University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2014 Melody as Prosody: Toward a Usage-Based Theory of Music Thomas Mathew Pooley University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Linguistics Commons, Music Commons, and the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Pooley, Thomas Mathew, "Melody as Prosody: Toward a Usage-Based Theory of Music" (2014). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1407. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1407 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1407 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Melody as Prosody: Toward a Usage-Based Theory of Music Abstract MELODY AS PROSODY: TOWARD A USAGE-BASED THEORY OF MUSIC Thomas M. Pooley Gary A. Tomlinson Rationalist modes of inquiry have dominated the cognitive science of music over the past several decades. This dissertation contests many rationalist assumptions, including its core tenets of nativism, modularity, and computationism, by drawing on a wide range of evidence from psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and cognitive music theory, as well as original data from a case study of Zulu song prosody. An alternative biocultural approach to the study of music and mind is outlined that takes account of musical diversity by attending to shared cognitive mechanisms. Grammar emerges through use, and cognitive categories are learned and constructed in particular social contexts. This usage-based theory of music shows how domain-general cognitive mechanisms for patterning-finding and intention-reading are crucial to acquisition, and how Gestalt principles are invoked in perception. Unlike generative and other rationalist approaches that focus on a series of idealizations, and the cognitive `competences' codified in texts and musical scores, the usage-based approach investigates actual performances in everyday contexts by using instrumental measures of process. The study focuses on song melody because it is a property of all known musics. Melody is used for communicative purposes in both song and speech. Vocalized pitch patterning conveys a wide range of affective, propositional, and syntactic information through prosodic features that are shared by the two domains. The study of melody as prosody shows how gradient pitch features are crucial to the design and communicative functions of song melodies. The prosodic features shared by song and speech include: speech tone, intonation, and pitch-accent. A case study of ten Zulu memulo songs shows that pitch is not used in the discrete or contrastive fashion proposed by many cognitive music theorists and most (generative) phonologists. Instead there are a range of pitch categories that include pitch targets, glides, and contours. These analyses also show that song melody has a multi-dimensional pitch structure, and that it is a dynamic adaptive system that is irreducible in its complexity. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Music First Advisor Gary A. Tomlinson Keywords melody, music cognition, prosody, song, speech, usage-based theory Subject Categories Linguistics | Music | Psychology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1407 Melody as Prosody: Toward a Usage-Based Theory of Music COPYRIGHT 2014 Thomas Mathew Pooley ii Dedication To My Mother, Elsa Susanna Pooley iii Acknowledgment My very first seminar at Penn was ‘biocultural musicology’ with Gary Tomlinson. This proved to be a major turning point in my academic career because it introduced me to an entirely new world of scholarship in the cognitive sciences. I soon set out on a course of study that included seminars in the departments of anthropology, biology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, and statistics, in addition to the core offerings in music. Gary supported all this and he became my mentor and the supervisor of this dissertation. His formidable command of literatures in many interrelated disciplines, and his sheer enthusiasm for scientific pursuits in the humanities, emboldened me to plot a wide interdisciplinary course. I am most grateful for his meticulous reading of this manuscript and the many improvements to the prose and argument that resulted. A second turning point was an unexpected graduate seminar with Eugene Narmour. He also guided me in the study of cognitive music theory, and he introduced me to the work of the Penn school in particular. Our many discussions out at St Joseph’s Way shaped my thinking on diverse topics. I am sincerely grateful for his mentorship and support, his eagle eye for detail, and his careful scrutiny of this manuscript. Kathy and Gene were always generous and gracious hosts during