What helps jazz musicians name tunes from harmony? The relationship between work with harmony and the ability to identify well-known jazz standards from chord progressions
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online March, 2020
What helps jazz musicians name tunes from harmony? The relationship between work with harmony and the ability to identify well-known jazz standards from chord progressions
Research has shown that musical training is associated with a greater ability to aurally connect chord progressions to specific pieces of music. However, it is unclear what specific aspects of musical training contribute to that ability. The present study investigated the effects of various aspects of professional and amateur jazz musicians’ formal training and work with harmony on their ability to identify well-known jazz standards from chord progressions. For participants who were able to identify songs from commercial recordings in this experiment, general long-term involvement with activities believed to increase awareness of harmony, such as playing a harmonic instrument, playing chords by ear, and transcribing harmonic progressions was often not enough to enable them to identify songs from their chord progressions alone. Additionally, the ability to identify songs from chord progressions was most strongly correlated with having played and being able to write out the chord labels of the target pieces from long-term memory. Implications of these and other results of this experiment for our understanding of jazz musicians’ processing and memory of harmonic information are discussed.
AikinJ. (2004). A player’s guide to chords and harmony: Music theory for real-world musicians. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corporation.
2.
AndoJ.OnoY.WrightM. J. (2001). Genetic structure of spatial and verbal working memory. Behavior Genetics, 31(6), 615–624.
3.
BakerD. (1983). Jazz improvisation: A comprehensive method for all musicians (2nd ed.). Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing.
4.
BerkmanD. (2009). The jazz singer’s guidebook. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music.
5.
BerkowitzA. (2010). The improvising mind: Cognition and creativity in the musical moment. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
6.
BerlinerP. F. (1994). Thinking in jazz: The infinite art of improvisation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
7.
BiamonteN. (2010). Triadic modal and pentatonic patterns in rock music. Music Theory Spectrum, 32(2), 95–110.
8.
BigandE.ParncuttR. (1999). Perceiving musical tension in long chord sequences. Psychological Research, 62(4), 237–254.
9.
BigandE.Poulin-CharronnatB. (2009). Tonal cognition. In HallamS.CrossI.ThautM. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music psychology (pp. 59–71). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
10.
BratticoE.PallesenK. J.VaryaginaO.BaileyC.AnourovaI.JärvenpääM.… TervaniemiM. (2009). Neural discrimination of nonprototypical chords in music experts and laymen: An MEG study. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21(11), 2230–2244.
11.
BratticoE.TupalaT.GlereanE.TervaniemiM. (2013). Modulated neural processing of Western harmony in folk musicians. Psychophysiology, 50(7), 653–663.
12.
BrozeY.ShanahanD. (2013). Diachronic changes in jazz harmony. Music Perception, 31(1), 32–45.
13.
BurnsG. (1987). A typology of “hooks” in popular records. Popular music, 6(01), 1–20.
ChittumD. (1969). A different approach to harmonic dictation. Music Educators Journal, 55(7), 65–66.
16.
CokerJ. (1964). Improvising jazz. New York: Simon.
17.
CokerJ. (1989). The teaching of jazz. Burlington, VT: Advance Music.
18.
CokerJ.KnappB.VincentL. (1997). Hearin’ the changes: Dealing with unknown tunes by ear. Burlington, VT: Advance Music.
19.
CorrigallK. A.TrainorL. J. (2009). Effects of musical training on key and harmony perception. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1169(1), 164–168.
20.
CrookH. (1991). How to improvise: An approach to practicing improvisation. Burlington, VT: Advance music.
21.
DraynaD.ManichaikulA.de LangeM.SniederH.SpectorT. (2001). Genetic correlates of musical pitch recognition in humans. Science, 291(5510), 1969–1972.
22.
DunscombJ. R.HillW. (2002). Jazz pedagogy: The jazz educator’s handbook and resource guide. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Music Publishing.
23.
EricssonK. A.KrampeR. T.Tesch-RömerC. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological review, 100(3), 363.
