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Passmore S, Wood ALC, Barbieri C, Shilton D, Daikoku H, Atkinson QD, Savage PE. Global musical diversity is largely independent of linguistic and genetic histories. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3964. [PMID: 38729968 PMCID: PMC11087526 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48113-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Music is a universal yet diverse cultural trait transmitted between generations. The extent to which global musical diversity traces cultural and demographic history, however, is unresolved. Using a global musical dataset of 5242 songs from 719 societies, we identify five axes of musical diversity and show that music contains geographical and historical structures analogous to linguistic and genetic diversity. After creating a matched dataset of musical, genetic, and linguistic data spanning 121 societies containing 981 songs, 1296 individual genetic profiles, and 121 languages, we show that global musical similarities are only weakly and inconsistently related to linguistic or genetic histories, with some regional exceptions such as within Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Our results suggest that global musical traditions are largely distinct from some non-musical aspects of human history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Passmore
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan.
- Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative (ECDI), Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
| | | | - Chiara Barbieri
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, 8057, Switzerland
- Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, 8050, Switzerland
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Cagliari, 09126, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Dor Shilton
- Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Edelstein Centre for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Hideo Daikoku
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
| | | | - Patrick E Savage
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan.
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2
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McBride JM, Passmore S, Tlusty T. Convergent evolution in a large cross-cultural database of musical scales. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0284851. [PMID: 38091315 PMCID: PMC10718441 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Scales, sets of discrete pitches that form the basis of melodies, are thought to be one of the most universal hallmarks of music. But we know relatively little about cross-cultural diversity of scales or how they evolved. To remedy this, we assemble a cross-cultural database (Database of Musical Scales: DaMuSc) of scale data, collected over the past century by various ethnomusicologists. Statistical analyses of the data highlight that certain intervals (e.g., the octave, fifth, second) are used frequently across cultures. Despite some diversity among scales, it is the similarities across societies which are most striking: step intervals are restricted to 100-400 cents; most scales are found close to equidistant 5- and 7-note scales. We discuss potential mechanisms of variation and selection in the evolution of scales, and how the assembled data may be used to examine the root causes of convergent evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M. McBride
- Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science, Ulsan, South Korea
| | - Sam Passmore
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
- Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Tsvi Tlusty
- Center for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science, Ulsan, South Korea
- Departments of Physics and Chemistry, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, South Korea
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Passmore S, Savage PE. The Exceptions and the Rules in Global Musical Diversity. J Cogn 2023; 6:47. [PMID: 37600218 PMCID: PMC10437135 DOI: 10.5334/joc.312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Global music diversity is a popular topic for both scientific and humanities researchers, but often for different reasons. Scientific research typically focuses on the generalities through measurement and statistics, while humanists typically emphasize exceptions using qualitative approaches. But these two approaches need not be mutually exclusive. Using a quantitative approach to identify musical outliers and a qualitative discussion of the most unusual songs, we can combine scientific and humanities approaches to unite knowledge on musical diversity. Objectively defining unusual music is a delicate task, having historically been subject to Eurocentric approaches. Using the Global Jukebox, a dataset containing almost 6,000 songs from over 1,000 societies coded on 37 "Cantometric" variables of musical style, we designate the unusualness of a song as the frequency of its coded variables relative to their regional frequency. Using quantitative metrics to identify outliers in musical diversity, we present a qualitative discussion of some of the most unusual individual songs (from a Panpipe ensemble from Kursk, Russia), and a comparison of unusual repertoires from Malay, Kel Aïr, and Moroccan Berber musical cultures. We also ask whether unusual music is the result of unusual social organisation or isolation from other groups. There is weak evidence that the unusualness of music is predicted by kinship organisation and cultural isolation, but these predictors are heavily outweighed by the finding that unusual songs are best predicted by knowing the society they come from - evidence that quantitatively supports the existence of musical style.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam Passmore
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
- Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative, Australia National University, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Patrick E. Savage
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand
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Singh M, Mehr SA. Universality, domain-specificity, and development of psychological responses to music. NATURE REVIEWS PSYCHOLOGY 2023; 2:333-346. [PMID: 38143935 PMCID: PMC10745197 DOI: 10.1038/s44159-023-00182-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023]
Abstract
