Week 5 : Pitch, scales, melody

In the "missing fundamental" demonstration, what might influence whether a listener tracks the missing fundamental pitch or the spectral content?

Their level of musical experience

What factor influences how a person perceives the Octave Illusion?

Handedness

In the Octave Illusion, what do listeners typically perceive?

Two single tones that alternate between ears

The Shepard Illusion creates the perception of:

A continually ascending or descending scale that never seems to stop

In Western music, the two predominant types of tonalities are:

Major and Minor

What is tonality?

A hierarchy of pitches where one note (the tonic) serves as a central reference point

The overall "shape" of a melody, defined by its rises and falls, is called its:

Contour 

What is a melody?

The horizontal/sequential arrangement of pitches

The "missing fundamental" phenomenon demonstrates that:

We can perceive a pitch even when its fundamental frequency is absent from the sound

Which theory is thought to best explain the "missing fundamental" phenomenon?

The brain finds the largest common denominator of all the frequencies

The Temporal Theory of pitch perception suggests that:

The rate of neuronal firing corresponds to the frequency of the sound wave

The Place Theory of pitch perception suggests that:

Different frequencies stimulate different locations on the basilar membrane

What is the process called by which incoming sound signals are converted into neural signals for the brain?

Auditory Transduction

What is sound?

A mechanical disturbance of a medium, like rapid changes in air pressure

Which part of the ear is the external, visible part that helps filter sound into the ear canal?

Pinna 

What is the primary function of the Ossicles?

To amplify vibrations from the eardrum and transmit them to the cochlea

What is the middle ear's "Acoustic Reflex" designed to do?

Protect the ear from loud sounds by contracting muscles

Where does the frequency analysis of sound primarily occur in the inner ear?

The Basilar Membrane

Which part of the Basilar Membrane responds best to high frequencies?

The Base 

What is the function of the Organ of Corti?

To convert movements of the basilar membrane into nerve firings

Pitch is best described as:

The psychological correlate of frequency

Frequency is measured in:

Hertz (Hz)

What is the simplest form of an auditory signal, which generally does not exist in nature?

Sine Wave

Which parameter of a sine wave do we perceive as changes in volume?

Amplitude

A complex tone is made up of:

A set of sine waves, including a fundamental frequency and its overtones

What perceptual quality is primarily determined by which overtones are present in a sound?

Timbre