Music Perception
Instructor: Arlene Walker-Andrews
Meeting time: T3&4, LSH 401
Office hours: T5, W5, and by appointment
This course will consist of a survey of music perception and cognition. We will start with some basics of auditory perception, and then move into discussion of topics such as pitch perception, timbre, absolute pitch, the development of music perception, scales and melody, emotion in music, and other perceptual-cognitive areas. We also will discuss a few "purely for interest" topics--birdsong, synesthetes, clinical findings and music therapy. I am hoping that students in the class will offer additional topics for discussion as well.
For the course, students will be expected to attend all classes and to lead at least one discussion. Grades will be assigned based on attendance and participation (20%), a class presentation (25%), a paper (25%; presumably, but not necessarily, the same topic as the presentation), and two take-home exams. The take-home exams will consist of 5 questions each. You will be asked to write approximately 1 page on each of 3 questions selected from the 5. The questions will be drawn from the readings and presentations. For example, I might include a question such as "How does the auditory system localize sounds in the environment?" or "How does perceived loudness correspond to sound intensity?". Both of these will be discussed my lecture. The final paper will be due on May 9.
You will need to meet with me at least 2 weeks before your presentations. We will talk about what you would like to present, any demonstrations, what background material you will need for me to introduce before your presentations, what the assigned readings will be, etc. For example, for the autism and other populations presentation, you might want for me to introduce the topic of autism and discuss the symptoms before your presentation. You may need help in finding video footage or references or audiotapes, or whatever. We will be able to plan the presentation and my part in it during our meeting.
There are no assigned texts, but I will be assigning material from (1) a book on perception, (2) Jourdain, R. Music, the brain, and ectasy: How music captures our imaginations (available for about $12.00 in paperback from website bookstores); (3) Sloboda, J. A. The musical mind: The cognitive psychology of music (an "old" book from 1985; available for about $50.00 from website bookstores); (4) recent articles that address topics to be covered in the class.
Date Topic and Presenter(s) Assigned Reading
January 28 An Introduction to Auditory Perception--A. Walker-Andrews selections, Chaps. 9 & 10, Sekuler & Blake, Perception
(available for pickup, Tillett 421, Thursday AM)
February 4 Properties of Music--A. Walker-Andrews
February 11 Development of Music Perception Chapter 6 in the Sloboda book (pp. 194-215)
February 18 Parallels Between Music and Language?--A. Walker-Andrews Chapter 2 in the Sloboda book
February 25 Neurophysiology-Neuropsychology of Music Perception--Christine Zakrzewski
Synethesia and related phenomena--Mike Curving
March 4 Emotion and Music--Tim Stettner and Vlad Basta
March 11 Memory and Associations--Sarah Hartwell and Rebecca Johnson
Take home questions due (3 of 5)
March 25 Therapeutic Uses of Music--Kristin Siegfried and Heather Tomar
April 1 Autism and other special populations--Naomi Moore, Klara Czabar, Gigi Illuminati
April 8 "Roll Over Beethoven"--Arlene Walker-Andrews
April 15 Acoustic phenomena: Binaural beats--Courtney Hoitt, Khadeya Watkins-Braun and Jason Calafiore
"The Cortical Topography of Tonal Structures Underlying Western Music"--A. Walker-Andrews
Take home questions due (3 of 5) on Friday the 18th by 5:00 PM
April 22 Musicians and Prodigies--Kim Graham and Esha Jones
Motivational aspects of music--Raheem Reese
April 29 Music in other species?--Polina Sorkin and Dave Sheffield
May 9 FINAL PAPER DUE
Meeting time: T3&4, LSH 401
Office hours: T5, W5, and by appointment
This course will consist of a survey of music perception and cognition. We will start with some basics of auditory perception, and then move into discussion of topics such as pitch perception, timbre, absolute pitch, the development of music perception, scales and melody, emotion in music, and other perceptual-cognitive areas. We also will discuss a few "purely for interest" topics--birdsong, synesthetes, clinical findings and music therapy. I am hoping that students in the class will offer additional topics for discussion as well.
For the course, students will be expected to attend all classes and to lead at least one discussion. Grades will be assigned based on attendance and participation (20%), a class presentation (25%), a paper (25%; presumably, but not necessarily, the same topic as the presentation), and two take-home exams. The take-home exams will consist of 5 questions each. You will be asked to write approximately 1 page on each of 3 questions selected from the 5. The questions will be drawn from the readings and presentations. For example, I might include a question such as "How does the auditory system localize sounds in the environment?" or "How does perceived loudness correspond to sound intensity?". Both of these will be discussed my lecture. The final paper will be due on May 9.
You will need to meet with me at least 2 weeks before your presentations. We will talk about what you would like to present, any demonstrations, what background material you will need for me to introduce before your presentations, what the assigned readings will be, etc. For example, for the autism and other populations presentation, you might want for me to introduce the topic of autism and discuss the symptoms before your presentation. You may need help in finding video footage or references or audiotapes, or whatever. We will be able to plan the presentation and my part in it during our meeting.
There are no assigned texts, but I will be assigning material from (1) a book on perception, (2) Jourdain, R. Music, the brain, and ectasy: How music captures our imaginations (available for about $12.00 in paperback from website bookstores); (3) Sloboda, J. A. The musical mind: The cognitive psychology of music (an "old" book from 1985; available for about $50.00 from website bookstores); (4) recent articles that address topics to be covered in the class.
Date Topic and Presenter(s) Assigned Reading
January 28 An Introduction to Auditory Perception--A. Walker-Andrews selections, Chaps. 9 & 10, Sekuler & Blake, Perception
(available for pickup, Tillett 421, Thursday AM)
February 4 Properties of Music--A. Walker-Andrews
February 11 Development of Music Perception Chapter 6 in the Sloboda book (pp. 194-215)
February 18 Parallels Between Music and Language?--A. Walker-Andrews Chapter 2 in the Sloboda book
February 25 Neurophysiology-Neuropsychology of Music Perception--Christine Zakrzewski
Synethesia and related phenomena--Mike Curving
March 4 Emotion and Music--Tim Stettner and Vlad Basta
March 11 Memory and Associations--Sarah Hartwell and Rebecca Johnson
Take home questions due (3 of 5)
March 25 Therapeutic Uses of Music--Kristin Siegfried and Heather Tomar
April 1 Autism and other special populations--Naomi Moore, Klara Czabar, Gigi Illuminati
April 8 "Roll Over Beethoven"--Arlene Walker-Andrews
April 15 Acoustic phenomena: Binaural beats--Courtney Hoitt, Khadeya Watkins-Braun and Jason Calafiore
"The Cortical Topography of Tonal Structures Underlying Western Music"--A. Walker-Andrews
Take home questions due (3 of 5) on Friday the 18th by 5:00 PM
April 22 Musicians and Prodigies--Kim Graham and Esha Jones
Motivational aspects of music--Raheem Reese
April 29 Music in other species?--Polina Sorkin and Dave Sheffield
May 9 FINAL PAPER DUE