Humans can find music happy, sad, fearful, or spiritual. They can be soothed by it or urged to dance. Whether these psychological responses reflect cognitive adaptations that evolved expressly for responding to music is an ongoing topic of study. In this Review, we examine three features of music-related psychological responses that help to elucidate whether the underlying cognitive systems are specialized adaptations: universality, domain-specificity, and early expression. Focusing on emotional and behavioural responses, we find evidence that the relevant psychological mechanisms are universal and arise early in development. However, the existing evidence cannot establish that these mechanisms are domain-specific. To the contrary, many findings suggest that universal psychological responses to music reflect more general properties of emotion, auditory perception, and other human cognitive capacities that evolved for non-musical purposes. Cultural evolution, driven by the tinkering of musical performers, evidently crafts music to compellingly appeal to shared psychological mechanisms, resulting in both universal patterns (such as form-function associations) and culturally idiosyncratic styles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manvir Singh
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, University of
Toulouse 1 Capitole, Toulouse, France
| | - Samuel A. Mehr
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT,
USA
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland,
New Zealand
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Anglada-Tort M, Harrison PMC, Lee H, Jacoby N. Large-scale iterated singing experiments reveal oral transmission mechanisms underlying music evolution. Curr Biol 2023; 33:1472-1486.e12. [PMID: 36958332 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.02.070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 12/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023]
Abstract
Speech and song have been transmitted orally for countless human generations, changing over time under the influence of biological, cognitive, and cultural pressures. Cross-cultural regularities and diversities in human song are thought to emerge from this transmission process, but testing how underlying mechanisms contribute to musical structures remains a key challenge. Here, we introduce an automatic online pipeline that streamlines large-scale cultural transmission experiments using a sophisticated and naturalistic modality: singing. We quantify the evolution of 3,424 melodies orally transmitted across 1,797 participants in the United States and India. This approach produces a high-resolution characterization of how oral transmission shapes melody, revealing the emergence of structures that are consistent with widespread musical features observed cross-culturally (small pitch sets, small pitch intervals, and arch-shaped melodic contours). We show how the emergence of these structures is constrained by individual biases in our participants-vocal constraints, working memory, and cultural exposure-which determine the size, shape, and complexity of evolving melodies. However, their ultimate effect on population-level structures depends on social dynamics taking place during cultural transmission. When participants recursively imitate their own productions (individual transmission), musical structures evolve slowly and heterogeneously, reflecting idiosyncratic musical biases. When participants instead imitate others' productions (social transmission), melodies rapidly shift toward homogeneous structures, reflecting shared structural biases that may underpin cross-cultural variation. These results provide the first quantitative characterization of the rich collection of biases that oral transmission imposes on music evolution, giving us a new understanding of how human song structures emerge via cultural transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Anglada-Tort
- Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany; Faculty of Music, University of Oxford, St Aldate's, Oxford OX1 1DB, UK.
| | - Peter M C Harrison
- Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany; Faculty of Music, University of Cambridge, 11 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DP, UK
| | - Harin Lee
- Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Nori Jacoby
- Computational Auditory Perception Group, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Grüneburgweg 14, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany
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Basiński K, Quiroga-Martinez DR, Vuust P. Temporal hierarchies in the predictive processing of melody - From pure tones to songs. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 145:105007. [PMID: 36535375 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.105007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Listening to musical melodies is a complex task that engages perceptual and memoryrelated processes. The processes underlying melody cognition happen simultaneously on different timescales, ranging from milliseconds to minutes. Although attempts have been made, research on melody perception is yet to produce a unified framework of how melody processing is achieved in the brain. This may in part be due to the difficulty of integrating concepts such as perception, attention and memory, which pertain to different temporal scales. Recent theories on brain processing, which hold prediction as a fundamental principle, offer potential solutions to this problem and may provide a unifying framework for explaining the neural processes that enable melody perception on multiple temporal levels. In this article, we review empirical evidence for predictive coding on the levels of pitch formation, basic pitch-related auditory patterns,more complex regularity processing extracted from basic patterns and long-term expectations related to musical syntax. We also identify areas that would benefit from further inquiry and suggest future directions in research on musical melody perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krzysztof Basiński
- Division of Quality of Life Research, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland
| | - David Ricardo Quiroga-Martinez
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute & Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, USA; Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Denmark
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music, Denmark
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Tomáška Ľ. Let's bring games into university classrooms: Specifically adapted games could greatly enhance teaching in higher education. EMBO Rep 2022; 23:e55730. [PMID: 36250930 PMCID: PMC9638872 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202255730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Games and play are proven to be the most efficient means for children to learn. We should make greater efforts to use this tool for university teaching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ľubomír Tomáška
- Department of GeneticsComenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural SciencesBratislavaSlovakia
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Singh R, Nakamura E. Dynamic cluster structure and predictive modelling of music creation style distributions. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220516. [PMID: 36397973 PMCID: PMC9626261 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
