ABSTRACT
Before interpreting these different results, let us note that two are surprising. First, the lack of effect of the metrical structure might suggest that this structure has no influence on the musical tension and relaxation. Second the strong difference between the two populations is inconsistent with other recent experimental results indicating that the nonmusician has a very sophisticated musical competence (Bigand 1990b, Deliège 1990). For these two reasons the experimental procedure was considered critically. Two main weaknesses should be mentioned. First, each subject listens to all the musical fragments. As these fragments are very similar, this design produces interferences which could obscure many subtle effects of the different factors. Second, as the presentation order is determined at random, it often appears that a short fragment follows a longer one. In this case the degree of completeness is not only defined by musical stability but also by the listener’s knowledge of the continuation of the melody. These two defects might
seriously confuse the subjects: the main purpose of the second experiment is to remedy to them.
