongationalstructurein atonalmusic.

and Jackendoff(1983) have suggestedthat experiencedlisten-

ers hear tonal music in terms of an underlyinghierarchicalorganiza-
Lerdahl
tion. This event hierarchy,it is suggested,gives rise to the experienceof
tension and relaxationin music, also describedas movementtoward or
away fromgoals. The abstractionof suchrelationshipshas been attributed
to the interactionof stabilityconditions(therelationshipsbetweenpitches,
chords, and keys of the tonal hierarchy),rhythmicstructure(meterand
duration),and other saliencecriteria,such as dynamics,texture,and tim-
bre (Lerdahl6c Jackendoff,1983). However,what happensin the case of
nontonal music?Does the absenceof the stabilityconditionsof the tonal
hierarchymean that this music is not heardin terms of relativestructural
stability?Or do other musicalparameterscompensate?Intuitionsuggests

Addresscorrespondence to Nicola Dibben,Departmentof Music,Universityof Sheffield,

SheffieldS10 2TN UnitedKingdom,(e-mail:n.j.dibben@sheffield.ac.uk)

265
266 Nicola Dibben

that the same musicalexperienceof movingtoward and away from goals,

of a senseof departureand return,persistsin muchof nontonalmusic.But
if so, how does the listenerinferthis experiencefrom the musicalsurface?
As a first step toward answeringthis question, two experimentsthat
investigatethe perceptionof structuralstabilityin atonalmusicarereported.
Atonalmusicof the SecondVienneseSchoolwas chosenas the focus of this
researchbecause,althoughit retainsmany featuresin commonwith tonal
music(e.g., phrasestructure,texture,timbre),it uses a completelydifferent
pitchorganization.Moreover,specifichypotheseshavebeenproposedabout
perceptionof this music (e.g., Lerdahl,1989, 1996).
Prevailingtheoriesof the perceptionof tonal musicsuggestthat listeners
abstractan event hierarchyfrom the successionof events at the musical
surface.Accordingto the generativetheory of tonal music1(Lerdahl&
Jackendoff,1983), listenerssegmentthe musicalsurfaceinto a hierarchyof
time spansaccordingto metricaland groupingstructureand then assigna
head (or most importantevent) from within each time-span.The head of
each time span constitutesthe event of greatestrhythmicand pitch stabil-
ity,and the seriesof heads,in turn,formsthe basisfor listeners'abstraction
of prolongationalstructure,whichcapturesbothlarge-andsmall-scalepitch
connectionsacrossthe music.The form of the theoryis shown in Figure1.
The theory assigns a structuraldescriptionto pieces of tonal music and
predictsthe experiencedlistener'sperceptionof musicalstructure.
Much empiricalresearchhas beendirectedtowardthe explicationof the
perceptionof structuralstabilityin tonal music, and hence to the percep-
tion of tonal event hierarchiesand prolongationalstructure.The predic-
tions of GTTMare supportedimplicitlyby resultsof empiricalresearchon
the role of tonal hierarchies(Bharucha& Krumhansl,1983; Krumhansl,
1979; Krumhansl&cKessler,1982) and the interactionof rhythmicstruc-
ture with pitch structure(Palmer& Krumhansl,1987). Althoughthis re-
searchdoes not directlyaddressthe predictionsof GTTM, the empirical
data is congruentwith it in so far as it providesdata on factorsthat con-
tributeto the structuralimportanceof events(i.e., the role and relationship
of tonal hierarchiesand event hierarchies).More directly,recentresearch
suggeststhat listenersare sensitivenot only to relativestructuralimpor-
tance,butto hierarchicalrelationshipsof structuralstability(Bigand,1990;
Dibben, 1994). Evidencehas also been found for the close relationship
betweenthe perceptionof event hierarchicrelationshipsand the abstrac-
tion of tension-relaxationschemata(Bigand,1993; Bigand,Parncutt,&c
Lerdahl,1996; Krumhansl,1996). Hence, researchsuggeststhat listeners
perceiveeventswithin a tonal piece in termsof relativestructuralstability
and that the relative stability of events is experienced in terms of
prolongationalstructure.
1. Henceforthreferredto as GTTM.
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 267

Fig. 1. The formof the generativetheoryof tonal music (Lerdahl& Jackendoff,1983).

A similarmodel has been suggestedwith regardto the perceptionof

atonal music (Lerdahl,1989). Accordingto this model, the perceptionof
atonalmusicis basedon a similarprocessin which the stabilityconditions
of the tonal hierarchyarereplacedwith those of an atonalpitch spacethat
is inherentlyless hierarchicallyorganized.The form of the theoryis shown
in Figure2.
In tonal music, stabilityconditionsovercomethe effect of saliencesuch
that, for example,an appoggiaturais still heardas resolvingto the tonally
more stable pitch event even though the suspensionmay be louder,in a
higherregister,and in a strongermetricalposition. Lerdahlsuggeststhat
although,as a generalprinciple,some form of atonal stabilityconditions
may operate in atonal pieces, stability conditions are far less important
than salienceconditions.Hence, Lerdahl(1989, pp. 73-74) suggeststhat
listenersinferan eventhierarchybasedon the relativesalienceof events:an
event is deemedto have greaterstructuralimportanceif it is
a. attackedwithin the region (i.e., within the time span) [3]2
b. in a relativelystrongmetricalposition [1]
c. relativelyloud [2]
d. relativelyprominenttimbrally[2]
e. in an extremeregistralposition [3]
f. relativelydense [2]
g. relativelylong in duration[2]
h. relativelyimportantmotivically[2]
i. next to a relativelylargegroupingboundary[2]
j. parallelto a choice made elsewherein the analysis[3]

2. Thenumberin bracketsto the sideof eachsalienceconditionindicatesthe condition's

strengthrelativeto the otherconditions.Forexample,if one eventin the time span is loud
while anotheris in a strongmetricalposition,the theorypredictsthat the loud eventwill be
preferredas the head of the time span.
268 Nicola Dibben

Fig. 2. The form of atonalprolongationstructure(Lerdahl,1989).

More recently,Lerdahl(1996) has suggestedfour additionalfactorsthat

determinethe structuralimportanceof events in the absenceof stability
conditions: streaming,the critical band, melodic anchoring,and virtual
pitches.Althoughthese are discussedin more detail later (see Experiment
2), they are summarizedbrieflyhere in orderto identifythe way in which
they extend previousformulationsof atonal prolongationtheory.Lerdahl
suggeststhatthe firstthreeof thesefactorsaccountfor the processby which
eventsare heardas eitherornamentalor structural.The firstfactor,that of
streaming,accounts for the way in which sounds are automaticallypro-
cessedas simultaneousbut separatestreams.The secondfactoris the effect
of the criticalband,which meansthat two pitcheventsthat simultaneously
stimulateoverlappingareasof the basilarmembrane(pitchesseparatedby
an intervalof a minorthird or less) producea sensationof roughness,ex-
periencedas dissonance,and will thereforebe perceivedas unstable.The
third factor is the principleof melodic anchoringby which a dissonant
pitch is expectedto resolveonto a subsequentmorestablepitchproximate
to the first. Lerdahlconcludesthat, in combination,these principlesmean
that pitcheslying insidethe criticalband are heardas constitutinga single
streamand are thereforein psychoacousticconflict such that one will give
way to the other.This theorizationforms a usefulextensionto the notion
of saliencecriteriain that it recognizesthe influenceof horizontalmotion
and psychoacousticpropertiesof pitch on the perceptionof structuralsta-
bility.The fourthprinciplesuggestedby Lerdahlis that of the perceptionof
virtualpitch (Parncutt,1989). Lerdahluses this principleto account for
the perceptionof missing fundamentalsand the fundamentalbass. The
researchpresentedhereformalizesthisobservationby incorporatingit within
an investigationof stability arising from pitch commonality,namely,an
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 269

