Page 1 Psychology of Music Why are some disturbances of air molecules heard as ‘noise’ while others are perceived as music? What happens at the level of the sound wave, the ear, and the brain when we perform or listen to music? How do musical abilities emerge and develop, and become refined as one acquires musical expertise? And what gives music its deep emotional significance and its power to influence social behavior, across vastly different cultural contexts? These are some of the primary questions defining the field called ‘the psychology of music’ and driving the present volume. This book provides an introduction to classic and current studies in the psychology of music, combining a comprehensive summary with critical assessments of existing research. The volume captures the interdisciplinary breadth of the field, while cover- ing central topics in depth. Part I explores sound and music at an acoustic level, explaining auditory events with respect to the workings of the ear and brain. Part II focuses on perception and cognition of melody, rhythm, and formal structure. Part III examines the emergence and development of musical skills, and turns to the most practical aspects of psychology of music: music practice and performance. Finally, Part IV broadens the discussion to the question of meaning in music, with respect to its social, emotional, philosophical, and cultural significance. Throughout, both behavioral and neuroscientific perspectives are developed. This book will be invaluable to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the fields of psychology and music, and will appeal to anyone else who is interested in the psychology of music. Siu-Lan Tan is Associate Professor of Psychology at Kalamazoo College in Michigan, USA. She graduated in Music Education and Piano Pedagogy and taught music for many years in Hong Kong and California before completing an M.A. and Ph.D. in Psychology at Georgetown University. Her research has focused on musical unity, music notation, and film music, and her primary instrument is piano. Peter Pfordresher is Associate Professor of Psychology at SUNY Buffalo in New York, USA. He completed his Ph.D. in Psychology at the Ohio State University. His research interests include the role of auditory feedback in music performance and causes of inaccurate singing. He has experience in musical performance with piano, trumpet, and voice, as well as song writing. Rom Harré is Emeritus Fellow of Linacre College, Oxford University, UK. Currently he is Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University, and Director of the Centre for the Philosophy of the Natural and Social Sciences at the London School of Economics. He has performed in various amateur ensembles on clarinet and saron. 13:00:16:03:10 Page 1 Page 2 13:00:16:03:10 Page 2 Page 3 Psychology of Music From sound to significance Siu-Lan Tan, Peter Pfordresher and Rom Harré 13:00:16:03:10 Page 3 Page 4 First published 2010 by Psychology Press 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Psychology Press 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. Psychology Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Copyright © 2010 Psychology Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. This publication has been produced with paper manufactured to strict environmental standards and with pulp derived from sustainable forests. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tan, Siu-Lan, 1963– Psychology of music : from sound to significance / Siu-Lan Tan, Peter Pfordresher, and Rom Harré p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–1–84169–868–7 (hb) 1. Music—Psychological aspects. 2. Music—Acoustics and physics. 3. Music—Social aspects. I. Pfordresher, Peter, 1971– II. Harré, Rom. III, Title. ML3830.T167 2010 781′.11–dc22 2009038200 ISBN 0-203-85536-1 Master e-book ISBN ISBN: 978-1-84169-868-7 (hbk) 13:00:16:03:10 Page 4 Page 5 Let us keep open the connections whereby the human spirit may freely move between the arts and the sciences, and thus make more of each. – Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999) Quoted with permission of Hon. Mr. Gerard Menuhin 13:00:16:03:10 Page 5 Page 6 13:00:16:03:10 Page 6 Page 7 Contents Preface ix 1 The scope of psychology of music 1 PART I Foundations 7 2 The acoustics of music 9 3 Sound and the neurophysiology of hearing 31 4 Neuroscience and music 53 PART II The perception and cognition of music 71 5 Perception of musical pitch and melody 73 6 Perception of musical time 95 7 Analysis and cognition of musical structure 111 PART III Development, learning, and performance 131 8 Emergence of sound and music perception 133 9 Early musical development and education 155 10 Practice and musical expertise 179 11 The psychology of music performance 199 13:00:16:03:10 Page 7 Page 8 viii Contents PART IV The meaning and significance of music 223 12 The social psychology of music 225 13 The question of meaning in music 245 14 The emotional power of music 261 15 Culture and music 281 References 301 Name index 333 Subject index 343 13:00:16:03:10 Page 8 Page 9 Preface The inspiration for this book came from the authors’ many years of experi- ence in teaching psychology of music in various places and institutions. Our experience in teaching psychology of music began in the 1990s, when two of us team-taught a course with a music colleague Philip Tacka. Since then, the terrain of this field has changed considerably. New technologies and theories in several areas have stimulated significant developments. These include greater attention to neuroscientific research into the processes relevant to many aspects of musical life. There has also been progress in research on performance as well as on the perception of sound as music. New dimensions of the links between music and language have been explored. The focus of attention, previously very much on the cognitive psychology of music, has broadened in several directions including social, developmental, and applied psychology. We sought to create a book that reflects these important changes in this rich and expanding field. This book is organized around the progression of musical sound from a physical stimulus to meaningful experience. Part I: Foundations explores the physical basis of musical experience in sound through an introduction to acoustics and neuroscience, explaining auditory events with respect to the workings of the ear and the brain. Part II: The Perception and Cognition of Music focuses on the perception of melody, rhythm and musical structure. Part III: Development, Learning, and Performance examines the emergence of auditory perception and early musical development, and music practice and performance at more advanced levels. Finally, Part IV: The Meaning and Significance of Music broadens the discussion to consider the social, emotional, philosophical, and cultural significance of music. The design of this book is amenable to a variety of purposes. It can be used as a course text and is equally suited for perusal by interested lay readers. Introductory courses may begin with the Foundations chapters which assume no prior knowledge of acoustics, auditory perception, or neuroscience, while more advanced readers may start at the music-language discussion at the end of chapter 4 or at Part II. Those without a background in music theory may consider omitting chapters 7 and 13. Throughout the book, we present behavioral methods and neuroscience research as different techniques to 13:00:16:03:10 Page 9 Page 10 x Preface address common issues, rather than as two fundamentally different research endeavors. Thus, neuroscientific findings are discussed in sections within the chapters on melody, rhythm, practice, performance, and emotion in music. Depending on the emphasis of the course or specific interest of lay readers, this book can also be read without the chapter on neuroscience or clearly marked sections on neuroscientific findings in subsequent chapters, without disturbing the continuity of the narrative. Our book focuses on basic research but also includes discussion of practical and applied topics such as concert hall acoustics, early childhood music education, practice techniques, music and consumer behavior, and film music. In our own teaching, we have found that this breadth of coverage allows the selection of material to be used at different levels and for different audiences. We intend our book for a wide range of readers, and have kept technical terminology for music and psychology to a minimum in order to ensure the readability of the text for a broad audience. Only a general familiarity with music and psychology is assumed. The only exception is chapter 7, which discusses prominent music theories in some detail, and therefore necessarily requires more technical knowledge than the other chapters. Our illustrative figures do not rely heavily on musical notation, and musical examples in text draw from music from many genres, both classical and popular. Our intended audience includes casual readers exploring a new field, those seeking a foundation for advanced study in this area, and individuals who may become music psychologists and will later contribute to this field of study themselves.