Auditory Streams, Voice Leading, Music, and Memory

Flashcards covering key concepts from auditory perception, voice leading, music memory, and related neurological functions.

Auditory Stream

The perceptual grouping of sounds into one 'object,' allowing a listener to follow a specific sound source.

Structuralism

A theory suggesting that perceptions are combinations of senses, like pixels on a screen.

Gestalt Principles

The idea that the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts and includes various rules like proximity and similarity.

Proximity (Gestalt Principle)

The principle that states sounds close in pitch or time tend to be grouped together.

Similarity (Gestalt Principle)

The principle that states sounds that are similar in timbre tend to be grouped together.

Harmonic Tonality (Renaissance)

A musical approach where voices move according to rules preserving chordal triads and distinct auditory streams.

Pitch Weight

An index of pitch clarity; high tones become indistinct without pitch.

Temporal Continuity

The principle that continuous or recurring sounds are likely to form a perceptual stream.

Masking

The phenomenon where sounds close in pitch interfere with one another.

Tonal Fusion

The process by which some sound combinations cohere into a single sound image.

Auditory Cortex (AC)

The part of the brain involved in processing auditory information, with two main outputs: dorsal (where) and ventral (what).

Event-related potentials (ERPs)

A noninvasive way to measure cortical brain activity that provides insights into how neurons respond to stimuli.

Implicit (non-declarative) memories

Memories that influence performance of a task without conscious recall, often learned through practice.

Neocortex

The largest part of the cortex involved in long-term explicit memory and recall.

Musical Memory System

Involves the storage and recall of musical information, affected by emotional and contextual factors.

Perceptual Span

The useful region around a note being looked at while performing, typically 2-4 beats.

Voice as a Musical Instrument

Vocal production involves voiced sound, resonance, and articulation.

Categorical Perception

The ability to perceive phonemes in a way that is language-specific, where sounds are classified into distinct categories.

Critical Band

A zone of frequency where masking can occur; essential in understanding pitch discrimination.

Perfect Pitch

The ability to identify or recreate a given musical note without any reference tone.

Modal Jazz Improvisation

A style of jazz focusing on melodic exploration over static chords rather than complex harmonic progressions.