Music Listening, Music Therapy, Phenomenology and Neuroscience

3 – Space, Time, Flow and Memory

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Fig. 3.1. Memorized representations of listening dimensions

Qualitative and quantitative potentials of listening dimensions

The memorized representations of listening dimensions are basically

qualitative potentials of perceived sound.

Timbre as such is a qualitative dimension, memorized as the prominent

quality of a particular sound source or sound event.

The memorized shape of a sound movement retains contour qualities specific
to the perceived movement. Contour qualities permit the memorization and

The Musical Timespace

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recollection of a large number of tunes and themes.

Pitch height possesses the qualities of brightness and clarity in high

registers, fullness and sonority in medium register, and dark and diffuse

qualities in low registers. Even the electronic sine wave tone displays

different qualities in different registers.

The qualitative aspect of pulse is its tempo, and acceleration and decele-

ration of the tempo. The particular quality of tempo stems from its simila-

rity with the biological pulse of the heartbeat, speeding up and slowing

down in relation to changes in bodily and emotional states. We gain an

immediate qualitative sensation of slow, medium and fast tempo, and the

slowing down or speeding up of tempo evokes emotional response.

Listening to music with a pulse evokes a sensation of regulated time in the

listening body. This is a powerful means of coordination, and a powerful

source of fascination and emotion.

Quantitative potentials are inherent in two of the memorized representa-

tions of listening dimensions, pitch height and tempo. Both are natural

continua.

The natural continuum of pitch height is easily demonstrated by the human

voice gliding from its lowest to its highest register and back again, or by a

glissando on a string. The division of the pitch height continuum in inter-

vals of equal or unequal sizes is the basis for the formation of scales and

modes developed in different cultures. The possibility of counting, group-

ing, adding, dividing and measuring these intervals is the quantitative

potential of pitch height.

The double potential of pitch height, quantitative and qualitative, is re-

flected in the French language, employing two pairs of words for describing

differences in pitch height, haut - bas, designating the quantitative potential

of the high - low continuum, and aigu - grave, pointing out the qualitative

difference between sharp and heavy pitch heights.

The natural continuum of tempo is experienced in the process of running,

proceeding from a standstill through slow and medium tempi to the

highest possible speed of one's personal capacity and subsequently

slowing down to another standstill. Simultaneously, the heartbeat will

speed up and gradually slow down again. This reveals the coexistence of

two different tempo layers in the body, the tempo of the feet and the tempo

of the heartbeat. A third tempo layer can be added by clapping or finger

tapping, and a fourth by chewing.

Quantitative potentials are inherent in tempo as well as its underlying

pulse. Tempo can be defined and quantified by technological means such

as the metronome or electronic impulse generators. Pulse beats can be

counted, added, grouped and divided in order to constitute a basis for