My interest in how music makes sense was first piqued when, as a music student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, I met a blind child who, despite having learning difficulties, could reproduce the most complex music on the piano just by listening. Put simply, he had a better musical ear than I did, as a prize-winning student at a top conservatoire. Since that early experience, I have devoted my life to exploring just how music works (without the need for conceptual understanding) and how teachers can use the universality of music to promote social inclusion.
Reading this book for the first time had a profound influence on the way I think about music. It is the first of the seminal texts written by American musicologist Leonard Meyer in the second half of the twentieth century.
I admire how Meyer fuses psychological concepts with music theory to explain compellingly how music makes sense. Meyerâs writing is clear and accessible, and he uses plenty of musical examples to illustrate the sophisticated concepts that he introduces.
It is a must-read book for those who have ever wondered how music works, conveys meaning, and affects how we feel.
"Altogether it is a book that should be required reading for any student of music, be he composer, performer, or theorist. It clears the air of many confused notions . . . and lays the groundwork for exhaustive study of the basic problem of music theory and aesthetics, the relationship between pattern and meaning."-David Kraehenbuehl, Journal of Music Theory "This is the best study of its kind to have come to the attention of this reviewer."-Jules Wolffers, The Christian Science Monitor
"It is not too much to say that his approach provides a basis for the meaningful discussion of emotionâŚ
Although this, John Slobodaâs first book, dates from 1985, its insights into music perception, performance, and appreciation remain relevant, and I would highly recommend those with an interest in music psychology devote some time to getting to grips with the ideas that are introducedâsome of them for the first time.
Among the important topics that are covered are memory and learning, with clear implications for educators. It's definitely a book to have on your shelves!
What are the mental processes involved in listening to, performing, and composing music? What is involved in 'understanding' a piece of music? How are such skills acquired?
Questions such as these form the basis of the cognitive psychology of music. The author addresses these questions by surveying the growing experimental literature on the subject. The topics covered will be of interest to psychologists, as windows onto a human cognitive skill of some complexity that is only now beginning to receive the attention devoted to such skills as language. They are also relevant to musicians who are seeking to understand theâŚ
An illustrated A-to-Z (plus an ampersand) poetry collection celebrating Victorian life. It's a lighthearted, illustrated journey through the unforgettable Victorian era.
From Ada Lovelaceâs creation of the first algorithm to the gasp-inducing moving images of the Zoetrope, each poem and historical note invites you to relax with a cup ofâŚ
I would heartily recommend this book to those interested in how musical abilities develop through childhood.
Hargreavesâ text was the first to put the developmental psychology of music on the map, identifying it as an important area of study for the first time and setting the scene for a major area of research in music psychology that continues to this day.
I love the way that Hargreaves combines empirical findings with observations of his own children in action, which makes it an engaging read.
This book sets out the psychological basis of musical development in children and adults. The study has two major objectives: to review the research findings, theories and methodologies relevant to the developmental study of music; and to offer a framework within which these can be organised so as to pave the way for future research. It describes the relationship between thinking and music, and discusses the relationship between thinking and music in pre-schoolers and schoolchildren in areas such as singing, aesthetic appreciation, rhythmic and melodic development, and the acquisition of harmony and tonality. The book describes the development of musicalâŚ
Although the language in the title of this book may now sound dated, its content is certainly not. I regard it as a âclassicâ text in the field of music psychology, which was taking off when Miller put pen to paper.
Musical Savants represents the first rigorous exploration of exceptional musical talent in children with learning difficulties. I particularly like how, through a series of carefully designed experiments, Miller shows the nature of exceptional musical talent and how this can co-exist with areas of cognitive deficit.
Using the case study of "Eddie" as his framework, Professor Miller challenges the prevailing notion that musical savants are essentially phenomenal tape recorders and deals with the issue of "idiot savants" in a detailed, empirical investigation. Through "Eddie" the author discusses, in specific and in general, topics including the background and historical context of musical savants; other cases; data regarding the nature of the skills exhibited and the associated developmental deficits; and descriptions of a series of experiments used to define Eddie's talent. Finally, the author considers more general issues raised by savant behavior, particularly functions served by savant behavior,âŚ
Radical Friend highlights the remarkable life of Amy Kirby Post, a nineteenth-century abolitionist and women's rights activist who created deep friendships across the color line to promote social justice. Her relationships with Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, William C. Nell, and other Black activists from the 1840s to theâŚ
This is one of those rare textbooks that will make you smile with its delightful anecdotes that lighten what could so easily have become a dense academic treatise.
Huron writes in a warm, engaging way, producing an eminently readable book. He effortlessly shows how academic research findings affect the musical experience of ordinary listeners.
Sweet Anticipation serves as a great introduction to this important topic of how music makes sense and continues to move us, even after many repeated hearings of the same piece.
The psychological theory of expectation that David Huron proposes in Sweet Anticipation grew out of the author's experimental efforts to understand how music evokes emotions. These efforts evolved into a general theory of expectation that will prove informative to readers interested in cognitive science and evolutionary psychology as well as those interested in music. The book describes a set of psychological mechanisms and illustrates how these mechanisms work in the case of music. All examples of notated music can be heard on the Web.
Huron proposes that emotions evoked by expectation involve five functionally distinct response systems: reaction responses (whichâŚ
My book explains how music works: how it makes sense to us without the need for formal music education, how we are moved by it, and why it was central to our development as a social species. It argues that we are all musicalâirrespective of any other abilities, disabilities, or differences we may haveâand that musical abilities develop in early childhood like natural language.
My book is a joyous celebration of one of humankindâs greatest achievements, which usually flows over us daily without a second thought.
This biography for middle-grade readers and up explains who Jane Addams was and why she caused such a stir worldwide. The story follows Addams' first childhood realization of how poverty limits lives, livelihoods, and health to her becoming one of the most belovedâand dislikedâwomen of her day. She worked toâŚ
Ancient Evenings is a study of consciousness presented as a series of fictional philosophical dialogues set at the height of the Roman Empire. These dialoguesâon good and evil, truth and falsehood, life and deathâare historical re-enactments of what persons representing the major Hellenistic schools of philosophy might actually have saidâŚ
