The purpose of this study is to trace the development of the major seventh chord from the earliest recorded music through the German School of composition up to the time of Johann Sebastian Bach. The term "major seventh chord" is used to denote the four-tone chord comprised of a major triad plus a tone which is a major seventh above the root. In major keys this chord may be built on the tonic and subdominant degrees of the scale without alterations, and in the "natural" minor on the mediant and the submediant. The full, or structural, name "major-major seventh chord"--used in the present thesis only when it is necessary to distinguish it from other seventh chords with major sevenths-- arises from the fact that the triad (1, 3, 5) is major and the interval between the root and the seventh is major.

The perceptual reality of the music theoretical relation between the Neapolitan chord and the dominant / and the secondary dominant chord and its diatonic associate was investigated within the chord priming paradigm. In Experiment 1, expectation towards the dominant chord after the Neapolitan chord was observed in Turkish musicians and non-musicians with piano timbre. In Experiment 2, expectation towards the dominant chord after the Neapolitan chord was observed in European musicians but not in European non-musicians. In Experiment 3, Turkish non-musicians were tested with Shepard tones / but it was not possible to observe any priming effects. To understand effects of cultural background on the difference between the results of Experiments 1 and 2 further studies are necessary. In Experiments 4-5, the perceptual reality of the relation between the secondary dominant chord and its diatonic associate was investigated in Turkish non-musicians. In Experiment 4, chord sequences that included secondary dominant chords were played with Shepard tones / and they were scrambled with 2by2 scrambling algorithm. Experiment 5 was identical with Experiment 4, except chord sequences were played with the piano timbre. Experiment 6 was identical with Experiment 5, except chord sequences were scrambled with 4by4. However, in Experiments 4-6 detrimental effects of scrambling sequences that include secondary dominant chords on the priming of chords were not observed. Turkish non-musicians did perceive the relation between the secondary dominant chord and its diatonic associate. In neural network simulations of this thesis it was shown that statistical learning from the musical environment with self-organization could be achieved without committing the questionable assumptions of previous studies.

I det här arbetet har jag undersökt melodiernas kvalitet och vilka byggstenar som ligger till grund för melodins intresse. Därför begränsade jag mig till att skriva sex ”four chords”-låtar där jag sedan bedömde och analyserade resultatet. Jag kom fram till att melodins samverkan med rytmen samt användandet av pauser är av största vikt för att melodin ska finna mitt intresse.

This study highlights aspects of performance for the consideration of the pianist wishing to perform Rachmaninoff’s second piano sonata op. 36, using a combination of the two versions (1913 and 1931) published by Boosey&Hawkes. By providing a background to the composition, revision, and structure of this sonata, the study aims to inspect all aspects of the conception and revision of the work. Through a close examination of two recordings of this sonata - by Vladimir Horowitz and Van Cliburn - the study analyses and compares the performers’ choices regarding the selection and combination of material from the two versions for performance. Aspects such as technical difficulty, texture, structure and sonority are highlighted as points for the pianist to contemplate when attempting an alternative version of this work. These elements of successful performance are singled out by the detailed observation of the material selected by the performers, with conjectures as to the most probable reason for its selection. The various analyses and comparisons are illustrated by means of music examples. / Dissertation (MMus (Performing Arts))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Music / MMus / unrestricted

Perception of dichotic chords (free recall and directed recall), nonsense syllables (CVs), and three-pair digits was assessed on 24 musicians and 24 nonmusicians. On the dichotic-CV and dichotic-digit free-recall tasks, there was a significant right-ear advantage, but there were no group differences. With the dichotic-chords, free-recall condition, a significant left-ear advantage was observed but no group difference. For the dichotic-chords, directed-recall conditions, the musicians performed significantly better by 10 percent than the nonmusicians. Unexpectedly, for the dichotic chords, the 62-72 percent correct performances were better on the free-recall condition than the 42-55 percent performances on the directed-recall conditions. These differences between the two response modes were attributed to the difficulty of the dichotic-chord listening tasks and the probabilities associated with the closed-set response paradigms. The findings suggest that the dichotic-chord paradigm used in this study should not be included in clinical protocols used to assess auditory perceptual abilities.