24.
FarboodM. M. (2012). A parametric, temporal model of musical tension. Music Perception, 29, 387–428.
25.
FinkelmanJ. (1997). Charlie Christian and the role of formulas in jazz improvisation. Jazzforschung/jazz research, 29, 159–188.
26.
HalberstadtR. (2001). Metaphors for the musician: Perspectives from a jazz pianist. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music.
27.
HalpernA. R.BartlettJ. C. (2010). Memory for melodies. In JonesM.PopperA.FayR. (Eds.), Music perception (pp. 233–258). New York: Springer-Verlag.
28.
HambrickD. Z.MacnamaraB. N.CampitelliG.UllénF.MosingM. A. (2016). Chapter one-beyond born versus made: A new look at expertise. Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 64, 1–55.
29.
JabuschH. C.AlpersH.KopiezR.VauthH.AltenmüllerE. (2009). The influence of practice on the development of motor skills in pianists: A longitudinal study in a selected motor task. Human Movement Science, 28(1), 74–84.
30.
JimenezI.KuusiT. (2017). Connecting chord progressions with specific pieces of music. Psychology of Music. doi:10.1177/0305735617721638
31.
Johnson-LairdP. N. (2002). How jazz musicians improvise. Music Perception, 19(3), 415–442.
32.
KoelschS.SchmidtB. H.KansokJ. (2002). Effects of musical expertise on the early right anterior negativity: An event-related brain potential study. Psychophysiology, 39(5), 657–663.
33.
KopiezR.PlatzF. (2009). The role of listening expertise, attention, and musical style in the perception of clash of keys. Music Perception, 26(4), 321–334.
34.
KopiezR.JabuschH. C.GalleyN.HomannJ. C.LehmannA. C.AltenmüllerE. (2012). No disadvantage for left-handed musicians: The relationship between handedness, perceived constraints and performance-related skills in string players and pianists. Psychology of Music, 40(3), 357–384.
35.
KrumhanslC. L. (2010). Plink: “Thin slices” of music. Music Perception, 27(5), 337–354.
36.
KuusiT. (2009). Tune recognition from melody, rhythm and harmony. In LouhivuoriJ.EerolaT.SaarikallioS.HimbergT.EerolaP-S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 7th Triennial Conference of European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM 2009), Jyväskylä, Finland. Retrieved from http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-2009411339
37.
LaPortaJ. (2000). A guide to jazz improvisation. Boston, MA: Berklee Press.
38.
LaughlinJ. E. (2001). The use of notated and aural exercises as pedagogical procedures intended to develop harmonic accuracy among beginning jazz improvisers (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of North Texas, Denton, TX.
39.
LawnR. J.HellmerJ. L. (1990). Jazz: Theory and practice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
40.
LehmannA. C.EricssonK. A. (1996). Performance without preparation: Structure and acquisition of expert sight-reading and accompanying performance. Psychomusicology, 15(1–2), 1–29.
41.
LerdahlF.JackendoffR. (1983). An overview of hierarchical structure in music. Music Perception, 1(2), 229–252.
42.
LerdahlF.KrumhanslC. L. (2007). Modeling tonal tension. Music Perception, 24(4), 329–366.
43.
LevineMark. (1995). The jazz theory book. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music.
44.
LouiP.WesselD. (2007). Harmonic expectation and affect in Western music: Effects of attention and training. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 69(7), 1084–1092.
45.
MaceliA. (2009). Cultivating the imaginative ear for jazz improvisation: A study in three settings (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Columbia University, New York, NY.
46.
MarieC.FujiokaT.HerringtonL.TrainorL. J. (2012). The high-voice superiority effect in polyphonic music is influenced by experience: A comparison of musicians who play soprano-range compared with bass-range instruments. Psychomusicology, 22(2), 97–104.
47.
MayL. F. (2003). Factors and abilities influencing achievement in instrumental jazz improvisation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51(3), 245–258.
48.
