What Is Melodic Accent?

29 Pages·2008·3.79 MB·English

What Is Melodic Accent? Converging Evidence from Musical Practice
Author(s): David Huron and Matthew Royal
Source: Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Summer, 1996), pp.
489-516
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40285700
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MusicP erception © 1996 byt he regentso f the
Summer1 996, Vol. 13, No. 4, 489-516 universityo f California
What is Melodic Accent?C onvergingE videncef rom
Musical Practice
DAVID HURON
ConradG rebelC ollege, Universityo f Waterloo
MATTHEW ROYAL
Facultyo f Music, Universityo f WesternO ntario
The theoretical and experimental literatures pertaining to pitch-related
accent are reviewed. From these literatures, eight competing notions of
melodic accent are identified. All eight conceptions of melodic accent
were investigated through correlational studies of three contrasting
samples of music. Statistical correlations were calculated for each accent
type with respect to the corresponding metric position or with respect to
the syllabic/melismatic status of associated sung text. The results for all
three studies are most consistent with a perceptual model of melodic
accent developed by Joseph Thomassen (1982). The remaining concep-
tions of melodic accent receive little or no empirical support. In addition,
this study reveals an endemic use of text-melody displacement in a sample
of Gregorian chant- suggesting that the chant melodies were constructed
so as to avoid strong rhythmic stresses.
accentm ayb e defineda s an increasedp rominencen, oticeability,
or saliencea scribedt o a givens ounde vent.C oopera ndM eyer( 1960)
characterizeda ccent as "a stimulusw hich is markedf or consciousness"
Sucha coustics timulia rep resumedt o be markedt hroughd ynamic,a gogic,
harmonic,m elodic,t imbrai,o r other forms of stress.O f the varioust ypes
of accent proposed by music theorists, one of the most contentious has
been the so-called "melodica ccent."I n this paper,w e review some of the
pertinentt heoreticala nd perceptuall iteraturesr elatedt o melodic accent.
Using a correlationalm ethod,w e then comparea nd evaluatee ight differ-
ent notions of melodica ccentb y analyzingt hrees ampleso f music.T o an-
ticipateo ur results,t he analysesw ill show that the musicalp racticei s most
Requests for reprints may be sent to David Huron, Conrad Grebel College, University of
Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G6. (e-mail: [email protected])
489
490 David Huron & Matthew Royal
consistent with an experimentally derived perceptual model of melodic ac-
cent developed by Thomassen (1982).
Theoretical Notions of Melodic Accent
By melodic accent, theorists mean accent arising from pitch-related ma-
nipulations such as changes of pitch height, pitch interval, or pitch con-
tour. In the case of pitch height, two hypothetical types of elemental ac-
cents can be distinguished: treble accent - in which higher pitches are
presumed to be more salient than lower pitches, and bass accent- in which
lower pitches are presumed to be more salient. Benward and White (1989)
for example, subscribe to the first view- namely, that higher pitches re-
ceive greater perceptual weight. This notion of accent is shared by linguists
who have studied pitch contours in speech ('t Hart, Collier, & Cohen, 1990).
Other theorists have suggested the reverse- that lower pitched sounds tend
to be perceived as more stressed (e.g., Parncutt, 1989). A third possibility
would regard both extremes of high and low pitch as more salient than
mid-registerp itches. We might dub this third view of melodic accent, registrai
extreme accent. This view is one of two implied in Lerdahl and Jackendoff 's
(1983) notion of phenomenal accent:
By phenomenala ccentw e mean any event at the musicals urfacet hat
gives emphasist o a momenti n the musicalf low. Includedi n this cat-
egory are . . . leaps to relativelyh igh or low notes. . . (p. 17)
Also implied in Lerdahl and Jackendoff's definition is the notion that
melodic accent is evoked by large pitch movements- what might be dubbed
interval size accent. According to this notion, the degree of melodic accent
is proportional to the size of the interval movement and is independent of
the direction of pitch motion. Along these lines, Graybill (1989) proposed
that "a leap to a note, either high or low, will tend to accentuate that note,
especially if the immediately surroundingc ontext is stepwise" (p. 22). Again,
two variants of this view of melodic accent arise by introducing interval
direction as an additional factor. In the first of these views, size-related
accents are presumed to arise only for ascending pitch movements (interval
ascent accent), whereas in the second view, size-related accents would arise
only for descending pitch movements [interval descent accent). Graybill
(1989) claimed that ascending leaps are more accented than descending
leaps. Rothgeb (1990) has argued more pointedly that interval size accent
arises only in the case of ascending motions. In all of the views that link
melodic accent to pitch movement, the accent has been presumed to occur
at the point of arrival on the second pitch forming the interval.
