Tonal Pitch Space

Tonal Pitch Space presents a model of diatonic space that quantifies intuitions of the relative distances of pitches, chords, and keys. The model assigns prolongational structure, represents paths through the space, and computers patterns of tension and attraction as musical events unfold.

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Building on the foundation of Lerdahl and Jackendoff's influential A Generative Theory of Tonal Music, this volume presents a multidimensional model of diatonic and chromatic spaces that quantifies listeners' intuitions of the relative distances of pitches, chords, and keys from a given tonic. The model is employed to assign prolongational structure, represent paths through the space, and compute patterns of tension and attraction as musical events unfold, thereby providing a partial basis for understanding musical narration, expectation, and expression. Conceived as both a music-theoretic treatise and a contribution to the cognitive science of music, this book will be of interest to music theorists, musicologists, composers, computer musicians, and cognitive psychologists.