account of the relationships between chords based on shared pitches

(Parncutt,1989). Thus it would appearthat other factors in addition to
salienceimpingeon a listener'sabstractionof hierarchicalstructurein atonal
music.
The main implicationof atonal prolongationaltheoryfor any theory of
the perceptionof atonal music is that it predictsa high degreeof congru-
ence betweenthe rhythmicstructureand any event hierarchy.Lerdahlex-
plicitly states that the event hierarchyderivedfrom an atonal piece will
bear a much closer resemblanceto a purelyrhythmicreductionthan will
an event hierarchyderivedfrom a tonal piece (Lerdahl,1989, pp. 75-76).
This is a direct consequence of the absence of stability conditions: a
prolongationalheadis chosen on the basisof the next most salienteventin
the time spanratherthan on the basisof the event'sstability(as definedby
the stabilityconditionsof the tonal pitch space). A second issue that this
formulationraises,but which has less immediaterelevanceto this research,
is whetherprolongationalstructurecan be equatedto intuitionsof tension
and relaxationin the absenceof the stabilityconditionsof the tonal hierar-
chy. Lerdahlsuggeststhat conceptsof tension and relaxationare ambigu-
ous with respectto atonalmusicandthat intuitionsof prolongationalstruc-
tureare betterdescribedby a notion of departureaway from and returnto
a particularpitch collection (Lerdahl,1989, p. 74).
Researchon the perceptionof atonal music has focused on the percep-
tion of pitch set and serial structure,ratherthan the perceptionof atonal
musicin termsof an eventhierarchy(Krumhansl,Sandell&cSergeant,1987;
Stammers,1994). The little researchthat has focused on the hierarchical
representationof atonal musichas found little evidencefor the perception
of atonal music in terms of a reductionalhierarchyof events based on
salience(Dibben, 1994). The primaryaims of the researchreportedhere
are,first,to determinewhetherlistenershearatonalmusicin termsof struc-
tural stabilityat all, and second, to determinewhich factorscontributeto
the creation of this stability.An initial experimentthereforeinvestigates
whetherlistenersdo attributerelativestructuralstabilityto atonal events,
andthe extentto whichthis eventhierarchyis dependenton rhythmicstruc-
ture, and a second experimentinvestigatesthe role of other factors men-
tioned earlier.
The methods used here requiredsubjectsto rate musical sequencesin
termsof theirrelativecompleteness.A melodic-harmonicpassagewas seg-
mented such that each segmentwas one event longer than the preceding
segment.A set of ratingsfor the final event of each segmentwas obtained,
allowing the inferenceof a stabilityprofile for the complete musical ex-
tract.Usingthismethodwith tonalmaterials,PalmerandKrumhansl(1987)
foundevidencefor the formationof an eventhierarchyas an additiveeffect
of pitch and temporal structures,and Bigand demonstratedcongruence
270 Nicola Dibben

between subjects'ratings of materialsin which the underlyingstructure

had beenmanipulatedin systematicways (e.g., alteringthe implicitharmo-
nies, but keeping the same rhythmicstructure,melodic contour,tempo,
and dynamic)andthe prolongationalstructureof those materialspredicted
by GTTM(Bigand,1993). LerdahPsatonalprolongationaltheory(Lerdahl,
1989, 1996) impliesthat listenersare able to inferprolongationalrelation-
ships in atonal music;therefore,the abstractionof prolongationalstruc-
tures in atonal music should be accessibleto empiricaltesting using the
same method.
A possible criticismof this method is its assumptionthat the degreeof
"completeness"of a musicalphraseis synonymouswith structuralstabil-
ity,an equivalencedrawnelsewherein the psychologicalliterature(Bigand,
1993). Althoughit is recognizedthat the completenessof a segmentmay
dependon factorsadditionalto an event'sstability(e.g., the length of the
phrase,or the particulargesturalcharacterof the music),thereis nonethe-
less evidencefor a high degreeof congruencebetweenlisteners'judgments
of completenessand stability(or tension). For example,a recentstudy by
Krumhanslrevealeda high correlationbetween completenessand judg-
ments of tension in which tension increasedas the end of a section was
approached,subsequentlydecreasingat the end (Krumhansl,1996).
A second possiblecriticismof the method is that judgmentsof stability
aremadeonly on what has occurredup to and includingthe last event:any
possibleinfluenceof the eventsfollowingthe final eventof each segmentis
precluded.This constraintwas imposedbecauseit preservesas far as pos-
sible the listeningsituationin which a piece of music is heardfor the first
time.Hence,subjects'judgmentsof the stabilityof eachsegmentwerebased
only on the eventsheardup to that point ratherthan on any knowledgeof
eventsto follow.

Experiment 1

The aim of this experimentwas to discover,first, whetherlistenersare

able to consistentlyattributerelativestructuralstabilityto eventsin atonal
music, and second, to determinethe degree to which the perceptionof
structuralimportanceis determinedby rhythmicstructure.As discussed
earlier,atonal prolongationaltheory (Lerdahl,1989) suggeststhat, in the
absenceof the stabilityconditions of a hierarchicalpitch space, listeners
form an event hierarchybased on the relativesalienceof events. In addi-
tion, the theory suggeststhat any reductionalhierarchyof atonal music
will be highlydependenton, and congruentwith, the time-spanreduction,
that is, metricaland groupingstructure(Lerdahl,1989, p. 76). To discover
the extent to which this is an accuratedescriptionof listeners'perceptions
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 271

of atonal music, listeners'judgmentsof structuralstabilityare compared

both to the predictionsof atonal prolongationaltheory (Lerdahl,1989,
1996), in so far as they apply to the particularmaterialsused and to a
measureof rhythmicstructure(derivedfrom Bigand,1993).

METHOD

Subjects
Sixteensubjectsparticipatedin the experiment.All werevolunteers,studentsof musicat
degreelevel,and familiarwith atonalmusic(havingstudiedaspectsof earlytwentiethcen-
turymusichistoryand theory).Beforethe experiment,none of the subjectswere familiar
with the pieceof musicused.

Materials
The extractof music used for this experimentwas the thirdof Schoenberg'sSix Little
PianoPieces(op. 19, no. 3, mm. 1-4). This piece was chosen as being an exampleof the
earlyatonalstyle.As such,it not only retainsa phrasestructureand texturequitesimilarto
thatof tonalclassicalmusicbut its ambiguouspitchstructure(neithercompletelytonal nor
atonal)also allows considerationof the relativestrengthand role of stabilityand salience
conditions.The extractwas segmentedinto 19 shorterfragmentsas shown in Figure3, a
processfacilitatedby its fairlyslow tempo and chordaltexture.Eachsuccessivefragment
endedon the next consecutiveevent.The end point of the firstsegmentoccurredat the end
of the firstmeasure,so thatsubjectsheardsomecontextbeforehavingto performthe rating
taskfor the firsttime.Previousresearchsuggeststhatperformanceexpressionprovidescues
to the perceptionof musicalstructure,particularlyin cases where structuralrelationships
betweenmusicaleventsareambiguous(Palmer,1996; Thompson& Cuddy,1997). There-
forefragmentswererecordedfroma computer-generated performancedevoidof expressive
deviationin orderto restrictlisteners'abstractionof musicalstructureto the musicalmate-
rialsas far as possible.

Apparatus
The fragmentsof musicwere encodedon a computer-controlled sequencerby a pianist
playing a DisklavierMIDI piano. The timing deviationsand all dynamic differentiation
were then removedto create "dead-pan"versionsof the fragments,which were then re-
cordedto tape. Subjectswere tested individuallywith fragmentsplayed from tape via a
high-qualityamplifierand speakers.

Procedure
Listenerswerepresentedwith a musicalfragmentand were askedto ratehow complete
the phrasesoundedusinga seven-pointscale (wherea scoreof 1 representsan incomplete
phrase,and a scoreof 7 representscompletion).By presentingthe fragmentwith one addi-
tional event on each successivetrial, a stabilityprofilefor the fragmentwas derivedfrom
subjects'responses.Fragmentswerepresentedin chronologicalorderso that subjectsheard
moreof the fragmenteachtime,but had no previoushearingsof the actualcontinuationsof
eachparticularfragmentbeforemakingtheirratings.An earlierexperimentby Bigandfound
that subjects'judgmentswere influencedby the orderin which successivefragmentswere
heard(Bigand,1993). This experimentthereforeconstrainedthis effectby presentingfrag-
mentsin chronologicalorderonly,thusensuringthatthe ratingsgivenwerebasedon listen-
ers'experienceof the fragmentup to and includingthe end point of each segmentand not
272 Nicola Dibben

on their memory of how the piece continued. Subjects were also asked whether they were
familiar with the piece before the experiment. The experiment took 10 minutes to run.