Melodie Accent 491
Yet another view suggests that melodic accent arises from changes of
direction in pitch contours. According to this view, it is the "pivot points"
in melodic contours that generate the greatest salience. Lester (1986, p. 33)
has espoused this view, claiming that pitches that stand at the top or bot-
tom of a melodic segment are accented. Graybill has also espoused this
notion - although he claims that changes of melodic direction evoke less
strong accents than treble or bass accents.
By way of summary, we can distinguish at least seven different concep-
tions of melodic accent that are either implied or explicit in the music theory
literature: (1) treble accent, (2) bass accent, (3) registrai extreme accent,
(4) interval size accent, (5) interval ascent accent, (6) interval descent ac-
cent, and (7) contour pivot accent.
Other conceptions of pitch-related accent arise from tonality-related
considerations (e.g., scale degree or harmonic implication). In addition,
further types of pitch-related accents are thought to arise from recurring
pitch patterns, such as found in sequential motivic writing (e.g., Graybill,
1989). However, these latter forms of accent will not be addressed in this
paper.
Finally,i t should be noted that some theorists- notably William Caplin-
have voiced skepticism regarding the existence of melodic accent. Caplin
(1978) suggested that because of the way high pitches are performed, the
presumed melodic accent is merely an artifact of increased intensity (i.e.,
dynamic accent):
. . . however,p itch-heighta ccenti s perhapsq uestionableI. n fact, if one
left all other variableso ut of consideration,i t would be difficult to
assertt hat the highestn ote of a successiono f notes was perceiveda s
accented. . . That does not mean, however,t hat the so-calledp itch-
height accent is a mere fantasy since, in actual fact, singers show a
tendencyt o give highern otes greateri ntensity(, pp. 18-19 [ourt ransla-
tion])
Caplin's view is consistent with physiological research in speech intona-
tion, which has shown that the pitch of the speaking voice is correlated
with gross respiratory energy- and hence with the loudness of the voice ('t
Hart et al., 1990). It is possible that pitch-height related accent may be a
learned association with dynamic accent.
In reviewing the extant theoretical writings, there appears to be little
agreement among music theorists regarding the nature of melodic accent.
Note that this lack of consensus may itself be suggestive. If melodic accent
exists, perhaps its effect is minor compared with dynamic and agogic ac-
cents. Alternatively, much of the apparent confusion may originate from
the difficulty of discriminating between certain of the above conceptions of
melodic accent. For example, if it were the case that all melodic accents
492 David Huron ôt Matthew Royal
Fig. 1. Two melodic intervals that illustrate diverging predictions for melodic accent. If
melodic accent is attributable to pitch height ("treble accent"), then F5s hould be perceived
as more accented than C5. Alternatively, if melodic accent arises because of large upward
intervals ("interval ascent accent"), then C5 should be perceived as more accented than F5.
arise due to treble accent alone, then most observations would tend to be
consistent with interval ascent accent as well. That is, if the higher of two
pitches is always more salient, then the second pitch of an ascending inter-
val would also always appear to be more salient. Similarly, other possible
confounds could exist between registrai extreme accent and either of treble
accent or bass accent- or between registrai extreme accent and contour
pivot accent. For example, notes corresponding to changes of pitch direc-
tion are more likely to coincide with points of registrai extremes.
At the same time, there are some subtle differences between these pro-
posed notions of melodic accent that can lead to divergent predictions.
Hence, it may be possible to establish which of two or more competing
conceptions of melodic accent better accounts for listener experience and/
or compositional practice. For example, consider the pitch movements from
C4 to C5, and from A4 to F5 (as shown in Figure 1). According to the inter-
val ascent view of melodic accent, C5w ould receive a greater accent than F5
because the interval size is larger (P8 versus m6). However, according to
the treble accent view, F5 would be predicted to be more salient than C5
because it is higher in absolute pitch.
In summary, we might expect a considerable degree of predictive simi-
larity between the various proposed accent types. In a correlational study,
this will necessarily mean a degree of shared variance. Under these circum-
stances, a high correlation may be spurious if another proposed accent
type accounts for the same variance.
Perceptual Evidence for Melodic Accent
Apart from the theoretical accounts of melodic accent, a handful of per-
ceptual studies are also pertinent. Squire (1901) carried out early experi-
ments concerning the influence of pitch height on perceived accent. Squire
manipulated the pitches of a recurring two-tone pattern; she then deter-
mined whether her listeners tended to hear the two tones as forming an
Melodie Accent 493
iambic (weak-strong)o r trochaic( strong-weak)r hythm.S quire'sl isteners
showed considerablev ariabilityi n their responses,a nd Squirec oncluded
that these perceptionsa re listener-dependenTt. hat is, her resultsd id not
supportt he notion that eitherh ighero r lower pitchest end to be perceived
as havingg reaters tress.
