Effects of preceding scale on melodic pitch interval judgment

To investigate interactive aspects of musical scale systems and pitch intervals in human musical cognition, the melodic pitch interval was judged in three preceding scale contexts: (a) diatonic, (b) chromatic, and (c) no scale. Subjects compared standard and comparison pitch intervals using three response categories: “small,” “equal,” and “large.” Standard intervals began with note B, or note C, and ascended by 100, 150, or 200 cents. A “start note effect” is the most prominent for the 200‐cent standard in the diatonic context. When it began with note B, i.e., a leading tone in a diatonic context, a peak in the “equal” response histogram disappeared, and the boundary between “small” and “large” response moved far away from its musically equal point. For the 100‐cent standard, judgments were rather more precise in the C start condition than in the B start condition, irrespectively of the scale context. For the 150‐cent standard, a “start note effect” was not observed clearly in any scale context. Detailed discussion is provided on the role of the diatonic scale system as a referential frame in view of two aspects of pitch interval judgement, that is, size and equality relationship.