Recognition of Tone Series Containing Tonic Triads

Abstract

Two experiments concerning the recognition of tone series with a triad on the tonic located either at the beginning, the center, or the end of the series are reported. In Experiment 1, the series consisted of nine tones and comprised three subgroups of either diatonic or nondiatonic tones. Experiment 2 focused on series of 9,11, and 13 tones. The results of Experiment 1 showed that recognition was most accurate for series with the tonic triad located in the center. In Experiment 2, the same effect of location of the tonic triad was found for series of 9 tones, but no significant effect of location of the triad was found for series of 11 or 13 tones. It appears that the location of a tonic triad influences the recognition of short tone series only, and the tonic triad has the greatest impact when it is located in the center of such a series.