We investigate the dynamics of music creation style distributions to understand cultural evolution involving intelligence to create complex artefacts. Previous work suggested that a music creation style can be quantified as statistics describing a generative process of music data, and that the distribution of music creation styles in a society has cluster structure related to the presence of different musical genres. To find patterns in the dynamics of the cluster structure, we analysed statistics of melodies in Japanese popular music data and statistics of audio features in American popular music data. Using statistical modelling methods, we found that intra-cluster dynamics, such as the contraction and the shift of a cluster, as well as inter-cluster dynamics represented by clusters' relative frequencies, often exhibit notable dynamical modes. Additionally, to compare the individual contributions of these different dynamical aspects for predicting future creation style distributions, we constructed a fitness-based evolutionary model and found that the predictions of cluster frequencies and cluster variances often have comparable contributions. Our results highlight the relevance of intra-cluster dynamics in music style evolution, which have often been overlooked in previous studies. The present methodology can be applied to cultural artefacts whose generative process can be characterized by a discrete probability distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajsuryan Singh
- Music Technology Group, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona 08002, Spain
| | - Eita Nakamura
- The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
- Graduate School of Informatics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
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Xing J, Sainburg T, Taylor H, Gentner TQ. Syntactic modulation of rhythm in Australian pied butcherbird song. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220704. [PMID: 36177196 PMCID: PMC9515642 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.220704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
The acoustic structure of birdsong is spectrally and temporally complex. Temporal complexity is often investigated in a syntactic framework focusing on the statistical features of symbolic song sequences. Alternatively, temporal patterns can be investigated in a rhythmic framework that focuses on the relative timing between song elements. Here, we investigate the merits of combining both frameworks by integrating syntactic and rhythmic analyses of Australian pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) songs, which exhibit organized syntax and diverse rhythms. We show that rhythms of the pied butcherbird song bouts in our sample are categorically organized and predictable by the song's first-order sequential syntax. These song rhythms remain categorically distributed and strongly associated with the first-order sequential syntax even after controlling for variance in note length, suggesting that the silent intervals between notes induce a rhythmic structure on note sequences. We discuss the implication of syntactic-rhythmic relations as a relevant feature of song complexity with respect to signals such as human speech and music, and advocate for a broader conception of song complexity that takes into account syntax, rhythm, and their interaction with other acoustic and perceptual features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Xing
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Tim Sainburg
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hollis Taylor
- Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Timothy Q. Gentner
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Neurobiology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
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Xing J, Sainburg T, Taylor H, Gentner TQ. Syntactic modulation of rhythm in Australian pied butcherbird song. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:220704. [PMID: 36177196 DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6197494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
The acoustic structure of birdsong is spectrally and temporally complex. Temporal complexity is often investigated in a syntactic framework focusing on the statistical features of symbolic song sequences. Alternatively, temporal patterns can be investigated in a rhythmic framework that focuses on the relative timing between song elements. Here, we investigate the merits of combining both frameworks by integrating syntactic and rhythmic analyses of Australian pied butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis) songs, which exhibit organized syntax and diverse rhythms. We show that rhythms of the pied butcherbird song bouts in our sample are categorically organized and predictable by the song's first-order sequential syntax. These song rhythms remain categorically distributed and strongly associated with the first-order sequential syntax even after controlling for variance in note length, suggesting that the silent intervals between notes induce a rhythmic structure on note sequences. We discuss the implication of syntactic-rhythmic relations as a relevant feature of song complexity with respect to signals such as human speech and music, and advocate for a broader conception of song complexity that takes into account syntax, rhythm, and their interaction with other acoustic and perceptual features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey Xing
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Tim Sainburg
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hollis Taylor
- Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Timothy Q Gentner
- Department of Psychology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Neurobiology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
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Hoeschele M, Fitch WT. Cultural evolution: Conserved patterns of melodic evolution across musical cultures. Curr Biol 2022; 32:R265-R267. [PMID: 35349809 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.01.080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
A new study finds that melodies evolve in similar ways, reminiscent of genetic evolution, across cultures. Patterns of change in music and other aesthetic domains may be the key to understanding how culture evolves when unfettered by physical or ecological constraints.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marisa Hoeschele
- Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Science, Vienna, Austria
| | - W Tecumseh Fitch
- Cognitive Science Hub and Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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