Musical Perceptions

Musical Perceptions is a much-needed text that introduces students of both music and psychology to the study of music perception and cognition. Because the book aims to foster a closer interaction between research in the science and the art of music, both psychologists and musicians contribute chapters on a wide range of topics, including the philosophy of music; research in musical performance; perception of melody, tonality, and rhythm; pedagogical issues; language and music; and neural networks. With their unique ability to introduce musical and psychological concepts to first-time students in the area, Rita Aiello and John Sloboda have edited a volume that will be popular with undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in the perception, psychology, and aesthetics of music. They have prefaced each chapter with an introduction to the chapter's research. This book will also be useful to cognitive and physiological psychologists and music theorists interested in music perception.

Table of Contents:
PART I: Philosophical Perspectives 1: L.B. Meyer: Emotion and Meaning in Music, Chapter 1 2: R. Aiello: Music and Language: Parallels and Contrasts 3: N. Cook: Perception: A Perspective from Music Theory PART II: Developmental Perspectives 4: L. Davidson: Song Singing by Young and Old: A Developmental Approach to Music 5: J. Bamberger: Coming to Hear in a New Way 6: J.A. Sloboda: Music Performance: Expression and Development of Excellence PART III: The Perception of Melody 7: W.J. Dowling: Melodic Contour in Hearing and Remembering Melodies PART IV: The Perception of Tonality 8: D. Butler and H. Brown: Describing the Mental Representation of Tonality in Music 9: J.J. Bharucha: Tonality and Expectation PART V: The Perception of Rhythm and Timing 10: S. Sternberg and R.L. Knoll: Perception, Production, and Imitation of Time Ratios by Skilled Musicians 11: L.H. Shaffer and N.P. Todd: The Interpretive Component in Musical Performance PART VI: The Perception of Musical Compositions 12: R. Aiello: Can Listening to Music Be Experimentally Studied?

About the Author :
Rita Aiello, Ph.D., is a professor at the Julliard School, and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Psychology at New York University, and an adjunct professor at the Manhattan School of Music. Dr. Aiello, a pianist, has an interest in the nature, the meaning and the understanding of music. John A. Sloboda, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at the University of Keele, Staffordshire.

Review :
"This is an interesting book that reflects the views and concerns of theorists, performers and psychologists, as well as 'music perception researchers'...It will inform and challenge readers in the philosophical as well as experimental thinking and research."--Psychomusicology "[A] remarkable and fundamental text for re-reading...an extremely practical collection...Rita Aiello has achieved her goal: to provide a collection of articles that represents the variety of prevailing tendencies in a discipline whose contours are difficult to discern in our minds."--European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music Newsletter "This excellent overview of recent research and developments in the perception and cognition of music will be valuable to graduate students and professionals in the fields of music and psychology."--Choice "This book is valuable to musicians of all kinds because it shows us the range of thinking that has been done by many of the best people in a rich field of musical and psychological researchers, beginning with a reprinting of the opening chapter of Leonard Meyer's Emotion and Meaning in Music (1956) and ending with editor Aiello's current hopes for future work in the field."--College Music Society Newsletter "I like this collection of work. It provides an accessible range of papers from differing approaches that cover many aspects of the study of music perception, and that demonstrate the depth of study that is evolving in this relatively young field."--Perception