Influence of Number of Different Pitches and Melodic Redundancy on Preference Responses

Abstract

The problem of this study was to determine if melodic complexity, defined as number of different pitches or melodic redundancy, influences preference responses of school-age subjects. The test melodies presented to the subjects consisted of nine original, randomly-generated, 48-pitch melodies in which all musical elements (except number of different pitches and redundancy) had been held constant or randomized. Subjects indicated their responses to these melodies on a seven-point response scale. The results indicate that the two melodic complexity factors of number of different pitches and melodic redundancy do influence preference responses of school-age subjects to a statistically significant degree when highly controlled melodies are employed. No interaction effect between these two complexity variables appears to be present. Melodies generated from five or seven different pitch alphabets are preferred to a statistically significant degree over those generated from twelve different pitch alphabets; and melodies containing low or intermediate levels of redundancy (as designated in this study) generally are preferred to a statistically significant degree over highly redundant melodies.