RESULTS

To discoverany effectof segment,a one-factorrepeatedmeasuresanaly-

sis of variancewas performedon the data.The effectof segmentwas found
to be highly significant,F (18, 270) = 9.54, p < .0001, indicatingthat the
differentfragmentselicited significantlydifferentand consistentstability
judgments.Figure3 shows the stability profile obtained from the mean
ratings.
A Scheffétest indicatedsignificantdifferencesbetweenSegments1 and
8, 1 and 19, 2 and 10, 3 and 8, 4 and 10, 7 and 8, 8 and 9, 8 and 1,, 8 and
12, 9 and 19, 10 and 15, 10 and 19, and Segments12 and 19. As expected,
the higheststabilityratingsoccurat phraseendings,that is, Segments8 and
19, which correspondto the first and second phrases, respectively.The
ratingsalso revealtwo stability"curves"spanningeach of the two phrases:
eachphrasestartsin relativetension,becomingmorestableas it moves on,

Fig. 3. Mean stability ratings and musical score showing the 19 segments of Schoenberg's,
op. 19, no. 3, mm. 1-4.
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 273

with an increasein tension just before the final chord of the phrase (a
patternobservedby Krumhansl,1996). The othernoticeablefeatureof the
stabilityprofileis that it moves in regularlyalternatingpeaks and troughs:
thereis a regularpatternof more stabilityfollowed by less on each succes-
sive event,which at firstglancecoincideswith the durationaland metrical
emphases.
In order to determinewhether these ratings are predicted by atonal
prolongationaltheory,theseresultswerecorrelatedwith a measureof struc-
tural stabilityderivedfrom atonal prolongationaltheory (Lerdahl,1989,
1996).A prolongationalanalysisof the extractderivedfromLerdahl'stheory
is shown in Figure4. This analysis takes into account the operation of
tonal stabilityconditionsat cadentiallocations as well as the effect of sa-
lience conditionselsewhere.For example,there is a clear Bt-minorscalar
ascentin the bass, endingon a half-cadenceon F on the downbeatof mea-
sure 3. This, togetherwith the delayedresolutionto Bl>in the bass at the
end of the extract and the Ct/Dt in the soprano with which the extract
opened,is a clearindicatorof tonalstabilityconditionsoperatingat cadential
locations. In orderto comparethis analysiswith the stabilityratingsob-
tainedfrom subjects,scoresare assignedto eventsby countingthe number
of hierarchicallevelspassedthroughin the prolongationaltree structureof
the music.3These scoreswere then reversedso that highervaluesindicated
greaterstability,in line with the ratingscale used by subjects.This adjust-
ment providesa measureof the stabilityof each event in termsof its posi-
tion within the prolongationalhierarchyof the extract.
Listeners'stabilityratingswere then correlatedwith a measureof rhyth-
mic structuretaken from Bigand (1993). Accordingto this model, each
segmentis assigneda scoreby usingthe following formula:rhythmicscore
= durationx metricalweight. A numberis assignedto each durationac-
cording to its length in eighth notes (the smallest unit in this extract of
music):thus, eighthnote = 1, quarternote = 2, dotted quarternote = 3. In
orderto measurethe metricalweight of each musicalevent, a numberwas
assignedto each event accordingto where the event occurredwithin the
measure.So, for a meter of 4/4, an event occurringon the first beat is
assigneda scoreof 4, an event on the thirdbeat is assigneda score of 3, an
event on the second or fourth beats is assigneda score of 2, and an event
on the half beat is assigneda score of 1. For each event, the durationand
metricalweight are multipliedto produce a theoreticalscore measuring
the structuralimportanceof the eventwithinthe context of the piece (Table
1). Two metricalinterpretationsof the piece were considered.The first is
the irregularmeter that arises from phenomenalaccents at the musical
surface:accordingto this interpretation,the meterstartsin 2/4, then 3/4,
3. This methodof quantifyingstructuralimportancewithin the prolongationalreduc-
tion is derivedfromDibben(1994).
274 Nicola Dibben

Fig. 4. Prolongational analysis of Schoenberg's op. 19, no. 3, mm. 1-4.

3/4, 2/4, 2/4, and 3/4 with the phrase ending at Event 19 on the downbeat.
The second is the nota ted meter of 4/4. Two versions of each of these
metrical interpretationswere used: a composite measure based on the rhyth-
mic structure of the right and left hands, and a measure based on the rhyth-
mic structure of the right hand only (where the melodic line is absent, the
left hand is used). This latter measure of rhythmic structure attempts to
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 275

Table 1
Rhythmic and Prolongational Importance of Schoenberg's Op. 19, No. 3,
Measures 1-4
Phenomenal Phenomenal Prolongational
Segment 4/4 Composite 4/4 Right Hand* Composite Right Hand* Importance (rev.)
î ï ï ï Ï 2
2 4 4 2 2 2
3 1111 1
4 4 8 6 12 3
5 6 (6) 4 (4) 1
6 2 4 2 4 2
7 1111 1
8 8 (8) 6 (6) 4
9 2 2 2 2 3
10 1 1 1 1 2
11 3 3 3 3 4
12 1 1 1 1 2
13 2 2 2 2 2
14 1 1 1 1 1
15 4 32 3 24 3
16 1 (1) 1 (1) 1
17 6 (6) 6 (6) 2
18 1 (1) 1 (1) 1
19 4 (4) 6 (6) 5
*Numbersin parenthesesare for left hand.

take into account perceptualbias toward the upper voice in this poly-
phonic piece.
Statisticalanalysisrevealsa high correlationbetweenthe mean ratings
given by subjectsand both the atonal prolongationaltheoryscore (r = .49,
p < .05) and the rhythmicscores:4/4 meter,compositerhythm(r = .75, p <
.01); 4/4 righthand (r = .48, p < .05); phenomenalmeter,compositerhythm
(r = .77, p < .01); phenomenalmeter,righthand (r = .54, p < .05). When all
variablesareenteredinto a stepwiseregressiononly the phenomenal-meter,
composite-rhythmicscore emergesas a significantpredictorof listeners'
perceptionsof structuralstability.Thus, although both the rhythmicand
atonal prolongationaltheory scores providegood models of listeners'in-
ferenceof the relativestability of events in atonal music, the composite
scorebasedon the meterarisingfromphenomenalaccentsat the surfaceof
the musicboth providesa betterfit to the data and is a moreparsimonious
model. The correlationbetween the atonal prolongationaltheory scores
andthose of the phenomenalmeter(compositescore)is significant(r = .65,
p <.01), suggestingthat, in the case of these musical materials,duration
and metricalstructureaccountsfor a large proportionof the variationin
the measureof prolongationalstructure.
276 Nicola Dibben

DISCUSSION

This experimentdemonstratesthat listenershear atonal music in terms

of the relativestructuralstabilityof events:when asked to rate the com-
pletenessof segmentsof atonal music,subjects'ratingsshowed a cleardif-
ferentiationbetweenthe structuralstabilityof events. More significantly,
these results showed a high correlationwith both atonal prolongational
theory and a model based on rhythmicstructure,suggestingthat listeners
are sensitiveto hierarchicalrelationshipsof structuralstability.
Comparisonof the degreeto which both these models fit the data sug-
gests that in the case of Schoenberg'sop. 19, no. 3, durationand metric
structurearehighlysignificantfactorsin the inferenceof relativestructural
stability:subjects'completenessratingswere describedslightlybetterby a
model based on metric and durationalfactors than by the predictionsof
atonal prolongationaltheory as modeled here. The high correlationbe-
tween the predictionsof atonal prolongationaltheory and the rhythmic
score supportsthe assertionthat a high degree of congruenceexists be-
tween reductionalstructureand rhythmic structure(Lerdahl,1989). It
should be noted, however,that these materialsexhibit a high degree of
congruencebetween metric structureand salience:the irregularmeter is
inferredfrom phenomenalaccents (i.e., salience)at the musical surface.
Hence, there is inevitably a high degree of congruence between the
prolongationaland rhythmicstructure.This is not simplyan artifactof the
particularmaterialsused but highlightsa congruencebetweenmeter and
saliencecharacteristicof atonalmusicandis implicitin atonalprolongational
theory. In GTTM the perceptionof meterresultsfrom a filteringof phe-
nomenalaccents (salience)and structuralaccents (Lerdahl& Jackendoff,
1983, pp. 17-18). Accordingto atonal prolongationaltheory,the percep-
tion of meter occurs in a similarfashion in atonal music with the conse-
quencethat salienceconditionsare involvedboth as individualconditions
that determinehierarchicalimportancewithinthe time-spanreduction,and
as phenomenalaccentsleadingto the inferenceof meter,which itselfis one
of the salience conditions. Two implicationsare possible: either atonal
prolongationaltheory includesboth meterand salienceand hence counts
them twice, or the theory recognizesthat they are identical.Althoughthe
theory itself is unclear on this, comparison of the rhythmic and
prolongationalanalysesof Schoenberg'sop. 19, no. 3, revealsa difference
betweenrhythmicand prolongationalstructurein this case:most notably,
the prolongationalanalysis brings into play tonal stabilityconditions at
cadential locations. Thus, furtherempiricalresearchis needed to deter-
minethe relativecontributionof rhythmicand metricstructureto the infer-
ence of structuralstability and the degree to which the two are related.
Althoughthis constitutesan aspectof atonal prolongationaltheorythat is
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 277