Woodrow( 1911) carriedo ut mored etailede xperimentsw herei ntensity,
duration,a nd pitch were pitted againste ach other in order to determine
whichp arameteris moste ffectivei n inducings ubjectiveg roupingW. oodrow
found that loudert ones tend to be hearda s initiatinga group (forminga
trochaicr hythm),w hereasl ongert ones tend to be hearda s terminatinga
group (forminga n iambicr hythm).W oodrowf ound that changeso f pitch
do not systematicallyin ducee ithera group-initiatingo r a group-terminat-
ing effect. More preciselyW, oodrowf ound that changeso f pitch alone are
unablet o evokec onsistentlyt he perceptiono f an iambico r trochaicr hythm.
Like Squire,W oodrow'sr esultsa re inconsistentw ith the notions of treble
or bass accent.I ndeed,W oodrowe xplicitlyc alledi nto questiont he validity
of pitch-heighta ccent.
Perceptuarl esearchp ertainingt o pitch-contourm elodica ccenth as been
carriedo ut by JosephT homassen( 1982, 1983). Thomassenu ndertooka
set of experimentsi n which sequenceso f pitches exhibitingv arious me-
lodic contours were embedded in a standardized metrical context.
Thomassenc ollected data pertainingt o the perceivedr elative stress for
threet argett onesw ithina metricapl assage.B othm usiciana ndn onmusician
listeners participatedi n the study. On the basis of the collected data,
Thomassend evelopeda predictivem odel of melodica ccent.F igure2 sum-
marizest he relationshipb etweenm elodicc ontoura nd melodica ccenti den-
tified in Thomassen'ss tudy. The accent values shown in Figure2 range
betweenz ero( no accent)a ndo ne (maximuma ccent).A s Thomassen'ms odel
is derivedd irectlyf rom perceptuald ata, the model is not easily character-
ized analytically.I n the first instance,t he model is sensitiveo nly to the
gross melodic contour and ignores intervals ize. In general,T homassen's
model assignsm ore stresst o contourp ivot tones- that is, tones coinciding
with changeso f direction.N ote, however,t hat ascending-descendinpgi v-
ots are more stressedt han descending-ascendinpgi vots.
In ordert o test his model of melodica ccent,T homassenu sed the model
to predictt he perceiveds tresso f each note in sequenceso f four targett ones
within a metricalp assage.T hese predictionsw ere then comparedw ith the
resultso f a seconde xperimentasl tudyi n whicht he modelp redictionsw ere
confirmed.T he valuesp redictedb y Thomassen'sm odel yieldeda correla-
tion of +.90 with listener'sr esponses.
As in all experimentsv, ariousa ssumptionsw ere madea nd possiblec on-
founds left uncontrolled.I n Thomassen'sw ork, only three intervals izes
were usedi n the melodicc ontours( one, four,a nd eight semitonei ntervals).
494 David Huron OcM atthew Royal
Fig. 2. Schematic representation of basic accent configurations in Thomassen's model of
melodic accent. Accent values pertain to the second and third notes of three-note contours.
Thomassen's algorithm uses a moving window containing three pitches. The accent value
for any given note is determined by the interaction of three overlapping three-note contours
associated with that note.
Of course,d ifferenti ntervals izes may influencem elodica ccentb y evoking
differenth armonicim plicationsA. s Thomassend id not investigatea broader
sampleo f intervals izes, possibleh armonici mplicationsa re not addressed
in his model. Indeed,T homassenf ound small but consistent differences
betweenc ontoursu singd ifferent-sizedin tervals.D espitet hese smalld evia-
tions, the principale xperimentalr esults showed a robust effect of pitch
contourt hat is largelyi ndependento f the type or size of intervalsu sed.
Another possible confound in Thomassen'sr esults is the influenceo f
overall pitch register.T homassen'se xperimentsu sed pure tones centered
around 1000 Hz (B5-) somewhat higher than the typical musical pitch
tessitura.T hus it is possiblet hat Thomassen'sr esultsa re only applicablet o
"soprano"li nesa ndc annotb e generalizedto pitchc ontoursi n the midrange
or bass.
