The effect of preparation on the perception of harmonic dissonance and tonal modulation in Western listeners

Abstract

Harmonic dissonance and tonal modulation are widely used compositional techniques in music that have been extensively researched in several music psychology and music cognition studies. However, little research has been conducted on the effect of preparation on the perception of harmonic dissonance and tonal modulation. The purpose of this thesis is to better understand the effect of preparation on the perception of harmonic dissonance and tonal modulation by understanding how preparation can affect the perception of valence, tension, arousal and stability and listeners’ aesthetic preferences in music. This thesis details a mixed-method experiment, which asked Western-encultured participants who were recruited online to rate musical examples – with and without preparation of dissonance and modulation – on four scales (valence, arousal, tension and stability) and respond to a short answer question about their listening experience. Prepared modulation was perceived as slightly more pleasant and more exciting than unprepared, whereas prepared dissonance was perceived as slightly more relaxing and stable. Qualitative analysis using five themes (immersion in the music, multiplicity of emotions, deep emotional interaction with the music, general emotional responses and listening ease & predictability) revealed that both prepared and unprepared dissonance and modulation have the ability to produce varying affective responses across participants. The results from this study contribute to a broader understanding of how the music composition techniques of preparation of harmonic dissonance and tonal modulation can influence emotions.

Date of Thesis submission	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Sponsors	Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
Supervisor	Clare Maclean (Supervisor) & Andrew Milne (Supervisor)