undertheorized,the importanceof rhythmicstructureand salience (phe-

nomenalaccents)exhibitedin these resultsis nonethelessconsistentwith
the predictionsof atonal prolongationtheory (Lerdahl,1989).
Havingdeterminedthat atonal musicis heardin termsof relativestruc-
tural stability,a second experimentwas carriedout in orderto determine
the influenceof criteriaotherthanrhythmicstructureand pitchstabilityon
the perceptionof structuralstability.

Experiment 2

The resultsof Experiment1 suggestthat listenersheardatonal musicin

terms of the relativestabilityof events and that this perceptionis due to
durationand metricstructureinferredfrom phenomenalaccents(salience)
at themusicalsurface.Thissecondexperimentthereforeinvestigateswhether
any consistentintuition of stability occurs when surfacesalience is rela-
tively absent,the intentionbeingto obtain more specificdata about other
possible contributingfactors. The same method was used except in this
case the materialswere designedto control for the effect of durationby
usingan isochronouschordsequenceand to controlfor the effectof meter
by usingtwo sets of segmentsdisplacedby one beat. The resultswere then
used to determinethe relativecontributionof pitch commonality,disso-
nance, and horizontalmotion to the perceptionof structuralstability,be-
cause, as discussedin the introduction,it has been suggestedthat these
factorsplay a role in the perceptionof atonal music. The data were com-
paredwith predictionsbasedon threetheoreticalmodels:Hutchinsonand
Knopoff'smeasureof roughness(1978) (as well as a "cultural"measureof
dissonance),a measureof horizontalmotion, and a model of pitch com-
monalityas formulatedby Parncutt(1989). The contributionof the few
salienceconditionsthat remainapplicablein the case of theselimitedmate-
rials was also considered.Becausesalience has alreadybeen considered,
each of the remainingtheoreticalmodels is outlinednext.

THEORETICALMODELS

Dissonance
One of the main factorsthat may contributeto the perceptionof struc-
tural stability is the relativeconsonance of events. Prevailingmodels of
sensorydissonanceassumethat the dissonanceof a chord is dependenton
its degreeof perceivedroughness.Roughnessis due to beating, which is
maximalwhenthe distancebetweenpuretone componentsis approximately
one quarterof a criticalbandwidth(a criticalbandwidthlies betweentwo
278 Nicola Dibben

or threesemitonesin centralregisters;Plomp & Levelt,1965). The model

used here is based on Hutchinsonand Knopoff's(1978) formalizationof
Plompand Levelt'stheoryfor musicalchords.This model was chosen as a
measureof sensorydissonancein orderto allow directcomparisonwith its
use in similarempiricalstudieswith tonal music (Bigandet al, 1996). The
presentimplementationof Hutchinsonand Knopoff'salgorithmwas there-
fore identicalto that used in Bigandet al. (1996). As Bigandet al. observe,
Hutchinsonand Knopoff'smodel fails to accountadequatelyfor a number
of aspects of the perceptionof roughness.However,the effects of these
limitationswere minimizedby usinga constantnumberof voices in a rela-
tively constantregister.
It is also recognizedthat sensory dissonancemay not account for all
intuitionsof consonanceand dissonancein music, and that judgmentsof
dissonancemay also be basedon culturalfactors(Cazden,1945; Dowling
& Harwood, 1986, Chap. 3): hence, an intervalconsidereddissonantat
one point in history may be consideredconsonant in another.Listeners'
ratingsare thereforecomparedto a "cultural"measureof dissonancethat
definesas dissonantany intervalformedthat is not foundwithinthe major
or minortonal triad:the measureadoptedhere is basedon a simplecount
of the numberof occurrencesof minorand majorseconds(includingmajor
andminorsevenths),tritones,andtheiroctaveequivalentswithineachchord.
Althoughthis is a crudemeasure,it is includedhere as it providesa useful
comparisonto the sensorymeasureof dissonancediscussedearlier.

HorizontalMotion
As opposed to the model just described,which emphasizesthe vertical
aspect of music, this factor considersthe contributionof the horizontal
dimensionto intuitionsof structuralstability.One featureof commonprac-
tice in tonal music is that smallerintervalswithin each voice are preferred
as they providea more coherentand smooth progression.4
Althoughpsychoacousticexplanationsbasedon auditorysceneanalysis
have been suggestedfor the influenceof horizontalmotion on the percep-
tion of chord sequences(Huron, 1995), little researchhas investigatedthe
influence of horizontal motion on the perceptionof structuralstability.
Carlsenfound that, when askedto completea melodicfragment,subjects
producedpitchesclose in pitch (and register)to the final note of the frag-
ment (Carlsen,1981; Unyk & Carlsen,1987). This tendencyfor unstable
pitches to move to proximatepitches has been theorizedas a process of
4. Althoughvoice leadingis not explicitlyincorporatedinto GTTM,certainof the rules
do take it into account.Forexample,the proximityruledeterminesthat a groupboundary
should fall where the intervalgap betweentwo events is larger,and good progressionis
determinedby the tonal stabilityconditions.Of the rulesprovidedby atonalprolongational
theory(Lerdahl,1989), only that of proximityappliesto thesereducedmaterials.
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 279

"melodicanchoring"(Bharucha,1984). Empiricalevidencefor such a pro-

cess was found by Bigandet al. (1996), who noted a significanteffect of
intervalsize betweensuccessivechordson the perceptionof tension,found
to be most significantfor the outer voices: the largerthe intervalwithin
voices, the greaterthe tension observed,a finding that is consistentwith
some aspectsof theoreticalaccountsof good voice leading.It is therefore
hypothesizedthat an eventprecededby a largeintervalwill be perceivedas
less stablethan an event precededby a smallerintervaland that this effect
will be most pronouncedin the outer voices. As in the experimentcon-
ducted by Bigandet al., horizontalmotion was quantifiedby measuring
the distance in semitones within each voice between successivechords.
However,researchinto this phenomenonwas extendedhere by consider-
ing both intervalsizeand direction,and any interactionof thesewith voice,
since commonpracticesuggeststhat coherenceof a particularvoice-lead-
ing motion dependsboth on the size and directionof an interval,as a func-
tion of the voice in which that voice-leadingmotion occurs.

