Network motifs in music sequences

Motif distribution in networks built up out of symbolic sequences of Western musical origin are studied. Three-node motif significance profiles exhibit remarkable consistency over different styles and periods, and define a class that cannot be identified with any of the four superfamilies to which most real networks seem to belong. Networks from music sequences possess an unusual abundance of bidirectional connections, due to the inherent reversibility of short musical note patterns. This property contributes to motif significance from both local and large scale features of musical structure.