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Simple Semiotic Analysis of Music

Philip Tagg
Facult de musique
Universit de Montral

www.tagg.org
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Communication Model

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

shared by Emitter and Receiver

emitter only

poetic /
constructional
Intended
message

o f

s y m b o l s
receiver only

codal incompetence
inadequate
encoding

Emitter

inadequate
response

Music

Receiver

(channel)
inadequate
encoding

emitter only

inadequate
response

codal interference
receiver only

s o c i o c u l t u r a l

n o r m s

shared by Emitter and Receiver

esthesic /
receptional

s t o r e

adequate
response

1
Elementary semiotic
considerations

Semiotics or semiology ?
/ (sema/semeion) = sign
(semiotics, semiology, semantifs, semaphore, etc.)

The study of signs and of


what they represent
Charles Sanders Peirce : semiotics, tripartite model
Ferdinand de Saussure : semiologie, binary model
same basic subject, different terms and
models

Sign or symbol ?
(terminological problem)

symbol (Saussure) = sign (Peirce)!


meaning: any thing representing any other thing than itself

SIGN
symbol (Peirce) = sign (Saussure)!
a thing representing another thing only by convention

ARBITRARY SIGN

= process of producing and


interpreting signs

C.S. Peirce: Semiosis 1, 2, 3 (1)


Firstness (emission)

The thing/idea perceived


before encoding
(poetic pole)
Secondness (the channel)
The object (firstness) encoded

Thirdness (reception)
Sign (secondness) interpreted
(aesthesic pole)

object
sign
interpretant

final interpretants
via connotation

C.S. Peirce: Semiosis 1, 2, 3 (2)


Sign typology at level of secondness
Icon
Sign bearing physical resemblance to its object/interprtant

Index (pl. indices)


Sign linked to its object/interpretant by proximity or causality

Arbitrary sign
Sign linked only by convention to its object/interpretant

Syntax and semantics, when


C.S. Peirce: Semiosis
1,
2,
3
(3)
found in splendid isolation,
aspects of approach after Morris

Syntax

become perverse disciplines


(Umberto Eco, 1990)

Internal (etic) organisation and arrangement (form) of


structural elements without necessarily considering their
meaning

Semantics
Links between signs and what they represent (emic) without
necessarily considering their use in concrete situations

Pragmatics
Use of signs in concrete sociocultural situations (economy,
ideology, society, psychology, etc.)

Denotation and connotation


Denotation
Type of lexical meaning associated mainly with arbitrary
signs
thunder (the word) = noise accompanying
lighting

diminished seventh chord = chord consisting


of three
contingent and superimposed minor thirds
Connotation
Non-lexical type of meaning mainly associated with indices
and which relies on one or more previous levels of semiosis
thunder (the sound) = humidity, rain, danger, etc.

diminished seventh chord = horror, 19th century


style

Connotation: smoke alarm sound =


danger!
multilevel semiosis (3 causal indices, 1
connotation)
sign
sign

interpretant
interpretant

sign

interpretant

alarm
sound

smoke

DANGER!
GET OUT!

fire

DONT
DIE!

1. smoke triggers alarm; alarm means smoke (causal index


1)
2. fire causes smoke; smoke means fire (causal index 2)
3. fire destroys and hurts; a fire in the home means danger
(index 3)

Connotation & polysemy : 2 quotes


The
difference
between
denotation
and
connotation is not... the difference between
univocal and vague signification, or between
referential and emotional communication...
What constitutes a connotation... is the
connotative code which establishes it; the
characteristic of a connotative code is the fact
that the further signification... relies on a primary
one.
(Eco, A Theory of Semiotics, 1979, p. 55)

The thoughts which are expressed to me by a


piece of music which I love are not too indefinite
to be put into words, but on the contrary too
definite.

(Mendelssohn, cited by Cooke: The Language of Music, 1959, p.


5)

2
Specificity of
musical meaning

Music: axiomatic working


definition
type of

sonic, non-verbal, interhuman


communication which,
according to particular
sociocultural conventions,
can carry meaning
related mainly to

emotional, gestural, tactile,


kinetic, spatial and prosodic
aspects of cognition.

Live communication
spokenconcerted
language simultaneity
visual arts dance music
a single individual

himself/herself

individuals
an individual a group

several individuals inside a group


two

a group

an individual

groups

several

Domains of representation and music as the


embodying cross-domain level
emotional

motoric

social

(fine)

embodying
representation
(music)
linguistic
motoric
(gross)

physical

Synaesthesia and synaesthesis


(syn) = with, (aisthesis) = perception

synaesthesia: disturbance of sensory perception by the


intrusion of additional perception from another sense
than that considered normal in a given situation

synaesthesis: normal perception using more than


one of the five senses simultaneously
synaesthetic (adj.): relating to any type of
perception using more than one of the five senses
simultaneously

3
Musematic analysis

Museme

term invented by US musicologist Charles Seeger (father of Pete)


On the moods of a musical logic (1960)

Minimal unit of musical meaning (cf. morpheme)


Can it exist?

