Statistical Evolutionary Laws in Music Styles.

ABSTRACT: If a cultural feature is transmitted over generations and exposed to stochastic selection when spreading in a population, its evolution may be governed by statistical laws and be partly predictable, as in the case of genetic evolution. Music exhibits steady changes of styles over time, with new characteristics developing from traditions. Recent studies have found trends in the evolution of music styles, but little is known about their relations to the evolution theory. Here we analyze Western classical music data and find statistical evolutionary laws. For example, distributions of the frequencies of some rare musical events (e.g. dissonant intervals) exhibit steady increase in the mean and standard deviation as well as constancy of their ratio. We then study an evolutionary model where cr

SUBMITTER: Nakamura E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6831699 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature