David Huron
Music Department
University of California, Santa Barbara, February 7, 2003
A theory of expectation is applied to the phenomenon of music. The theory is used to resolve a number of musical problems, including Wittgenstein's Paradox -- why a deceptive cadence continues to sound "deceptive" even when the listener knows its occurrence is certain.
Two major historical revolutions in Western music are analyzed from a cognitive perspective. One revolution is the displacement of the Medieval system of modes by the Renaissance major/minor system. A study of Gregorian chant shows that, by the 12th century, the eight-fold system of modes was already poised to collapse into two general schemas -- the precursors of major and minor. This phenomenon is akin to phonetic "merger" in linguistics.
A second musical revolution is associated with the advent of Modernism. The compositional strategies of Wagner, Schoenberg and Stravinsky are discussed. In each case, these composers created music consistent with a "reverse psychology" in which listener expectations were systematically transgressed. Inexperienced listeners find these transgressions unsettling, but experienced listeners internalize this strategy and come to expect the unexpected.