Gradual Tempo Change and Aesthetic Responses of Music Majors

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate aesthetic responses of music major listeners to gradual tempo changes in orchestral music. Seventy-two graduate and undergraduate participants listened to a recording of the first movement of Haydn's Symphony #104 and indicated aesthetic responses during the presentation using a CRDI dial. One group listened to an unaltered version of the excerpt. A second group heard a version that slowly increased in tempo to a maximum of 20 percent above the original tempo, and a third group heard a version that gradually decreased in tempo to 20 percent below the original. Although the overall contour of responses was similar for all listening conditions, the tempo increase group indicated slightly higher levels of aesthetic response during the latter part of the movement than did the unaltered and tempo decrease groups. None of the listeners in the tempo change groups clearly identified the nature of the change.