The Effects of Mode, Pitch, and Dynamics on Valence in Piano Scales and Chord Progressions

Previous research has investigated how emotional characteristics of the piano vary with different pitches and dynamic levels for individual notes. Going further, this work considers valence trends with different pitches, dynamic levels, and modes in piano scales and chord progression. The results confirm that for scales, Harmonic Minor was significantly more negative than the other Minor modes, while for chords, Natural Minor was significantly more negative than the other Minor modes. The results shed light on what types of musical examples are most likely to result in contrary examples, meaning Major but negative in mood, or Minor but positive in mood. Contrary Major examples are most likely to occur in the low pitch range between C1 and C3. Contrary Minor examples are most likely to occur in the middle and high register between C3 and C7. Among the factors we tested, pitch range made the biggest difference in valence, perhaps surprisingly even more than mode.