The psychology of music
By: John Booth Davies.
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 1978
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
Subjects: Music -- Psychological aspects
Notes: Bibliography: p. [219]-234.
Includes index.

CONTENTS: 

Psychology and music. The role of the scientific study of music -- What is music? The physics of musical sound -- The musical present. Music, viewed as a series of events -- Events of the past. The critical role of things we have heard previously, in the perception of music -- What makes a tune? Why do different people prefer different kinds of music, and why do people’s preferences change? -- Some further aspects of musical perception. Is there something natural, or inevitable, about the way certain musical events are perceived? -- Musical ability and musical aptitude: the problem of definition. What makes a musical person? what is the difference between aptitude and ability? -- Problems of measurement. The problems of deciding what to measure, how to measure it, and why -- 

Test material : pitch. A review of some approaches to the testing of pitch abilities, and suggestions for alternative ways -- Test material : memory for tonal sequences. A review of some approaches to the testing of tonal memory, and suggestions for alternative ways -- Consonance and dissonance. What is the relationship between consonance / dissonance and the pleasantness or unpleasantness of a chord? -- Rhythm : tonality’s poor relation. The lack of rhythmic sophistication in western music, relative to some other cultures -- Musicians and instruments. Some speculations about the personality of musicians, and its relationship to particular instruments.