Using network science, study shows music has become less complex

A team of Italian computer scientists from Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Padova reports that network science can be used to measure the complexity of a piece of music, allowing for comparison between genres. In their study, reported on the arXiv preprint server, the team used network science techniques to compare the complexity of types of music over time.

The researchers discovered that it was not difficult to apply network science to musical compositions. They began by thinking of each note as a node on a network and then connecting them using edges if they came directly one after another.

The team thickened the edges based on the number of times a single note transitioned to another. This allowed them to create a network based on a given piece of music and to see patterns as they arose, such as when a short series of notes were repeated throughout a song. The more complex the series of notes, the more complex the music. Next, the team created such networks for several songs and used them to show complexity.

The team then automated the process, creating networks for approximately 20,000 songs in a digital format from six music genres over four centuries. They also automated the process of measuring the complexity of the songs and comparing them against one another. This allowed them to track the overall complexity of music over hundreds of years as genres appeared and became popular.

In looking at their results, the research team found that classical music, unsurprisingly, was much more complex than most modern music, with the exception of jazz. Both were also found to be more diverse. The researchers also found that music of all kinds has slowly become simpler as time has passed, even classical and jazz. They were not able to explain why but suggested that technical advancements allowing more people to participate in composing songs may play a role.

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