The Experience of Musical Tension: A Replication of Nielsen's Research Using the Continuous Response Digital Interface

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Abstract
This study used the Continuous Response Digital interface (CRDI) to measure subjects' perceptions of ongoing “musical tension” in the first movement of Haydn's Symphony No. 104, in an attempt partially to replicate an investigation conducted in Denmark by Frede V. Nielsen entitled “Oplevelse af Musikalsk Spænding (The Experience of Musical Tension).” Different procedures and instrumentation were used in the present study to determine if the attribute of musical tension is somewhat universal, and also to assess whether this experience can be measured using different instrumentation. A pilot study was designed to assess an appropriate “visual” stimulus to represent a progression from non-tension to more tension for use as an overlay for the CRDI dial. The pilot demonstrated that two aspects of the visual field are important: (a) a clear field, which progresses to a dense field; and (b) a narrow field progressing to a wider field. Both of these aspects were used in construction of the final visual stimulus. While Nielsen used a pair of “tension tongs, ” which were squeezed by subjects in his original study, advanced music subjects (n = 40) and nonmusicians (n = 32) in the current investigation indicated their ongoing perceived non-tension through tension by movement of the CRDI dial set in the middle of the specially constructed visual overlay. Important issues in the present investigation concerned both the “universality” of the phenomenon of perceived tension as well as the study of different methods of measurement in real time. Analyses purposefully used those procedures advanced by Nielsen and focused on composite graphs of total subject responses in direct comparison to Nielsen's published data. Results indicated a definite and strong similarity between Nielsen's findings and those collected using the CRDI. Specific methodological issues are addressed concerning the use of ongoing measurement techniques when investigating perceptual and pedagogical processes in music. Relationships to therapeutic and educational considerations are discussed.

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