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On the complex network structure of musical pieces: analysis of some use cases from different music genres

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Abstract

This paper focuses on the modeling of musical melodies as networks. Notes of a melody can be treated as nodes of a network. Connections are created whenever notes are played in sequence. We analyze some main tracks coming from different music genres, with melodies played using different musical instruments. We find out that the considered networks are, in general, scale free networks and exhibit the small world property. We measure the main metrics and assess whether these networks can be considered as formed by sub-communities. Outcomes confirm that peculiar features of the tracks can be extracted from this analysis methodology. This approach can have an impact in several multimedia applications such as music didactics, multimedia entertainment, and digital music generation.

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Notes

  1. A bar (often referred as measure) is a segment of time corresponding to a specific number of beats in which notes are played. Dividing music into bars provides regular reference points to pinpoint locations within a piece of music.

  2. In music, the “tonic” is the first scale degree of a diatonic scale. It is thus the tonal center of a given key; in other words, it is the main note of that key.

  3. In music, the “dominant” note in a given key is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale: It is called dominant because it is next in importance to the tonic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Bologna, Mura Anteo Zamboni 7, Bologna, Italy

    Stefano Ferretti

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  1. Stefano Ferretti
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Correspondence to Stefano Ferretti.

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Ferretti, S. On the complex network structure of musical pieces: analysis of some use cases from different music genres. Multimed Tools Appl 77, 16003–16029 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-017-5175-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-017-5175-y

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