Harmonics in jazz under the microscope
Today's common theories of harmony assign special significance to bass and chord fundamentals. Using psychological experiments and analyses of databases, music psychologists in Graz have now proven, at least for jazz, that perception is more complex.
Richard Parncutt and Lazar Radovanovic analyzed databases with 100 arrangements of jazz standards. The results showed, among other things, that root notes, which are theoretically less ambiguous, are more frequently doubled in the bass, and root notes of minor chords are interpreted more ambiguously. Diminished triads are often interpreted as fragments of a seventh chord.
The results are consistent with the theories of psychoacoustician Ernst Terhardt that the perception of musical chords is the result of cultural and historical processes.
Original article:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10298649211062934
