Deutsch's Musical Illusions
 IntroductionTechnical NoteMemory for pitch and musicOctave illusionScale illusion |
Chromatic illusionGlissando illusionTritone paradoxMysterious melodyCambiata illusion |
Mysterious melody
The ‘mysterious melody’ was discovered and first published by Deutsch in Perception and Psychophysics, 1972. This musical brain teaser shows how our knowledge of a piece of music can have a profound influence on how we hear it. Suppose you play a well-known tune such that all the note names (C, D, E, and so on) are correct, but the tones are distributed haphazardly among three different octaves. If people are given no clues as to what the tune might be, they find it very difficult to identify. But once they know what to listen for, the melody becomes easy to follow. The ‘mysterious melody’ provides a striking example of ‘top-down processing’ or the use of prior expectations, in sound perception.
Deutsch's Mysterious_melody_example_1
The following track is identical to the one above, except that now the tones are all in the same octave. You should
have no difficulty in recognizing this tune. Once you know what to
listen for, try the pattern in example 1 again - you might find it
much easier to follow. If it is not obvious right away, listen a few
more times and the tune should finally emerge.
Deutsch's Mysterious_melody_example 2
References:
Deutsch, D. Octave generalization and tune recognition. Perception & Psychophysics, 1972, 11, 411-412.