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Cited by 440

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 84 of the 84 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Statistical universals reveal the structures and functions of human music

Savage, Patrick E., Brown, Steven, Sakai, Emi, Currie, Thomas E.·2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Significance: Which features of music are universal and which are culture-specific? Why? These questions are important for understanding why humans make music but have rarely been scientifically tested. We used musical classification techniques and statistical tools to analyze a global set of 304 music recordings, finding no absolute universals but dozens of statistical universals. These include not only commonly cited features related to pitch and rhythm but also domains such as social context and interrelationships between musical features. We speculate that group coordination is the common aspect unifying the cross-cultural structural regularities of human music, with implications for the study of music evolution.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1414495112

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Cites

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. DE Brown Human Universals (Temple Univ Press, Philadelphia, 1991).
  2. Vandor I ed (1977) Universals. World of Music 19(1–2):1–129.
  3. T Van Khe, Is the pentatonic universal? A few reflections on pentatonism. World of Music 19, 76–85 (1977).
  4. GF Miller The Origins of Music, eds NL Wallin, B Merker, S Brown (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA), pp. 329–360 (2000).
  5. Brown S (2000) Evolution Culture and Behavior eds Tonneau F Thompson NS Perspectives in Ethology (Plenum New York) Vol 13 pp 231–281.
  6. S Brown The Origins of Music, eds NL Wallin, B Merker, S Brown (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA), pp. 271–300 (2000).

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Metadata

Authors
Savage, P. E., Brown, S., Sakai, E., & Currie, T. E.
Affiliations
  • Department of Musicology, Tokyo University of the Arts, 110-8714 Tokyo, Japan;
  • Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4K1;
  • Centre for Ecology & Conservation, College of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2015-06-29
Volume
112
Issue
29
Pages
8987-8992
ISSN
  • 0027-8424
  • 1091-6490
Cited by
440
References
84
Language
en

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