Pitch Commonality
Parncutt'spsychoacousticmodel of the relatednessof chords predicts
the strengthof harmonicrelationshipsbetweenchordsas a productof the
degreeto which they have perceivedpitches in common (Parncutt,1989;
for recent reviews see Parncutt& Strasburger,1994; and Thompson &
Parncutt,1997). Perceivedpitchesarenot simplythe notatedpitchesof the
chord,or even the pure-tonecomponents:a chord may imply a pitch even
though that pitch is not physicallypresent.Its applicationhere is an at-
temptto encompassLerdahl'sobservationsaboutthe role of virtualpitches
andto investigatethe influenceof sharedpitcheson the perceptionof struc-
turalstability.It is a sensorymodel ratherthan a model basedon listeners'
schematicknowledge(implicitor otherwise)of a pitch spaceand accounts
for the way "impliedpitches"contributeto the perceivedrelationshipbe-
tween chords. For each chord, the amplitudesof pure-tonecomponents
and virtualpitchesare identified,extendingacrossthe entireaudiblepitch
range.The modelthencomparessuccessivepairsof suchprofiles:this pitch
commonalityis expressedas a correlationcoefficientbetweenthe two pro-
files.Inpreviouscorrelationswith stabilityratingsof tonalchordsequences,
the pitch commonalityof adjacentchords successfullypredictedlisteners'
ratingsof stability(Bigandet al., 1996): it was found that the higherthe
pitchcommonality,the lowerthe perceivedtension(and,hence,the greater
the stability).5However,thereis reasonto believethat the model may pro-
vide a less good fit in the case of atonal music because, in this case, the

5. A significantcorrelationwas foundbetweenpitchcommonalityandperceivedtension
of tonal chordsequencesfor both musiciansand nonmusicians(p < .05).
280 Nicola Dibben

assumptionof octave equivalencemay be problematic.It has been sug-

gestedthat the relativedissonanceof atonalchords,and the absenceof the
triadas normative,meansthat pitchesin atonal chordsare distinctiveand
tend to be heardout in detailratherthanperceivedwith the samedegreeof
fusion as the triad (Lerdahl,1989, p. 76). As a consequence,registraldif-
ferencesmay be particularlysignificantin atonal music and it may there-
fore be misleadingto assumeoctave equivalence.As a first step, however,
toward investigatingthe role of pitch commonality,Parncutt'stheorywas
adopted as providinga formalizedmodel of the way in which pitch com-
monalitymay operateand allowing directcomparisonwith empiricalre-
sults using tonal sequences.
A secondmeasurewas also comparedwith the data obtained:Parncutt's
measureof cumulativepitch commonality(Parncutt,1989). This is a mea-
sure of the pitch commonalitybetweenthe currentchord and the cumula-
tive profileof pitchsaliencefor all previouschords.The most recentchords
are weightedmore stronglysuch that thereis an effectivehalf-lifeequalto
the time interval between the chords (i.e., the previous chord profile is
multipliedby 0.5, the one beforethat by 0.25 and so on). These are then
addedup and comparedwith the currentchord as before.
It is hypothesizedthat if listeners'conceptionsof the stabilityof pitch
eventsare basedon the extent to which successivechordssharepitches,or
the cumulativeeffect of sharedpitches,these models will predictlisteners'
ratingsof the structuralstabilityof events.

METHOD

Subjects
Twelvesubjectsparticipatedin the experiment:six subjectsfor each of the two sets of
the materials.All subjectswere studyingmusicat the undergraduatedegreelevel and were
familiarwith atonalmusic.All were volunteers.

Materials
The stimulusmaterialsconsistedof a chordsequencederivedfromthe firstmovementof
Webern'sCantatano. 1, a piece that is serial in structureand involvesthe simultaneous
unfoldingof four row forms.Althoughthe selectionsmadefrom the piece disruptthe un-
foldingof theserows, theyretainthe limitedrepertoryof chordsand theirinversionalsym-
metry(aroundeitherCl or G/Gf).This piece was chosen for its passagesof homophonic
four-partwriting.By removingall rhythmicdifferentiationand any rests,a completelyiso-
chronoussequenceof chordswas created.The passagewas segmentedinto 13 fragmentsas
shown in Figure5, with the end of the firstsegmentoccurringaftera numberof chordsso
that the listenerwas presentedwith some context beforehavingto performthe ratingtask
for the first time. This first set of materials(SetA) controlledfor the effect of durationby
assigningthe same durationto all the chords.In orderto controlfor the effectof meter,a
secondset of materials(SetB) was constructed,identicalto the firstbut with the firstbeat
(thefirstchord)deletedso as to displacethe whole sequenceof chordsby one beat.Averag-
ing the resultsfromthe two sequencesshouldreducethe effectsof subjectsoverlayinga 4/4
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 281

metrichierarchyonto the sequenceof chords:for instance,if thereis an effectof metersuch

that eventson the firstand thirdbeatsreceivegreatermetricalemphasisand are judgedas
being of greaterstructuralimportance,displacementwill cause differentfirst and third
beats to receivethis metricalemphasisin the second set of materials.Comparisonof the
resultsof the two sets of materialswill thereforerevealany effectof meteron the stability
ratingsgiven,and combinationof the two shouldnegateany effect.

Apparatus
As with the extractused in Experiment1, the chordsequencewas firsttransferredto a
sequencer,and then the timingand dynamicdeviationswere removed.The extractswere
recordedon tape by usinga synthesizedpresetflute sound:this sustainedsoundprevented
any silencesbetweensuccessivechordswithin segments.The segmentswere recordedsuc-
cessivelyso that subjectsheardthe shortestsegmentfirst, and the segmentswere played
backto subjectsfromtape via a high-qualityamplifierand speakers.

Procedure

As in Experiment1, the musical fragmentswere played to subjectsin chronological

order,and subjectswereaskedto indicatethe degreeof completenessof eachfragmenton a
7-point scale (1 = an incompletephrase,7 = a completephrase).Subjectsheardthe frag-
mentsonce each only.

AND DISCUSSION
RESULTS

A two-factoranalysisof variancewith repeatedmeasureson one factor

was performedon the data. A significanteffect of segment was found,
F(12, 120) = 5.90, p < .0001. Thus, even in the absenceof durationaldif-
ferentiation,subjectsinferredthe relativestructuralstabilityof events.As
discussedearlier,this experimenttried to eliminateany residualeffect of
meter by presentinga second group of listenerswith the same segments
displacedby one beat and then combiningthe resultsfrom the two groups.
No significantdifferencewas observedbetweenthe resultsfor the two sets
of materials,suggestingthat listenersdid not interpretthe sequencesin
termsof a 4/4 metrichierarchyin which the first bar was assignedto the
first beat. Since version was not found to be significant,the resultswere
combinedon this factor.The stabilityprofile for the combinedresults is
shown in Figure5.
A SchefféF-testrevealssignificantdifferencesbetween Segments1 and
2, 1 and 5, and 1 and 7. However,this is a particularlysevere test. The
Fisherprotectedleast-significant-difference (PLSD)test revealssignificant
differencesbetweennearly all the segments.6This suggeststhat even in the
absenceof rhythmic,dynamic,timbrai,and motivic information,subjects
6. Segments1 and2, 1 and4, 1 and 5, 1 and 6, 1 and 7, 1 and 8, 1 and 9, 1 and 10, 1 and
13, 2 and 3, 2 and4, 2 and 6, 2 and 8, 2 and 9, 2 and 10, 2 and 11,2 and 12, 3 and 5, 3 and
7, 3 and 13, 4 and 5, 4 and 7, 5 and 6, 5 and 8, 5 and 9, 5 and 10, 5 and 11, 5 and 12, 6 and
7, 6 and 13, 7 and 8, 7 and 9, 7 and 10, 7 and 11,7 and 12, 8 and 11,8 and 12, 11 and 13,
and 12 and 13.
282 Nicola Dibben

Fig. 5. Mean stabilityratingsand musicalscore showing the 13 segmentsof the atonal

chordsequence.

hearatonalmusicas consistingof eventsof relativestability.This beingthe

case, furtheranalysis of the data was carriedout in order to determine
whichfactorscontributeto the relativestabilityof atonalevents.A number
of possible factorswere investigated:first, the influenceof those salience
conditionsthat remainapplicableto these materials;second, the influence
of intervalsize and direction;third, the effect of dissonance;and fourth,
the influenceof pitch commonality.

