The “genetic code” of melody: Cognitive structures generated by the implication-realization model

Abstract

The general claim herein is that the analysis of melody rests on the perception of implications of continuation and reversal. Continuation is said to be governed hypothetically by the bottom-up Gestalt laws of similarity, proximity, and common direction (common fate); whereas reversal is hypothesized as a symmetrical construct. The hypotheses are context-free and scalable, producing several archetypal realizations (process, duplication, reversal, registral return). And they are recursive, generating hierarchical levels. Separately applying to the implicative aspects of interval, registral direction, and specific pitch, the twin hypotheses generate overall sixteen prospective and retrospective realizations. These types also appear in pair combinations (some 200 are possible), in chains of three or more structures strung together in an infinite variety, and in overlapping networks of different simultaneous structures. A melodic model of psychological encoding is offered, and top-down processing in the form of intraopus style is discussed.