Bart6k's own expanded tonal ("supradiatonic") pronouncements reveal that his music, notwithstanding tonally camouflaging surface details, clearly had a tonal foundation which in many respects is a reaction to the emerging atonalism of Schonberg. Analysis of three piano works (1908 - 1916) reveal that Bart6k's tonal language embraced intuitively the expanded tonal idiom. The harmonic resources Bart6k employed to obscure tonicisation embrace double-degree constructions, quartal formations, chords of addition and omission and other irregular constructions. Diatonic tonal pillars are evident in pedal points, tonic triads and dominant to tonic root movement. Through an application of the Riemann function theory expanded by Hartmann's supposition of fully-chromaticised scales tonal syntax (especially secondphase Strauss cadences or closes) becomes apparent within an expanded tonal product. The analyses conclude that Bart6k's inimitable "sound-world" is a twentieth-century manifestation of traditional tonality's primary tenets. / Musicology / M.Mus.

Bart6k's own expanded tonal ("supradiatonic") pronouncements reveal that his music, notwithstanding tonally camouflaging surface details, clearly had a tonal foundation which in many respects is a reaction to the emerging atonalism of Schonberg. Analysis of three piano works (1908 - 1916) reveal that Bart6k's tonal language embraced intuitively the expanded tonal idiom. The harmonic resources Bart6k employed to obscure tonicisation embrace double-degree constructions, quartal formations, chords of addition and omission and other irregular constructions. Diatonic tonal pillars are evident in pedal points, tonic triads and dominant to tonic root movement. Through an application of the Riemann function theory expanded by Hartmann's supposition of fully-chromaticised scales tonal syntax (especially secondphase Strauss cadences or closes) becomes apparent within an expanded tonal product. The analyses conclude that Bart6k's inimitable "sound-world" is a twentieth-century manifestation of traditional tonality's primary tenets. / Musicology / M.Mus.

Esta tese trata da formação do flautista e de outros instrumentistas melódicos - de sopro, e de cordas não dedilhadas. Ilustrada com exercícios, prelúdios e estudos, consiste basicamente em uma metodologia de ensino que visa não somente ao desenvolvimento técnico-instrumental, mas também ao pleno entendimento da linguagem musical e ao desenvolvimento da consciência harmônica. Para isso, propõe uma forma de estudo baseada na criação de conteúdo, e não na repetição de padrões preestabelecidos. / This thesis is about the teaching of the flute and others melodic instruments - namely winds and strings. Illustrated with studies and etudes, it consists basically of a methodology that seeks not only technical development on the instrument, but also the complete understanding of the musical language and the development of harmonic awareness. With this aim, it proposes a way of practicing based on creativity, improvisation and composition, instead of the repetition of established patterns.

Esta tese trata da formação do flautista e de outros instrumentistas melódicos - de sopro, e de cordas não dedilhadas. Ilustrada com exercícios, prelúdios e estudos, consiste basicamente em uma metodologia de ensino que visa não somente ao desenvolvimento técnico-instrumental, mas também ao pleno entendimento da linguagem musical e ao desenvolvimento da consciência harmônica. Para isso, propõe uma forma de estudo baseada na criação de conteúdo, e não na repetição de padrões preestabelecidos. / This thesis is about the teaching of the flute and others melodic instruments - namely winds and strings. Illustrated with studies and etudes, it consists basically of a methodology that seeks not only technical development on the instrument, but also the complete understanding of the musical language and the development of harmonic awareness. With this aim, it proposes a way of practicing based on creativity, improvisation and composition, instead of the repetition of established patterns.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 21, 2010). Advisor: Ralph Lorenz. Keywords: jazz, music, theory, George Macdonald, ballet, harmony, tertian, harmonics analysis, dissonance, consonance, orchestra. Includes bibliographical references (p. 130-140).