Remaining Salience Criteria: Register and Parallelism (and Position

Next to a Grouping Boundary)
The stabilityratingsgiven by subjectswere comparedwith the ratings
predictedby atonal prolongationaltheory (Lerdahl,1989, 1996) in order
to determinethe extent to which judgmentsof completenesscan be ac-
countedfor by the theoryin the relativeabsenceof surfacedifferentiation.
This lack of surfacedifferentiationmeans that only three saliencecondi-
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 283

tions potentiallyplay any role:position next to a groupingboundary,reg-

ister,and parallelism- in this case the reoccurrenceof particularchordsor
chord sequences(Conditionse, f, i, and j; Lerdahl,1989)7 Becauseof the
controllednatureof the materials,only some of the groupingpreference
rules (GPRs)were applicable(GPR3,registralchange;GPR4, intensifica-
tion of the effects of GPR3)and none of the metricalrules were relevant.
The sequenceconsistsof five chordswith pitchvoicingsrearrangedat vari-
ous points,which formsthe basisfor a numberof weak prolongations(the
highestlevelsof whichareshownin Figure6). On thisbasis,a prolongational
analysis of the extract was produced, and events were assigned a value
accordingto their hierarchicalposition within the representation(Figure
6): as in the previousmaterials,a valuewas assignedto each event accord-
ing to its hierarchicalimportanceby countingthe numberof branchesin-
terveningbetweenthe surfacelevelandthe highestreductionallevelat which
that event is present.
One consequenceof the deliberatepaucity of musicalmaterialused in
this experimentis that many attributesof the analysis, for example, the
groupingsegmentation,are underdetermined and thus it could be objected
that this sequenceprovidestoo little surfacedifferentiationto deriveany
kind of prolongationalstructure.This raisestwo separateissues. First,al-
thoughthe "rules"of atonal prolongationaltheoryhave been followed as
closely as possible in derivingthe analysis,the lack of surfacedifferentia-
tion meansthat the strengthof applicabilityof the rulesis undermined.As
the theory stands, however,there is no basis on which to claim that the
rulesno longerapplyunlessthereis a completelack of surfacedifferentia-
tion in a particularparameter:the degreeto which a rule appliesdepends
on the amountof surfacedifferentiationand it shouldnot stop applyingat
some arbitrarylevel. The analysispresentedhererepresentsan application
of the theoryto greatlyreducedmaterialsand is presentedhereas one of a
number of possible factors and not as a systematic test of atonal
prolongationaltheory.The second issue is that listeners'perceptionsmay
also be underdetermined for the samereasons.Yet,this is exactlythe point:
what does the listenerdo when confrontedwith sucha sequenceof sounds?
Removingthe surfacedifferentiationrevealswhetherthe remainingstruc-
ture is sufficientto abstractany kind of hierarchicalstructure,and if so,
what that reductionalstructureis basedon.
Statisticalanalysisrevealsno significantcorrelationbetweenthe struc-
turalimportancepredictedby the threeapplicablesalienceconditionsand
the mean completenessratingsattributedto the materialsby the subjects.
Thus it appearsthat, in the absence of other information,segmentation

7. The rules determiningthe derivationof the time-spanreductionare shown by the

lettersover each event,as cited in Lerdahl(1989).
284 Nicola Dibben

Fig. 6. Prolongational analysis of the atonal chord sequence.

due to registralchangeand salienceof registeras realizedheredo not pre-

dict the inferenceof completenessof atonal events.
This lack of correspondencebetweenthe predictionsof the theory and
listeners'stabilityratingsis perhapsunsurprisinggiven the lack of surface
differentiationalreadyremarkedon, which meansthat any prolongational
structurederived from the sequence is severely underdetermined.These
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 285

resultssuggestthat this is indeed the case, and that much greatersurface

differentiationis needed to elicit a prolongationalstructure.In addition,
the serialnatureof the musicalmaterialsmay make it ill-suitedto the pre-
dictionsof a theorybasedon surfacesalience.Lerdahlexpressesdoubtthat
reductionby salienceis useful in the case of serial music and that some
other type of structuringmay obtain (Lerdahl,1989, p. 84). Giventhat a
listeningtheoryfor serialmusichas yet to be formalizedand that empirical
researchpoints to the cognitiveopacity of serialstructures(Krumhanslet
al., 1987), the influenceof factorsotherthanthose pertinentto serialstruc-
ture are consideredhere. Correlationof listeners'stabilityratingswith the
predictionsof the analysispresentedhere is in no way intendedas a sys-
tematic test of atonal prolongationaltheory.What it does demonstrate,
however,is that in the relativeabsenceof surfacedifferentiation,listeners
still attributerelativedegreesof structuralstabilityto atonal events. On
what is this attributionbasedif not on salience?

Dissonance
Two differentmeasuresof dissonancewere used to test for the influence
of dissonanceon the perceptionof stabilityin the atonal chord sequence.
The first of these is a count of the number of occurrencesof dissonant
intervalswithin eachtargetchord (i.e., the final chordof each segment;see
Table2). A dissonantintervalis definedhereas a majoror minorsecondor
a tritoneat any octave displacement.The correlationbetweendissonance
and the stabilityratingsis significantat a level of p <. 01 (r = .791), that is,
the greaterthe dissonance,the less stablean event is judgedto be.
This measureof dissonanceis rathercrude, based as it is on the occur-
renceof certainintervalsratherthan on propertiesof roughnessobtaining
betweenthe partialsof pitchesmakingup the chord. For this reason, the
stability ratings were correlatedwith a measure of sensory dissonance:
Hutchinsonand Knopoff's measureof roughness(Hutchinson& Knopoff,
1978). Hutchinsonand Knopoff's model was appliedto the experimental
materialsand a measureof roughnesswas obtainedfor each of the chords8
(Table2). No significantcorrelationwas found between this measureof
roughnessandthe completenessratings(r = .157), suggestingthatthe crude
measureof the dissonanceof the final chord of each segmentprovidesa
betterfit to the data than does this psychoacousticmeasure.

HorizontalMovement
In orderto test the effect of the horizontalmovementof voices on the
ratingsgiven by subjects,the intervalsize betweenadjacentchordswithin
8. Thisimplementationof Hutchinsonand Knopoff's modelwas performedby Richard
Parncutt(personalcommunication).
286 Nicola Dibben

Table 2
Dissonance, Roughness, Pitch Commonality, and Cumulative Pitch
Commonality of the Final Chord of Each Segment
Segment No. of Dissonant Roughness Pitch Cumulative Pitch
Intervals Commonality Commonality
1 2 Ô3Ï 025 Ô62
2 3 0.26 0.26 0.65
3 2 0.10 0.27 0.66
4 3 0.27 0.23 0.66
5 5 0.22 0.76 0.76
6 3 0.35 0.36 0.56
7 5 0.35 0.60 0.71
8 3 0.22 0.52 0.67
9 3 0.26 0.91 0.85
10 4 0.18 0.34 0.51
11 2 0.15 0.24 0.64
12 3 0.35 0.25 0.63
13 5 0.35 0.60 0.72

all four voices was taken for each segment.Intervalsize was measuredas
the numberof semitonesfrom the penultimatechord to the final chord of
the segmentwithin each voice. No significantcorrelationwas found be-
tween the intervalsize of individualvoices and stabilityratings.Becauseno
correlationwas found for intervalsize alone, a subsequentcorrelationwas
performedbetweenthe intervalsize and directionof each individualvoice
and the stabilityratings.Intervaldirectionwas measuredas movementei-
ther up or down from the penultimatechord to the final chord of each
segmentand was representedas eithera positiveor a negativesign. Figure
7 shows the scattergramof stabilityratingsand intervalsize, with regres-
sion lines shown for each of the four voices.
The scattergramrevealsa patternin which largedescendingintervalsin
the two upper voices are judged to be more stable than large ascending
intervals,whereas for the two lower voices, the opposite is found: large
ascendingintervalsin the lower two voices are more stablethan largede-
scendingintervals.Smallerintervalsare judgedto be of mediumstability,
that is, neitheras stable as large, descendingintervalsin the soprano, or
large ascendingintervalsin the bass, nor as unstableas their opposites.
These resultssuggestthat judgmentsof stabilitybased on horizontalmo-
tion aredependenton the voice in whichthe intervaloccursand in this case
reflectthe literalmirroringof bass and sopranovoices. There is a signifi-
cant correlationof stabilitywith the intervalsizes betweenvoices of adja-
cent chords for both the outer voices (soprano:r = .76, p < .05; bass:r -
.79, p < .05), but for neitherthe tenor nor alto voice (tenor:r = .22; alto: r
= .24), a findingthat is psychologicallyplausiblegiven researchregarding
the relativesalienceof outer voices (Huron, 1989).
 Perception of Structural Stability in Atonal Music 287

Fig. 7. Scattergram of interval size and direction against stability ratings.

