Musical Cognition: A Science of Listening - Hardcover

Honing, Henkjan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 141284228X ISBN 13: 9781412842280

Publisher: Transaction Publishers, 2011

Synopsis

Why do people attach importance to the wordless language we call music? Musical Cognition suggests that music is a game. In music, our cognitive functions such as perception, memory, attention, and expectation are challenged; yet, as listeners, we often do not realize that the listener plays an active role in reaching the awareness that makes music so exhilarating, soothing, and inspiring. In reality, the author contends, listening does not happen in the outer world of audible sound, but in the inner world of our minds and brains.Recent research in the areas of psychology and neuro-cognition allows Honing to be explicit in a way that many of his predecessors could not. His lucid, evocative writing style guides the reader through what is known about listening to music while avoiding jargon and technical diagrams. With clear examples, the book concentrates on underappreciated musical skills - "sense of rhythm" and "relative pitch" - skills that make us musical creatures. Research on how living creatures respond to music supports the conviction that all humans have a unique, instinctive attraction to music.Musical Cognition includes a selection of intriguing examples from recent literature exploring the role that an implicit or explicit knowledge of music plays when one listens to it. The scope of the topics discussed ranges from the ability of newborns to perceive a beat, to the unexpected musical expertise of ordinary listeners. The evidence shows that music is second nature to most human beings - biologically and socially.View the book trailerView the book's website - see videos, images,sample materials, and the author's blog and Twitter feed.

About this title

Review:

"[A] well-written and accessible introductory text that avoids technical jargon whilst encapsulating the main cognitive processes of music. One of the key messages that resonate throughout this book is how music is experienced within the mind. Although music is capable of manipulating our emotions, memories, and perceptions, we often fail to appreciate the active and subjective role that our minds play in listening to it. Musical Cognition also challenges conceptions regarding what it truly means to be 'musical', using recent evidence to persuasively demonstrate just how 'musical we all really are... [R]efreshing, engaging, enlightening and, most importantly, intelligible by all."

--Karima Susi, The Psychologist

"An intriguing study of consciousness and the things that we listen to every day of our lives, Musical Cognition is a fascinating read, an excellent addition to music or psychology community and college library collections."

--Library Bookwatch

"Honing's volume... does something more of us in academe ought do: it summarizes his research for a lay audience and tries to show both (a) just what this research is about, and (b) why it is interesting and important."

--Justin London, Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain

""Honing demonstrates that ordinary listeners, whether children or adults, are a lot more musically savvy than they think they are.""

"--"Sandra Trehub, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga

""A graceful and precise introduction into the intricacy of what ordinary humans manage to learn about music, naturally and automatically, just by listening." "

"--"Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology, New York University and" "Author of "Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of The Human Mind"

"[A] well-written and accessible introductory text that avoids technical jargon whilst encapsulating the main cognitive processes of music. One of the key messages that resonate throughout this book is how music is experienced within the mind. Although music is capable of manipulating our emotions, memories, and perceptions, we often fail to appreciate the active and subjective role that our minds play in listening to it. Musical Cognition also challenges conceptions regarding what it truly means to be 'musical', using recent evidence to persuasively demonstrate just how 'musical we all really are... [R]efreshing, engaging, enlightening and, most importantly, intelligible by all."

--Karima Susi, The Psychologist

"An intriguing study of consciousness and the things that we listen to every day of our lives, Musical Cognition is a fascinating read, an excellent addition to music or psychology community and college library collections."

--Library Bookwatch

"Honing's volume... does something more of us in academe ought do: it summarizes his research for a lay audience and tries to show both (a) just what this research is about, and (b) why it is interesting and important."

--Justin London, Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain

"Honing demonstrates that ordinary listeners, whether children or adults, are a lot more musically savvy than they think they are."

--Sandra Trehub, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga

"A graceful and precise introduction into the intricacy of what ordinary humans manage to learn about music, naturally and automatically, just by listening."

--Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology, New York University and Author of Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of The Human Mind

-[A] well-written and accessible introductory text that avoids technical jargon whilst encapsulating the main cognitive processes of music. One of the key messages that resonate throughout this book is how music is experienced within the mind. Although music is capable of manipulating our emotions, memories, and perceptions, we often fail to appreciate the active and subjective role that our minds play in listening to it. Musical Cognition also challenges conceptions regarding what it truly means to be 'musical', using recent evidence to persuasively demonstrate just how 'musical we all really are... [R]efreshing, engaging, enlightening and, most importantly, intelligible by all.-

--Karima Susi, The Psychologist

-An intriguing study of consciousness and the things that we listen to every day of our lives, Musical Cognition is a fascinating read, an excellent addition to music or psychology community and college library collections.-

--Library Bookwatch

-Honing's volume... does something more of us in academe ought do: it summarizes his research for a lay audience and tries to show both (a) just what this research is about, and (b) why it is interesting and important.-

--Justin London, Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain

-Honing demonstrates that ordinary listeners, whether children or adults, are a lot more musically savvy than they think they are.-

--Sandra Trehub, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga

-A graceful and precise introduction into the intricacy of what ordinary humans manage to learn about music, naturally and automatically, just by listening.-

--Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology, New York University and Author of Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of The Human Mind

About the Author:

Henkjan Honing is the KNAW-Hendrik Muller Chair at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), University of Amsterdam. Honing is the author of over 150 international publications in the area of music cognition and music technology.

About this edition

• Publisher: Transaction Publishers
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 141284228X
• ISBN 13: 9781412842280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 166
• Editor: Honing Henkjan