MeyerL. B. (1956). Emotion and meaning in music. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
49.
MeyerL. B. (1973). Explaining music: Essays and explorations. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
50.
MonsonI. (1996). Saying something: Jazz improvisation and interaction. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
51.
NorgaardM. (2011). Descriptions of improvisational thinking by artist-level jazz musicians. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(2), 109–127.
52.
NorgaardM. (2016). Descriptions of improvisational thinking by developing jazz improvisers. International Journal of Music Education. doi:10.1177/0255761416659512
53.
NorgaardM.EmersonS. N.DawnK.FidlonJ. D. (2016). Creating under pressure. Music Perception, 33(5), 561–570.
54.
OwensT. (1995). Bebop: The music and its players. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
55.
PalmerC. M. (2016). Instrumental jazz improvisation development: Characteristics of novice, intermediate, and advanced improvisers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 64(3), 360–378.
56.
PoldermanT. J.StinsJ. F.PosthumaD.GossoM. F.VerhulstF. C.BoomsmaD. I. (2006). The phenotypic and genotypic relation between working memory speed and capacity. Intelligence, 34(6), 549–560.
57.
PovelD. J.Van EgmondR. (1993). The function of accompanying chords in the recognition of melodic fragments. Music Perception, 11, 101–115.
58.
RadleyR.HatfieldB. (2008). The “real easy” ear training book: A Beginning/intermediate guide to hearing the chord changes. Petaluma, CA: Sher Music.
59.
ReevesS. D. (2001). Creative jazz improvisation. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
60.
RogersM. R. (1984). Teaching approaches in music theory: An overview of pedagogical philosophies. Carbondale, IL: SIU Press.
61.
SammlerD.NovembreG.KoelschS.KellerP. E. (2013). Syntax in a pianist’s hand: ERP signatures of “embodied” syntax processing in music. Cortex, 49(5), 1325–1339.
62.
SchellenbergE. G.IversonP.McKinnonM. (1999). Name that tune: Identifying popular recordings from brief excerpts. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 6, 641–646.
ScottR. J. (2000). Money chords: A songwriter’s sourcebook of popular chord progressions. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse.
65.
SearsD.CaplinW. E.McAdamsS. (2014). Perceiving the classical cadence. Music Perception, 31(5), 397–417.
66.
SeppänenM.BratticoE.TervaniemiM. (2007). Practice strategies of musicians modulate neural processing and the learning of sound-patterns. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 87(2), 236–247.
67.
SpitzerP. (2001). Jazz theory handbook. St Louis, MO: Mel Bay Publications.
68.
SteedmanM. J. (1984). A generative grammar for jazz chord sequences. Music Perception, 2(1), 52–77.
69.
SteinbeisN.KoelschS.SlobodaJ. A. (2006). The role of harmonic expectancy violations in musical emotions: Evidence from subjective, physiological, and neural responses. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 18(8), 1380–1393.
70.
StoiaN. (2013). The common stock of schemes in early blues and country music. Music Theory Spectrum, 35, 194–234. doi:10.1525/mts.2013.35.2.194
71.
The real book. (2004). Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp.
72.
The real book. (2005). Vol. II.Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp.
73.
The real book. (2006). Vol. III. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Corp.
74.
UllénF.MosingM. A.HolmL.ErikssonH.MadisonG. (2014). Psychometric properties and heritability of a new online test for musicality, the Swedish Musical Discrimination Test. Personality and Individual Differences, 63, 87–93.
75.
WaiteB. (1987). Modern jazz piano: A study in harmony. New York: Hippocrene Books.
76.
WilliamsL. R. (2004). The effect of musical training and musical complexity on focus of attention to melody or harmony (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.
77.
WolpertR. S. (2000). Attention to key in a non-directed music listening task: Musicians vs. nonmusicians. Music Perception, 18, 225–230.
78.
WoodyR. H. (2003). Explaining expressive performance: Component cognitive skills in an aural modeling task. Journal of Research in Music Education, 51(1), 51–63.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