Three related explanations of the results were considered. The first pos-
sibility is that there may be a countervailing effect of salience to that sug-
gested by Lerdahl (1989) in which pitch events in extreme registers are
perceived as less stable rather than more so. This seems particularly perti-
nent given the characteristics of the chord sequence in which large intervals
within individual voices results in pitch events that lie outside the norma-
tive range. Comparison of the stability ratings with this account of registral
salience reveals the possibility of such an effect: Events 7, 10, and 13 (Events
7 and 13, in particular) involve chords that lie outside the normative range
and are judged as less stable. The difficulty with this account is in trying to
determine what constitutes the "norm" because what is normative is deter-
mined by the chord or chords immediately preceding the event in question.
A second possibility is that listeners are influenced by the pitch range of
each chord because, in this particular example, this encompasses registral
salience as well (the chords that lie outside the registral norm are also those
with the greatest pitch range). In order to check whether this was a factor,
a correlation was performed between a measure of the range of each chord
(the number of semitone steps between the highest and lowest notated pitch
of each chord) and the stability ratings. A significant correlation was found
(r = -.759, p < .01 ), indicating that the larger the range of the chord, the less
its judged stability.
A partial explanation of this effect can be found in the presence of two
confounding factors: the effect of dissonant spread and that of tonal fu-
sion. Dissonant spread is the effect whereby small intervals in lower regis-
ters are heard as more dissonant than those in higher registers. Strategies
288 Nicola Dibben

for the avoidanceof such dissonanceeffectsin tonal music are observedin

the commonlytaught conventionsof the spacingof chords:for example,
the common practicethat intervalsbetweenthe sopranoand alto and the
alto and tenor are not more than an octave and that small intervalsbe-
tween tenor and bass are avoided.In lower registers,the intervalbetween
the lower voices is greater.The psychoacousticreason for this practiceis
that this spacingof simultaneouscomplex tones maintainsan even distri-
butionof sensorydissonanceby allottingapproximatelyequivalentamounts
of spectralenergywithin each criticalband (Huron, 1995). As can be seen
in Figure5, these "rules"are frequentlyflouted in the atonal chord se-
quenceusedin this experiment(e.g., thirdsin the bassat Events2, 6, 9, and
12) with the resultthat the dissonantspreadvaries betweenchords. This
offers a partial explanationof the stabilityratings, as only some chords
demonstratethis dissonantspread,and of these, only Chord2 is perceived
as having a particularlylow degreeof stability.The second confounding
factoris that of fusion:the degreeto which a chordis perceivedas a single
entityratherthan beingheardin termsof its individualpitch components.
As has been observed,verticalitieshave a greatertendencyto fuse if they
possessa highdegreeof sensoryconsonance(McAdams&cBregman,1979).
In psychoacousticterms, this occurs when the auditorysystem interprets
particularcombinationsof frequenciesas if they were partialsof a single
complex tone (Dewitt & Crowder,1987). Accordingto Huron (1995),
tonal fusion is most likely to occur where the frequencyof component
tones are relatedby simpleintegerratios and wherethe combinedspectral
content conforms to a single hypotheticalharmonicseries (e.g., unisons,
octaves, and fifths) and is encouragedby parallelmotion of voices. Thus,
chords that avoid these intervalsand avoid parallelmotion promoteper-
ceptualindependence.Again this providesan explanationfor some of the
stabilityjudgments:in thesematerials,few simpleintegerratiosarepresent
between components of chords (no chords contain octaves, unisons, or
majorthirds and only Chords 1, 3, and 11 contain fifths). However,all
three of the chords containing fifths receive high stability ratings. Con-
versely,those chordswhose componentscontain the fewest simpleinteger
ratios (in this case, Chords5, 7, and 13) are judgedas relativelyunstable.
In these materials,this happens to correspondto those events that also
have registralextremesand hence offers an explanationfor the significant
correlationobservedbetweenthe pitch range of chords and judgmentsof
structuralstability.
A third interpretationof the resultsis that listenersare sensitiveto the
degreeof spreadof chordsaroundtheirinversionalaxis of symmetry.Thus,
accordingto this account,the 'norm'constitutesthe axis of inversion.The
correlationbetweenchordrangeand stabilityalso constitutesa correlation
betweenchord spreadaroundthis inversionalaxis and stability (because
 Perception of Structural Stability in Atonal Music 289

chordsin these materialsare inversionallysymmetrical).Thus chordsthat

areclusteredaroundtheiraxis of symmetryare judgedas more stablethan
chordsthat are spreadout away from it. Yet,giventhat it is not possibleto
distinguishbetweenthe range of chords and the range of chords around
the axis of symmetryin this case, it is not possible to determinewhether
listenersarereallysensitiveto this structuralfeatureof the pieceor whether
they aresimplyrespondingto overallpitchrange.In eithercase, horizontal
motion emergesas a predictorof structuralstability.

Pitch Commonality of Successive Chords

A correlationof the stabilityratingswith the predictionsof Parncutt's
pitchcommonalitymodel (r = .536) and the cumulativepitchcommonality
model (r = .391) revealsno significantcorrelation.9It would appearthat, in
this instance,the extent of sharedpitchesbetweensuccessivechordsis not
a significantpredictorof listeners'intuitionsof structuralstability.

Interrelatedness of Contributing Factors

In order to find the best-fittingmodel, a stepwise regressionwas per-
formed on the data: dissonance,horizontal movement (averagedacross
bass and soprano),and roughnessprovidean excellentfit to the data (JR=
.96, p < .01). Althoughthe regressioncoefficientfor dissonancewas sig-
nificant(standardizeddissonancecoefficient= -1.02, p < .001), the regres-
sion coefficientsfor horizontalmotion and roughnesswere not (standard-
ized horizontal motion coefficient = -0.41, standardized roughness
coefficient= 0.312). Thus, in the absenceof other information,listeners'
ratingsof the stabilityof atonal chordscan be predictedby dissonance(a
measurebasedon a "cultural"accountof dissonanceratherthan a sensory
measure),with roughnessand the intervalsize of horizontalmotion also
influencingthe perceptionof structuralstabilityto a lesserextent.

General Discussion

The resultsof this experimentdemonstratethat even in the absenceof

rhythmicdifferentiation,and with the effect of metercontrolledfor,listen-
ers inferthe relativestructuralimportanceof eventswithin an atonalchord
sequence.This indicatesthat additionalcriteriato those of salience and
stabilityare involvedin the inferenceof structuralstability,as a later for-
mulation of atonal prolongationaltheory suggests (Lerdahl,1996). The
9. Pitchcommonalityvaluesand cumulativepitchcommonalityvaluesweresuppliedby
RichardParncutt(personalcommunication).
290 Nicola Dibben

