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 Henkjan 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 people musical creatures. Research on how living creatures respond to music supports the conviction that all humans have a unique, instinctive attraction to music. Everyone is musical. 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. This paperback edition contains a new afterword that details cutting-edge research on musicality and language.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Inc
ISBN-13
9781412852920
eBay Product ID (ePID)
189131846
Product Key Features
Book Title
Musical Cognition: a Science of Listening
Author
Henkjan Honing
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Music
Publication Year
2013
Number of Pages
166 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm
Item Weight
181g
Additional Product Features
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
Editor
Henkjan Honing
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