Intonation practices in Scandinavian traditional music – Towards an alternative analytical framework through the concept of tolerance

Abstract

Intonation practices in Scandinavian traditional music are characterized by great variability and scholars have faced considerable difficulties outlining the composition and logic of tonal systems. The present study approaches this question by evoking the concept of tolerance, which implies a context-dependent flexibility in the intonation of notes and intervals. The analysis highlights the contextual and processual nature of pitch production and perception. The contextual dimensions comprise of 1) discursive conditions that frame and inform how tonal relations are conceptualized, 2) the specific musical context for a tonal event, which includes the sequential placement of a note in a melodic-rhythmic pattern and the musical features that coexist with pitch/intonation in the musical moment (timing, attack, dynamics, intensity, timbre), and 3) the idiomatic characteristics of the instrument being used and the associated sensorimotor logic behind the production of a note or a sequence of notes. The processual dimension concerns how intonational norms and frameworks or reference structures are shaped through the musical activity itself, including the corresponding unfolding of musical events. In line with this practice-oriented approach, the analysis also broadens the concept of intonation to include all elements of performance action that contribute to the sonic shaping of a tonal event.