Evaluation of perceived tonality across the musical pitch range

This study addresses the issue whether a three-level tonal hierarchy is stable throughout the frequency range typically employed in music. To assess recovery of the tonal hierarchy, correlations were calculated between the obtained profiles from individual listeners and the standardized profile for key-defining contexts provided by Krumhansl and Kessler (1982). It is found that for most listeners, the audible pitch range of tonality may be narrower than the musical pitch range. These findings implicate a dominance region for musical pitch perception.