Music Cognition: The Basics: The Basics

by Henkjan Honing

Why do people attach importance to the wordless language we call music? Music The Basics considers the role of our cognitive functions, such as perception, memory, attention, and expectation in perceiving, making, and appreciating music. In this volume, Henkjan Honing explores the active role these functions play in how music makes us feel; exhilarated, soothed, or inspired. Grounded in the latest research in areas of psychology, biology, and cognitive neuroscience, and with clear examples throughout, this book concentrates on underappreciated musical skills such as sense of rhythm, beat induction, and relative pitch, that make people intrinsically musical creatures―supporting the conviction that all humans have a unique, instinctive attraction to music. The scope of the topics discussed ranges from the ability of newborns to perceive a beat, to the unexpected musical expertise of ordinary listeners. It is a must read for anyone studying the psychology of music, auditory perception, or simply interested in why we enjoy music the way we do.

Genres: Music

182 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2021

About the author

Henkjan Honing studies what musicality is or can be and to what extent human beings share musicality with other animals. His aim is to define the cognitive and biological mechanisms that underpin musicality. In addition to a research agenda (The Origins of Musicality, 2018, MIT Press), Honing has published several books for the general public, including the English-language publications Music Cognition: The Basics (2021, Routledge) and The Evolving Animal Orchestra (2019, MIT Press). Honing’s books and lectures are popular with a broad audience and are appreciated both inside and outside the scientific world.

Reviews

[112358 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating area of research, and this book provides a nice overview and points to a lot of sources for further reading. Unfortunately, this book needed another editing pass before release. There are a number of typos and many sentences that are unnecessarily convoluted. With that said, I heartily recommend this to anyone interested in music, regardless of training or experience.

[Jonatan Almfjord · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book it is suggested that music, perhaps, is not perfectly described a language, but rather as a game - with its own rules and circumstances rooted in human biology and psychology. Super interesting stuff.

Perhaps music is not a mystery at all. At least, no more of a mystery than language or other human activities such as playing chess, or a sport, or making love; all phenomena that science has been able to decipher successfully. (P. 26f)

I love that the author consciously chooses to (mostly) exclude musical notation when mentioning examples, since this allows more readers to follow along - not only non-musicians, but also musicians that do not read sheet music (an understanding that I've found lacking in a few other books on similar topics).

You will probably not be a better musician after reading this book, but I'd be surprised if you didn't get some fascinating new insights into the process of human cognition while perceiving music. Again, it's pretty cool. I recommend this book.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review at https://stuff.graves.cl/posts/2024-06...