A traditional divide that is worth challenging in current debates surrounding music analysis is the opposition between the so-called "secondary parameters" of music as organized sound – including aspects such as dynamics and timbre, as well as compositional dimensions such as register, tempo, instrumentation, density, etc. – and the "structural" parameters tied to pitch and duration. Music analysis, in fact, has not yet been able to provide convincing theoretical frameworks and reliable tools with which to address such secondary parameters, especially when dealing with objects and contexts for which the hierarchy between “primary” and “secondary” does not go uncontested. The growing interest for repertoires and genres outside the tradition of Western art music, as well as contributions from cognitive and perceptual studies, require a renewed assessment of the complexity of musical objects.

Following these preliminary considerations, the thematic section of Analitica 2015 (VIII volume) will be devoted to topics related to the discussion of the role and the function of "secondary parameters" in specific objects, repertoires, contexts and aesthetic perspectives. Our aim is to question the implicit hierarchy of notions such as “primary” and “secondary” in music – or “structural” and “non-structural” –, and attempt to find flexible conceptual models within which to encompass a wide spectrum of musical practices. As a general suggestion, the following threads no doubt deserve further investigation:

– A pragmatic definition of musical parameters, and their hierarchical or functional relationship in particular musical practices. In contemporary oral and multimedia repertoires, the relevance of so-called “statistical” dimensions actually overturns the priority, often taken for granted, accorded to notation with respect to sound, and the latter becomes the main focus of the analyst’s attention. Something similar happens in the symphonic tradition from Romanticism to Modernism, when musical forms that were inherited from the classical period began to be shaped according to the tension between syntactic articulation and other means of providing structure, in which secondary parameters and dimensions gained prominence;

– A methodological discussion of secondary parameters within an interdisciplinary study of music as a human activity. As ethnomusicology has underlined since its origins, the relevance of what is considered “secondary” in the tradition of Western art music theory emerges with greater strength in those fields where an integration of different disciplinary approaches is required. Whether influenced by anthropology, ethnography, cognitive psychology or other disciplines in the humanities such as sociology, semiotics or cultural and literary studies, understanding sound phenomena as catalysts for different structural dimensions and possibilities of producing meaning is a driving force in the present development of music analysis. In music pedagogy and teaching as well – fields in which theoretical reflection can best foster experimental operative strategies – a closer attention to sound, coupled with lesser emphasis on notation and musical reading, is at the core of the most innovative methods of approaching performance practice;

– The role of music analysis as a set of tools designed to unpack the complexity of musical objects. At the core of this topic is the “traditional” idea that analysis is to be pursued through reducing musical complexity to a limited set of organizing principles, operating within established hierarchies. Musical perception, as it is understood today in its own “cross-modal” nature, provides strong evidence for questioning such a conception, since it has been demonstrated that sound is the trigger for a network of visual, conceptual, and metaphorical associations. Traditionally conceived as a temporal and introversive art, music thus increasingly demands to be approached as a spatial and extroversive phenomenon, both figuratively – in reflecting the human relationships that are implied in its production and reception – and technically – as a resultant of the procedures that underlie its production and fruition in today’s media scenario.


Scholars and musicians are warmly encouraged to submit proposals for short papers (max. 4,000 words) centered on one or more of the suggested topics. Those who are interested in contributing to the current issue are kindly requested to register on Analitica’s website and submit an abstract (250 words, plus a 150-word biographical profile) to the attention of the Editorial Board. The deadline for abstract submission is 31 March 2015.

Complete papers will be due for publishing by the end of July 2015. The Editorial Board will provide a preliminary review and proofreading of the online publications. Once approved, contributions will be visible on the website and accessible for comments by registered readers. By the end of 2015 – after a final peer review of the selected papers – the articles will be collected and archived in their definitive form on the website. For more information on the revision process, please refer to the sections of the website regarding publishing policy and submission guidelines.


We suggest a preliminary list of references that might be helpful in approaching the topic’s historical aspects and introducing today’s lively debate:


Bauer A., ‘Composing the Sound Itself’: Secondary Parameters and Structure in the Music of Ligeti, «Indiana Theory Review», 22/1, 2011, pp. 37-64.

Born G. (ed.), Music, Sound and Space: Transformations of Public and Private Experience, Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Cecchi A., La morfologia musicale di Ernst Kurth tra fondazione filosofica e differenziazione stilistica, «Studi musicali», n.s., II/2, 2011, pp. 413-446..

Clarke E.F. - Dibben N. - Pitts S., Music and Mind in Everyday Life, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009.

Cook N. - Clarke E. - Leech-Wilkinson D. - Rink J. (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Recorded Music, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Eitan Z. - Granot R. Y., Primary versus Secondary Musical Parameters and the Classification of Melodic Motives, «Musicæ Scientiæ», 2009, pp. 139-179.

Freschi A. M. (a cura di), Insegnare uno strumento. Riflessioni e proposte metodologiche su linearità/complessità, Torino, EDT, 2002.

Fink R., Goal-Directed Soul? Analyzing Rhythmic Teleology in African American Popular Music, «Journal of the American Musicological Society», 64/1, 2011, pp. 179-238.

Garcia-Gallardo C. L., Schenkerian Analysis and Popular Music, «Trans», 5, 2000, (http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/articulo/240/schenkerian-analysis-and-popular-music).

Haselböck L. (hrsg.), Klangperspektiven, Hofheim, Wolke, 2011.

Hopkins R., Closure and Mahler’s Music: The Role of Secondary Parameters. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990.

Klein M. L. - Reyland N. (eds.), Music and Narrative since 1900, Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 2013.

McAdams S., Musical Timbre Perception, in D. Deutsch (ed.), The Psychology of Music, Amsterdam, Elsevier, 2013.

Meyer L. B., Creation, Archetypes, and Style Change, «Daedalus», 109/2, 1980, pp. 177-205.

Meyer L. B., Style and Music: Theory, History, and Ideology, Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989.

Moore A. F., Where Is Here? An Issue of Deictic Projection in Recorded Song, «Journal of the Royal Musical Association», 135/1, 2010, pp. 145-182.

Snyder B., Music and Memory: An Introduction, Cambridge, MIT Press, 2000.

Tagg P., Music’s Meaning: A Modern Musicology for Non-Musos, Larchmont, MMMSP, 2012.

Tafuri J. – McPherson G. E. (a cura di), Orientamenti per la didattica strumentale, Lucca, LIM, 2007.

Wade B., Thinking Musically: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture (3rd edition), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.

Zagorski-Thomas S., The Musicology of Record Production, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2014.