Two experimentapl aperst hat take Thomassen'sw ork as a springboard
and examinet he interactiono f melodica ccentw ith other accentt ypes are
Monahan,K endall,a nd Carterette(1 987) and Drake,D owling,a nd Palmer
(1991). Monahane t al. playedt hreed ifferentt ypes of speciallyc omposed
melodies to listeners.O ne group of melodiesc onsistedo f tones in which
agogic and melodica ccentsc oincided.A gogica nd melodica ccenti n a sec-
ond group of melodies occurreda t regulari ntervalsb ut never coincided
with each other.A thirdg roupe xhibiteda gogic and melodica ccentsu sing
differentm etricalr ates. Drake et al. played various melodiest o children
Melodie Accent 495
and adult pianistsi n which metric,a gogic, and melodica ccentsw ere sys-
tematicallyp ositionedi n and out of synchronyw ith each other.B oth ex-
perimentsa ssumedt hat melodica ccenti s inducedb y (1) a contourc hange,
and (2) a largep itch interval.B oth Monahane t al. and Drakee t al. found
that pianistsp layedb ack the melodiesm ost accuratelyw hen all the accent
types coincided and that there was a deteriorationi n performancew hen
agogico r melodica ccentsw ere out of synchronyw ith each other.T he dete-
riorationo f pianists'p erformancews hen both melodicc ontourc hangea nd
melodicl eap were desynchronizedp rovidesp erceptuale videncec onsistent
with the existenceo f both of these types of melodica ccent.
In summaryt, he extant perceptualr esearchp rovidess tronge videncei n
supporto f Thomassen'sm odel,g ood evidencei n supporto f intervala scent
and intervals ize accent, but calls into questiont he notions of bass accent
and treble accent. However,g iven the avowedly simple stimuli/contexts
used (especiallyi n Thomassen'se xperiments)t, herer emainsa questiono f
how these findingsr elatet o musicalp ractice.
Melodic Accent in Musical Contexts
In light of the wide discrepancyo f views concerningt he natureo f me-
lodic accent,i t is appropriateto compareb oth the perceptuala nd theoreti-
cal literaturesw ith actual musicalp ractice.T hat is, we would propose to
measuret he degreet o which the musicalr epertoirep rovidese videncec on-
sistentw ith one or moreo f the conceptionso f melodica ccentj ustd escribed.
At the outset, it is importantt o recognizet hat accentsm ay be used for a
variety of musicalp urposes.O ne such goal may be the establishmento r
preservationo f meter.I n otherc ases, the goal may be the exact opposite-
that is, to prevento r dismantlea ny senseo f metricf rameworkI. n yet other
circumstancest,h e compositionalg oal may be to play off accentsw ithin an
existing metric frameworkb ut without actuallyd ismantlingt he meter-
such as in the cases of syncopationa nd hemiola.I n these cases, accentsa re
purposelym iscoordinated( for a paralleli n speechp erception,s ee Handel,
1989, regardingt he structureo f tongue-twisters)A. ccentsm ay also be used
for nonmetricr hythmicp urposes,s uch as adding dramatice mphasiso r
highlightingt he naturals yllables tressesi n vocal text-setting.
A useful way of evaluatinga ny hypotheticalf orm of accent is to relate
its presencet o the presenceo f known or establishedf ormso f phenomenal
accent (such as agogic or dynamica ccent).F or example,i n most musical
passages,a gogic accentsa nd dynamica ccentst end to coincide with each
other,a nd they also show strongp ositivec orrelationsw ith metricp osition
(see Huron, 1989). For the combinedv oices in the 48 fuguesi n Bach'sW ell
496 David Huron ôc Matthew Royal
TemperedC lavierf, or example,t he correlationb etweenn ote durationsa nd
metric position is +.34. (That is, longer notes tend to begin on stronger
metricp ositions.)W e would presumet hat this synchronizationo f phenom-
enal accentw ith metricp osition is intended,a t least in part, to help estab-
lish or maintaint he meter.
One can study hypotheticaln otions of melodica ccenti n a similarw ay,
by examiningt he coincidenceo f proposedm elodica ccentsw ith points in
the metric hierarchyT. he possible relationshipsb etween metric position
and melodic accents might be viewed as existing along a continuum.A t
one end of the continuum,m elodic accents would be perfectlys ynchro-
nizedw ith high points in the metrich ierarchyI.n this case, the most promi-
nent melodica ccentsw ould coincidew ith downbeats.A t the othere xtreme,
one can imaginem elodic accentsc ompletelyo ut of synchronyw ith high
points in the metric hierarchy.F or any given piece, the relationshipb e-
tween metricp osition and melodica ccentm ightl ie at any point along this
correlationalc ontinuum.T hat is, the correlationb etweenm etricp osition
and hypotheticalm elodica ccentm ay rangeb etween+ 1 and -1. In ordert o
understando ur researcha pproach,i t is crucialt o consideri n some detail
possible interpretationso f variousc orrelationalo utcomes. Below we de-
scribe interpretationso f three circumstances:( 1) statisticallys ignificant
positive correlationalv alues, (2) statisticallys ignificantn egativec orrela-
tional values,a nd (3) statisticallyn onsignificantc orrelationavl alues (near
zero).