mainfactorto emergeas importantto the inferenceof structuralstabilityis

dissonance,with horizontalmotion and roughnesscontributingto a lesser
extent. In the case of horizontalmotion, thereis a positive correlationbe-
tween stabilityand both the size of intervalsbetweenevents and the clus-
teringof chords arounda registral"norm,"plus evidenceof a perceptual
bias towardthe outer voices. In the case of dissonance,a negativecorrela-
tion exists between the numberof dissonantintervalsin a chord and its
judgedstability.
The importanceof horizontalmotion as a contributingfactorto listen-
ers' judgmentsof structuralimportanceagreeswith resultsof similarex-
periments with tonal music (Bigand et al., 1996) and supports psych-
oacoustic accounts that stress the importanceof horizontalmotion as a
perceptualphenomenon(Huron, 1995). In addition,the stabilityof a so-
noritymay also be dependenton verticalconsiderationssuch as the degree
of fusion exhibited and an inversefunction of the dissonantspread,and
even structuralcharacteristicsof the pitch content of chords (hereevident
in the greaterstabilityof chordsclusteredaroundtheir symmetricaxis).
The observedinfluenceof horizontalmotion on the perceptionof stabil-
ity is consistent with theoreticalaccounts of atonal compositionaltech-
niquescontemporarywith this repertoire.Forexample,Schoenbergidenti-
fies a numberof principlesgoverningthe compositionof atonal music:the
tendencyto includepitchesin the second chord absent from the first, the
tendencyof a voice to move to a pitch a semitoneremoved,avoidanceof
doublings,and avoidanceof traditionalchords (Schoenberg,1911/1978,
p. 420). Schoenbergidentifiesthesecompositionaltendenciesas the means
by which to avoid pitch centralityand tonality.They are also techniques
that encouragethe perceptualindependenceof voices (by decreasingthe
degreeof fusion). The emphasisis on the horizontalmovementof voices
ratherthan on the pitch content of verticalsonorities,as noted by a num-
ber of theoreticaland analyticalstudies (Roeder,1989; Schubert,1993).
As Schoenberg(1911/1978, p. 389) remarks:
Weareturningto a newepochof polyphonic style,andas intheearlier
epochs,harmonieswillbea productof thevoice-leading:
justifiedsolely
bythemelodiclines!
Rathermoreproblematicis the suggestionthat a model basedon a "cul-
tural"accountof dissonancepredictslisteners'judgmentsbetterthan does
a sensorymodel based on roughness.Contraryto the resultsobservedfor
tonal music (Bigandet al., 1996), structuralstabilityin atonalmusicis not
predictedby roughness.In tonal music,thereappearsto be a highdegreeof
congruencebetweensensoryconsonanceand some of the stabilityrelation-
shipsof the tonal hierarchy,thusthe absenceof stabilityconditionsin atonal
music might lead one to expect that roughnesswould thereforebe all the
 Perception of Structural Stability in Atonal Music 291

moreimportant.The resultsobtainedheresuggestthat this is not the case,

and that the occurrenceof certainintervalsdefinedas "dissonant"within
tonal music theory predictslisteners'judgmentsof instability.One expla-
nationmay be that the instabilityof tritonesand majorand minorseconds
in atonal music is attributableto their function within the tonal system,
ratherthan to theirsensorydissonance.In tonal music,minorsecondsand
tritonesrequirea particulartype of resolution:they have a "leaning"qual-
ity, demandingresolutionby semitonemovement(the processof "melodic
anchoring"referredto earlier).It may be that this propertyof the interval
is retainedwhen these intervalsoccur in atonal music, and hence "cul-
tural" consonanceemergesas a better predictorof stabilitythan rough-
ness.
Both this explanationof the instabilityof particularmelodic intervals
and the preferencefor particulartypes of linear movementwithin voices
point to the importanceof the horizontaldimensionof music.Tonalmusic
theory has emphasizedthe importanceof vertical sonorities;the results
presentedhere,however,togetherwith accountsof compositionalpractice
contemporarywith the earlyatonalstyle,suggestthat voice leadingmay be
a far more importantfactor in atonal music. In more generalterms, this
can be expressedas a change in the traditionalbalanceof harmonicand
contrapuntalconsiderations:in atonalmusiccounterpoint(thelinearmove-
ment of individualvoices) becomes a much more potent force. This is a
particularlysignificantconclusiongiven that psychologicalmodels of the
perceptionof both tonal and atonal music tend to idealizeaway from the
perceptionof streamsin favor of the perceptionof hierarchicallyreduced
verticalities.For example, Lerdahl'stheory of atonal prolongationstruc-
ture (Lerdahl,1989) segmentsthe musical surfaceinto hierarchicaltime
spans,which areeachassigneda head.Becausethesecriteriaprivilegechar-
acteristicsof the individualeventratherthan the way it precedesor follows
other events, it therebyprioritizesthe verticalpitch collection at the ex-
penseof the horizontalsuccessionof pitch events.More recently,however,
this theory has been extendedto include an account of the way in which
the horizontalmotion of voices influencesthe perceptionof structuralsta-
bility (Lerdahl,1996). The resultsreportedherethereforesupportthis lat-
ter account.

Conclusion

Thegoal of the two experimentsreportedherewas to investigatewhether

listenershearatonalmusicin termsof the relativestructuralimportanceof
events, and, if so, to determinewhich factors contributeto this mode of
hearing.The resultsindicatethat listenersdo infer the relativestructural
292 Nicola Dibben

importanceof events,thusprovidingempiricalsupportof theoriesof atonal

prolongationalstructurethat stressthe role of salienceof phenomenalac-
cents (Experiment1). In the absenceof rhythmic,timbrai,dynamic,and
metricinformation,subjects'ratingswere influencedby a numberof other
factors:in particular,horizontalmotion and dissonance(Experiment2). In
keepingwith commonlyusedvoice-leadingtechniques,largerintervalsbe-
tween eventscorrelatewith less stability,and this correlationis significant
for the outervoices. This researchlends supportto psychologicalaccounts
of the perceptualsignificanceof horizontalmotion in music.In contrastto
researchconductedinto tonal music, roughnesswas found to play a less
significantrole in listeners'judgments,althougha model basedon the oc-
currenceof intervalscommonly considered"dissonant"predictedlisten-
ers' intuitionsof structuralimportanceslightlybetter.These resultsthere-
fore suggestthat listenershear atonal music in termsof relativedegreesof
completeness(andthereforeof greateror lesserstructuralimportance)and
lend empirical support to theories of atonal prolongational structure
(Lerdahl,1989, 1996).
A numberof limitationsshould be noted when consideringthe implica-
tions of thesefindings.First,neitherexperimentconstitutes,nor is intended
as, a systematictest of atonalprolongationaltheory(Lerdahl,1989, 1996).
However,this studydoes provideinitialempiricalevidencefor the abstrac-
tion of structuralstability and for some of the factors that influenceit.
Second, characteristicsof the musical materialsused in the experiments
may limit the generalizabilityof the findingsto some extent. Schoenberg's
op. 19, no. 3, used in Experiment1, demonstratesa high degreeof congru-
ence betweensalience(phenomenalaccents)and the rhythmicand metric
structure.Although,as remarkedearlier,atonalprolongationaltheorysug-
gests such congruenceis characteristicof music that lacks tonal stability
conditions,furtherresearchis neededto determinethe extent to which the
influentialrole of metricand rhythmicstructurenoted with regardto this
piece is generalizableacrossthe earlyatonalrepertoire.Similarly,the serial
nature of the materialsused in the second experimentpotentiallybrings
into play stabilitycriteriathat have yet to be formalizedas a perceptual
theory.Furtherresearchis neededto determinethe extent to which pitch
rangeand horizontalmovementinfluencethe perceptionof structuralsta-
bility:the highlyinfluentialrole of these factorsthat emergedin the second
experimentmay be a consequenceof the symmetricstructuringof chords
and hence may not be generalizableacross the atonal repertoire.A third
limitationis that althoughhorizontalmovementand dissonanceemerged
as predictorsof subjects'stabilityratings,this occurredin the absenceof
much surfacedifferentiationin orderto isolate these factorsas far as pos-
sible. Futureresearchmust determinethe role that both these factorsplay
when surfacedifferentiation,and the perceptualcriteriathat surfacediffer-
entiationbringsinto play, is present.
 Perceptionof StructuralStabilityin AtonalMusic 293

Any future researchinto these issues also must consider the method-
ological limitationsof this study.The experimentalmethod used here in-
volvesa techniquethat equateslisteners'judgmentsof "completeness"with
prolongational(structural)stability.Although this method elicited high
intersubjectagreementand a set of consistentlydifferentiatedjudgmentsof
stability,it is still questionablewhetherthis correspondsto the theoretical
notion of "prolongationalstructure."This methodologicalformulationof
prolongationalstabilitywas adoptedhere as a first approachto the issue
and is upheldby the high correlationobservedin the first experimentbe-
tween judgmentsof "completeness"and the prolongationalanalysisof the
music. Nonetheless,alternativemethodsthat accessedlisteners'represen-
tations of atonal musicwould providea usefulcomparisonto the research
presentedhere.
Notwithstandingtheselimitations,this studyoffersempiricaldataabout
the perceptionof structuralstabilityin atonal music. The results suggest
that listenershear atonal music in termsof the relativestructuralstability
of events and that this mode of hearingis influencedby dissonanceand
horizontalmotion as well as salience.In this respect,the researchprovides
initialempiricaldata in supportof theoriesof atonalprolongationalstruc-
tureandhighlightstheoreticaland methodologicalissuesaboutthe percep-
tion of atonal musicthat remainto be addressed.10

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