Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music
Abstract The dominant model of musical scales in academic theories is derived from instrument tunings. However, the study of vocal scales – most especially in indigenous cultures – has been all but ignored. The voice is almost certainly the original musical instrument, and so an analysis of vocal sc...
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Springer Nature
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04881-1 |
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| author | Steven Brown Elizabeth Phillips Khalil Husein John McBride |
| author_facet | Steven Brown Elizabeth Phillips Khalil Husein John McBride |
| author_sort | Steven Brown |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The dominant model of musical scales in academic theories is derived from instrument tunings. However, the study of vocal scales – most especially in indigenous cultures – has been all but ignored. The voice is almost certainly the original musical instrument, and so an analysis of vocal scales provides a more naturalistic means of understanding the evolution of music. In particular, we explore the idea that the structure of musical scales is a reflection of the vocal imprecision inherent in the way that people sing, regardless of culture. To investigate this issue globally, we carried out a large-scale computational analysis of 418 ethnographic field recordings of vocal songs from indigenous/traditional cultures, spanning the 10 principal musical-style regions of the world, analyzing the number of pitch-classes, the number of interval-classes, the pitch-class distribution, the scale intervals, and scale typology. The results revealed that vocal scales have reliably larger intervallic spacings between pitch-classes than do theory-based and instrumental scales in Western culture. In addition, the mean interval-size of the scales was significantly correlated with people’s imprecision in singing pitches across the world regions. These results lend support to a physiological model in which musical scales optimize pitch spacing in order to accommodate the imprecision inherent in vocal production and thereby maintain distinguishability between pitch-classes during musical communication. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5d56f262efa3413f9e3ee905b76b0601 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
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| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-5d56f262efa3413f9e3ee905b76b06012025-08-20T02:24:26ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-04-0112111310.1057/s41599-025-04881-1Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal musicSteven Brown0Elizabeth Phillips1Khalil Husein2John McBride3Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster UniversityDepartment of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster UniversityDepartment of Psychology, University of WaterlooCenter for Soft and Living Matter, Institute for Basic ScienceAbstract The dominant model of musical scales in academic theories is derived from instrument tunings. However, the study of vocal scales – most especially in indigenous cultures – has been all but ignored. The voice is almost certainly the original musical instrument, and so an analysis of vocal scales provides a more naturalistic means of understanding the evolution of music. In particular, we explore the idea that the structure of musical scales is a reflection of the vocal imprecision inherent in the way that people sing, regardless of culture. To investigate this issue globally, we carried out a large-scale computational analysis of 418 ethnographic field recordings of vocal songs from indigenous/traditional cultures, spanning the 10 principal musical-style regions of the world, analyzing the number of pitch-classes, the number of interval-classes, the pitch-class distribution, the scale intervals, and scale typology. The results revealed that vocal scales have reliably larger intervallic spacings between pitch-classes than do theory-based and instrumental scales in Western culture. In addition, the mean interval-size of the scales was significantly correlated with people’s imprecision in singing pitches across the world regions. These results lend support to a physiological model in which musical scales optimize pitch spacing in order to accommodate the imprecision inherent in vocal production and thereby maintain distinguishability between pitch-classes during musical communication.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04881-1 |
| spellingShingle | Steven Brown Elizabeth Phillips Khalil Husein John McBride Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music |
| title_full | Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music |
| title_fullStr | Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music |
| title_full_unstemmed | Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music |
| title_short | Musical scales optimize pitch spacing: a global analysis of traditional vocal music |
| title_sort | musical scales optimize pitch spacing a global analysis of traditional vocal music |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04881-1 |
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