If we observeda serieso f momentsi n a score where a large numbero f
known and hypotheticala ccentt ypesc oincided,w e mighti nfer( 1) that the
composeri ntendedt o place especiallyg reat stress at these moments,a nd
(2) that the hypotheticala ccentt ype actuallyc ontributes,o r is thoughtb y
the composert o contribute,t o phenomenala ccent.
If we observeda serieso f momentsi n a score where a large numbero f
known accentsc oincide,b ut a hypotheticala ccenti s systematicallya bsent
fromt hose momentsa nd appearsi nsteada t otherm oments,t hen we might
infer that: (1) the composeri ntendedt o avoid especiallys trongs tressesa t
these moments,a nd (2) that the hypotheticala ccentt ype actuallyc ontrib-
utes, or is thought by the composert o contribute,t o phenomenala ccent.
In the first of the above cases, we would expect to observea significant
positive correlationb etweent he known and hypotheticala ccent types. In
the second of the above cases, we would expect to observe a significant
negativec orrelationb etweent he known and hypotheticala ccentt ypes.
Of course, a composerm ay change musicalg oals from passaget o pas-
sage or from work to work. That is, at one point, the composerm ay wish
to avoid undue phenomenala ccent, and at anotherp oint, the composer
may wish to create an especiallys trong phenomenala ccent. Where the
composerc hangess trategyi n this way, if the data are analyzedi n the ag-
gregate,t hen the result is likely to be a nonsignificantc orrelationc oeffi-
Melodie Accent 497
cient nearz ero. However,t herea re otherw ays of interpretinga nonsignifi-
cant (near-zero)c orrelation.W e can infer no less than four possible inter-
pretations(:1 ) the composer'sa ccentg oalsm ayh avec hangedo vert he course
of the passage,o r (2) the placemento f these hypotheticala ccentsi s of less
or little concern to the composer,o r (3) the known and hypotheticala c-
cents are being used for differentp urposesb y the composera nd so appear
to be unrelated,( 4) the hypotheticala ccentd oes not exist; that is, the fea-
ture in questiond oes not producea phenomenala ccent. In addition, any
combinationo f (l)-(3) may resulti n a nonsignificantc orrelation.
Study 1: Western Folk Melodies
As in the case of agogic and dynamica ccents,w e might expect melodic
accent to assist in the maintenanceo r preservationo f the perceptiono f
meter( seeJ ones& Boltz,1 989;J ones,B oltz& Kidd,1 982;J ones& Ralston,
1991). If this hypothesisi s true, then a positivec orrelationw ould be pre-
dicted between melodic accent and metricp osition- such as the positive
correlationst hat have been observedb oth for agogica nd dynamica ccents.
Becausew e havei dentifiede ightc ompetingn otionso f melodica ccent,e ight
independentc orrelationsm ay be calculated.A notion of melodic accent
that is spuriousw ould be expectedt o have little or no systematicr elation-
ship with the metricalo rganization,a nd so would exhibit a correlation
near zero. (However,a s noted above, there are other possible interpreta-
tions of a nonsignificantc orrelation.)C onverselya, notion of melodic ac-
cent that best capturest he presumedp erceptualp henomenonw ould be
expectedt o exhibitt he highestc orrelationw ith metricp osition( eithern ega-
tive or positive).
SAMPLE
As an initials ample,w e assembleda randoms electiono f 100 vocal melo-
dies from Westernc ulture-s principallyE uropeanf olk songs. The major-
ity of works were randomlys electedf rom the Essen Folksong Collection
computerd atabase( Schaffrath1, 995). This databasec ontains more than
6,000 melodiese ncodedf rom a largen umbero f traditionala nd scholarly
sources. The encoded data include informationc onsistent with conven-
tional Westernn otation- includingm eters ignatures,k eys, badines, dura-
tions, absolutep itch (equallyt empereda pproximations)a, ccidentalsr, ests,
ties, and phrasei ndications.
Sincet he Essenc ollectionc ontainsv ery few works from Britaina nd the
United States, additionalm aterialsw ere randomlys electedf rom existing
databaseso f Britishf olk ballads (Bronson,1 959) and Americanp opular
melodies by StephenF oster.I n total, the sample includedv ocal melodies