Narrative Music Theory as a Framework for Creative Ideation: From Harmonic Tension to Storyworld Structure

Abstract

Narrative Music Theory as a Framework for Creative Ideation develops an interdisciplinary model that reinterprets core concepts from Western music theory as structural operators for narrative design. The project demonstrates how harmonic tension, modal interchange, counterpoint, modulation, texture, rhythm, and atonality can function as abstract mechanisms for shaping character psychology, causal architecture, and storyworld dynamics. The framework organizes twenty‑two musical constructs—such as dissonance, deceptive cadences, reharmonization, polyrhythm, groove, ostinato, and minimal repetition—into a coherent operator system that enables authors to design multi‑layered and psychologically rich narratives. These operators are mapped across three domains: character instability, plot causality, and world‑building pressures, offering a structured vocabulary for creative ideation. The project situates this approach within contemporary scholarship on musical narrativity, including research on narrative space in post‑minimal music, falsifying narration in minimalist process, and lexical narrative arcs in song lyrics. It also includes concrete case studies illustrating how modal interchange and deceptive cadences can be applied to plot construction and character development. Supplementary appendices provide a glossary of musical‑theoretical terms and foundational concepts in music theory, enabling readers without formal musical training to engage with the framework. Additional sections address methodological limits, cognitive expectancy, cross‑media applicability (film, interactive narrative, game design), and the integration of musical operators into AI‑assisted story generation. Overall, the project proposes a structural and cross‑domain model in which music‑theoretical processes serve as generative engines for narrative composition, contributing to interdisciplinary research in narratology, music theory, cognitive aesthetics, creative writing, and AI‑mediated creativity.