MENC Handbook of Musical Cognition and Development

The importance of cognition in teaching, learning, and research in music education has been championed by individuals in the arts, led by Elliot Eisner of Stanford University and by psychologists such as Howard Gardner of Harvard University and Robert Sternberg of Yale. A stellar line up of international authors has been assembled to provide in a single volume the latest theoretical and practical techniques that explain meaning and understanding in music. Sponsored by the National Association of Music Education (MENC), this book provides the most thorough coverage to date of such topics as: * The development of skills in music performance * Research on communicating music expressiveness * The neurobiology of music * The cognitive constraints in the listening process * Music and medicine as applied to neuroscience This collection will prove essential for students and scholars of music education and psychology of music.

Table of Contents:
Andreas C. Lehmann, Hochschule für Musik, Würzburg, Germany: Introduction: Music Perception and Cognition 1: John W. Flohr, Texas Women's University, Denton, and Donald A. Hodges, University of North Carolina, Greensboro: Music and Neuroscience 2: Wilfried Gruhn, University of Freiburg, and Frances Rauscher, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh: The Neurobiology of Music Cognition and Learning 3: William Forde Thompson, York University, Toronto, and E. Glenn Schellenberg, University of Toronto at Mississauga: Listening to Music 4: Heiner Gembris, University of Paderborn, Germany: The Development of Musical Abilities 5: Bruce Torff, Hofstra University: A Comparative Review of Human Abilitiy Theory: Context, Structure, and Development 6: Reinhard Kopiez, University of Hannover, Germany: Making Music and Making Sense Through Music: Expressive Performance and Communication 7: Andreas C. Lehmann, Hochschule für Musik, Würzburg, Germany and Jane W. Davidson, University of Sheffield: Taking an Acquired Skills Perspective on Music Performance

About the Author :
Richard Colwell is Professor Emeritus of Music Education at the University of Illinois and the New England Conservatory of Music. He is the founding editor of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education and the Quarterly Journal of Music Teaching and Learning. He is also a Guggenheim scholar and a member of MENC's Hall of Fame.

Review :
"Written by international experts in their respective research fields, these chapters represent an up-to-date snapshot of key issues in music cognition and development research."--John Sloboda, Professor of Psychology, Keele University, and author of The Musical Mind "The MENC Handbook of Musical Cognition and Development is an exciting and valuable resource to music educators as well as to others interested in psychological, physiological, and cognitive aspects of musical activity and development. The topics addressed are well chosen and are developed with clear, engaging writing, and the extensive bibliographies will be very helpful to those wondering where to start in this rapidly burgeoning area of research. Balancing real-world practicality with scholarly depth is no mean feat, and this volume does so in an admirable way."--Richard Ashley, Associate Professor of Music, Cognitive Science, and Cognitive Neuroscience, Northwestern University "A valuable, thoughtful, and well-researched handbook that summarizes the newest findings for music educators and researchers in the rapidly growing field of music perception and cognition."--Daniel J. Levitin, Ph.D., Bell Canada Research Chair in Psychology, McGill University, and author of This Is Your Brain on Music (Dutton) "Written by international experts in their respective research fields, these chapters represent an up-to-date snapshot of key issues in music cognition and development research."--John Sloboda, Professor of Psychology, Keele University, and author of The Musical Mind "The MENC Handbook of Musical Cognition and Development is an exciting and valuable resource to music educators as well as to others interested in psychological, physiological, and cognitive aspects of musical activity and development. The topics addressed are well chosen and are developed with clear, engaging writing, and the extensive bibliographies will be very helpful to those wondering where to start in this rapidly burgeoning area of research. Balancing real-world practicality with scholarly depth is no mean feat, and this volume does so in an admirable way."--Richard Ashley, Associate Professor of Music, Cognitive Science, and Cognitive Neuroscience, Northwestern University "A valuable, thoughtful, and well-researched handbook that summarizes the newest findings for music educators and researchers in the rapidly growing field of music perception and cognition."--Daniel J. Levitin, Ph.D., Bell Canada Research Chair in Psychology, McGill University, and author of This Is Your Brain on Music (Dutton)