my occasional visits to Philadelphia, and I have thoroughly enjoyed their company and friendship. iv I was privileged to study with several other influential teachers in the Penn music department. Carol Muller introduced me to Philadelphia and the United States as a fellow South African, and to the exciting new realm of online learning. Timothy Rommen was an important sounding board as I began to explore literatures in the history of ethnomusicology. His seminar on fieldwork was vital preparation for the case study described here. Thank you also to the other extraordinary faculty members with whom I studied, including: Jeff Kallberg, Jairo Moreno, Carolyn Abbate, Emma Dillon, Emily Dolan, Jim Primosch, Guy Ramsey, and Anna Weesner. Several other faculty at Penn provided important intellectual support and guidance. Theodore Schurr in the anthropology department taught a comprehensive seminar in physical anthropology, and advised me on further studies in evolutionary anthropology. Robert Seyfarth opened doors in the psychology department so that I could study cognitive neuroscience and the biological basis of behavior. Lori Flanagan-Cato introduced me to neuroscience with a baptism by fire (and it worked!). In linguistics, Jiahong Yuan introduced me to phonetics and speech prosody with patience and encouragement, and Rolf Noyer kindly allowed me to audit his graduate seminar in generative phonology. Michael Weisberg convened a brilliant seminar on the philosophy of biology, and challenged me to refocus my thinking on the evolution of music and language. All of these diverse perspectives prepared the ground for the arguments set out in this dissertation. v My doctoral studies were generously funded by a Benjamin Franklin Fellowship from the University of Pennsylvania, a fellowship from the Booth Ferris Foundation, a Cross Travel Grant, a Penfield Research Award, and study assistance from the University of South Africa. Without the financial support of these institutions and organizations I would not have been able to study at Penn or to conduct any of the research upon which this dissertation is based. My thanks to each of them. Fieldwork is the art of collaboration and I was fortunate to have many collaborators. I learned an enormous amount through conversations with my umfowethu Thulani ‘Roger’ Gumede. Thank you also to my guides, translators, and drivers: Ndididi Dladla, Elliot Banda, Caiphus Mthabela, Zamani Madonsela, and Zama Nzuza. I would like to thank the following individuals, families, groups, and institutions for their diverse contributions to the ‘Zulu Song Project’: GG Alcock, Bergville Blue Roses, Eric Biyela, Cavern Choir, Entokozweni Primary School, Eshowe High School Choir, Busisiwe Gumede, Phumzile Gumede, Rose Hlophe, Himeville Anglican Church, Impolimpoli Primary School, Mvezi Khumalo, Mafutha Enkukhu, Izainah Masoka, Mbhele Family, Inkosi Miya, Vincent Mbatha, Wiseman Mbatha, Caiphus Mthabela, Jabulani Mthembu, JJ Mthethwa, Muthi Futhi, Menzi Ngubane, Sula Ngwenya, Nokulunga, Nomusa Nhlapho, Gana Nyawose, Brother Clement Sithole, St Philips Primary School, Udumo Gospel Choir, Pessa Weinberg, Gill Whittington Banda, and Sithembile Xulu. vi The Cavern Drakensberg Resort and Spa deserves as a special word of thanks. To Megan Carte Bedingham, Hilton Bedingham, Leslie Carte, Murray Carte, Peter Carte, and Rhona Carte: thank you for your friendship, hospitality, expert advice, and homely support—all in a spectacular setting in the Drakensberg mountains. Thank you also to Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife, Ndumo Game Reserve, for providing me with research accommodation in April 2012. To Anne Rennie, with whom I enjoyed watching many a famous tennis match, thank you for hosting me at Sunset. Rauri Alcock shared valuable audio-visual recordings with me, and went to extraordinary efforts to introduce me to communities in the Msinga and Weenen districts. His advice was critical to my negotiating the fieldwork process, and to drawing up the informed consent documents. I have many happy memories of Mdukatshani thanks to the hospitality and friendship of Creina Alcock. Her insight into rural life, and her knowledge of archival and oral histories are unrivalled in scope and detail. Our conversations will not come to an end. My family in Georgetown, including James, Christine, William, Dorothee, and Victoria, proved to be close indeed. William was an excellent tour guide during my first summer in DC, and he continued to ask probing questions about my work (even when I was trying to take a holiday from it!). James and Christine hosted me on innumerable occasions and provided the home away from home that I needed. In Cape Town,