Toward a Unified Theory of the I-R Model (Part 1): Parametric Scales and Their Analogically Isomorphic Structures
Penn collection
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
parametric scaling
noncongruence
analytical symbology
extending I-R
Music
Musicology
Music Theory
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Contributor
Abstract
By extensively revising the I-R model of by melody (Meyer, 1973; Narmour, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991a, 1991b, 1992, 1996, 2000) we can explain the structural functions of many musical parameters. Here I will deal with melodic interval, registral direction, pitch height, scale-step (major and minor), duration (interval, length, rate, speed, and pace), tempo, dynamics (loudness), and texture (saving the other parameters for a later essay). By reconceptualizing the model’s core concept of functional directionality within parametric scales, only three isomorphic structural analogues become cognitively necessary, namely, process (and its variant duplication), reversal, and return. Attached signs (0, ~, - , +) augment the main symbols (P, D, and R) so as to track strength of implication, realization, and denial. A new theory of rhythmic structure is put forth. And with an aim toward theoretical unification, the reconfigured model confronts the combinatorial complexities of parametric interactions and offers convincing interpretations of congruence and noncongruence— the primary sources of musical affects. Works of Brahms, Debussy, Mussorgsky-Ravel, and Schoenberg are analyzed.