Good question.
Well have to
Musical
structure
see!
Whats that ?

Musicians assumptions
Changing a musical structure often produces a change in
effect on listeners.
If true, there must be links between musical structures
and what they communicate (their meanings, their
interpretants).
If true, there must be basic elements of structuration
allowing for the production of musical meaning.

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

AO

IOCM

Analysis
Object

Interobjective
Comparison
Material

PMFC

PMFC

Paramusical Fields
of Connotation

Paramusical Fields
of Connotation

(relevant to AO)

(relevant to IOCM)

Parameters of paramusical expression


P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Paramusical sound: chatter, chiming, clapping, rattling, applause, mains hum, vinyl
crackle, engine noise, birdsong, sound effects, crying, laughing, screaming, scraping,
hitting, water, wind, thunder, etc. ad. inf.
Oral language: monologue, dialogue, commentary, voice-over, lyrics,
accent/dialect, vocal type, prosody, type and speed of conversation/dialogue, &c...
Written language: programme or liner notes, promo copy, title credits, subtitles,
written devices on stage, expression marks and other performance instructions, &c...
Visuals font, graphic design, layout, painting, photo, sculpture, &c
scenario, props, lighting, clothing, &c...
dramatic action, facial expressions, gestures, &c...
camera positions, cutting speed, editing technique, fades, pans, zooms, &c
Movement: dance, dive, drive, fall, fly, glide, hit, hover, jump, kick, lie, ride, rise, run,
slide, sit, stand, stroke, stumble, sway, swerve, wait, walk, &c...
(Re-)performance venue + concurrent activity: home, concert, club, TV, cinema,
church, sports, dancing, riding, driving, restaurant, hotel, office, factory, circus, street,
town, country, &c...

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Parameters of musical expression (1)


instrumentational

number/type of voices/instruments

mechanical devices: mutes, pedals, stops, plectrum, string types, reed types,
mouthpieces, bows, sticks, brushes, &c...
electro-acoustic devices: microphone types & techniques, loudspeakers, echo,
reverb, delay, panning, filtering, mixers, amplifiers, equalisers, phasing, flanging,
chorus, compression, distortion, vocoding, dubs, &c...
performance techniques: vibrato, tremolo, tremolando, glissando, portamento,
pizzicato, sul ponte, picking, strum, &c...

timbral (timbre)
vocal: booming, breathy, clean, clear, cracked, crying, deep, gravelly, harsh, hoarse,
howling, growling, guttural, husky, light, melismatic, muffled, piercing, plaintive,
raucous, rich, screeching, shouting, shrill, sonorous, soothing, squeaky, squawking,
strident, syllabics, thin, warbling, warm, wheezing, whooping, &c...
instrumental: as for vocal + blaring, bubbling, buzzing, chiming, clanking,
clattering, crashing, grating, hissing, humming, jarring, muted, ringing, rumbling,
scraping, stuttering, throbbing, tinkling, whirring, whistling, &c...

Parameters of musical expression (2)


temporal parameters
duration: [1] of piece and relationship of this duration to other connected aspects of
communication (film, rite, sports event, dancing); [2] of sections within the piece
internal order/treatment of musical events: intros, cadences, bridges, continuations,
interruptions, recurrences (reiterations, repeats, recaps), sequences &c
pulse, tempo: [1] base rate; [2] surface rate.
rhythmic texture: polyrhythm, birhythm, monorhythm, &c...
metre (rhythmic grouping of pulse, time signature, etc.), e.g. simple,
compound, symmetric, asymmetric, additive, divisive, &c...
accentuation, e.g. upbeat, downbeat, syncopation, regular,.
P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Parameters of musical expression (3)


tonal parameters
tuning system: how octave is divided, retuning, detuning, &c.
pitch range: average and total for each voice/part; ambitus, tessitura, &c.
tonal vocabulary: scale, mode, motifs, number and type of different pitches/notes
motivic/melodic contour: rising, falling, oscillating, arched, V-shaped, centric, wavy,
terraced, tumbling strain, &c...
harmonic parameters
tonal centre (if any)
type of tonality: droned, modal, diatonic, tertial, quartal, bebop, impressionist, late
romantic, twelve-tone, &c
harmonic change as long and short term phenomenon, harmonic rhythm.

dynamics
loud soft

sudden
gradual

constant variable

Simple sign typology of music

anaphone
genre
synecdoche

sonic:
sonic resemblance to paramusical sound
kinetic: resemblance to paramusical movement
tactile: resemblance to paramusical grain/touch
pars pro toto reference to foreign musical
style, thence to cultural context of that style

episodic
marker

short, one-way process highlighting the order


or relative importance of musical events

style
indicator

item of musical structuration typical for the


home style of the analysis object

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Breughel: Massacre of the Innocents

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli

Smetana: Vltava (Moldau)

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

Monocentric musical positioning

stage
focal
point

auditorium

P Tagg: Simple semiotics of music

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