Musical Idiomaticism



Can we measure the degree to which a particular musical work is suited to a given instrument?



Model created using measurements from two trumpet players.

E.g. data on fingering difficulty: mean difficulty for finger/valve transitions:

Valve Combination for the Consequent Note
0 1 2 3 1-2 1-3 2-3 1-2-3
0: 0.0 1.0 1.0 1.9 1.5 3.0 3.0 3.5
1: 1.0 0.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 4.5 7.5 6.0
2: 1.0 1.5 0.0 5.3 3.0 9.5 6.0 9.0
3: 2.5 4.0 4.5 0.0 7.0 4.0 4.0 5.5
1-2: 1.5 1.5 2.3 7.5 0.0 6.0 6.0 5.0
1-3: 3.5 4.0 9.5 1.5 5.5 0.0 6.0 4.0
2-3: 2.5 6.0 5.5 4.0 5.0 5.5 0.0 3.8
1-2-3: 3.0 4.0 8.5 3.5 6.0 5.0 5.0 0.0