Music and Memory: An Introduction

by Robert Snyder

Overview

This far-ranging book shows how human memory influences the organization of music. The book is divided into two parts. The first part presents basic ideas about memory and perception from cognitive psychology and, to some extent, cognitive linguistics. Topics include auditory processing, perception, and recognition. The second part describes in detail how the concepts from the first part are exemplified in music. The presentation is based on three levels of musical experience: event fusion (the formation of single musical events from acoustical vibrations in the air, on a time scale too small to exhibit rhythm), melody and rhythm, and form. The focus in the latter is on the psychological conditions necessary for making large-scale—that is, formal—boundaries clear in music rather than on traditional musical forms. The book also discusses the idea that much of the language used to describe musical structures and processes is metaphorical. It encourages readers to consider the possibility that the process of musical composition can be "a metaphorical transformation of their own experience into sound."

The book also touches on unresolved debates about psychological musical universals, information theory, and the operation of neurons. It requires no formal musical training and contains a glossary and an appendix of listening examples.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262692373
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	01/29/2001
Series:	A Bradford Book
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

What People are Saying About This

Stephen McAdams

I find the level and breadth of Music and Memory quite appealing. The book is perfect for music students and artists interested in the temporal arts.

Lawrence W. Baralou

This book is not only well-written and easy to read but also extremely interesting and informative. I came away feeling as if my understanding of music had just been reinvented in the context of cognitive theory.

Bruno Repp

This is a marvelous book. Snyder succeeds admirably in applying concepts and facts from psychological literature to music listening. The writing is excellent throughout, lucid and insightful.

Endorsement

I find the level and breadth of Music and Memory quite appealing. The book is perfect for music students and artists interested in the temporal arts.—Stephen McAdams, Music Perception and Cognition Team, Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

From the Publisher

This book is not only well-written and easy to read but also extremely interesting and informative. I came away feeling as if my understanding of music had just been reinvented in the context of cognitive theory.

—Lawrence W. Baralou, Professor of Psychology, Emory University

This is a marvelous book. Snyder succeeds admirably in applying concepts and facts from psychological literature to music listening. The writing is excellent throughout, lucid and insightful.

—Bruno Repp, Research Scientist, Haskins Laboratories

I find the level and breadth of Music and Memory quite appealing. The book is perfect for music students and artists interested in the temporal arts.

—Stephen McAdams, Music Perception and Cognition Team, Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)