Abstract
Although the psychology of music is still a “new” subject compared with others, such as physics and chemistry, it has been a source of heated discussion for decades. The term psychology of music only contains the words psychology and music, but it is not a narrow subject relevant only to psychologists or musicians. As written in the first chapter of this book, Psychology of Music: From Sound to Significance (Second Edition), research in the realm of the psychology of music is aimed at “the process by which people perceive, respond to, and create music, and how they integrate it into their lives” (p. 2). Music itself could be studied in terms of its physical properties, while the musical effects on neural plasticity could be investigated with fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography). Moreover, many philosophers have proposed different theories on the meaning of music and its relationship with emotions.
Because the psychology of music joins hands with other disciplines (e.g., acoustics, neuroscience, philosophy, social psychology, education, and ethnology) and this book is designed not only for university students and their instructors, but also for other independent learners, it is very challenging to ensure a comprehensive yet easily comprehended introduction to many profound theories. In this regard, Professors Tan, Pfordresher, and Harré have been most successful in this revised version.
Following the first chapter on the introduction to this field, this book is separated into four parts. Part I consists of three chapters exploring the acoustic cues of music, the biological basis of the auditory system, and neuro-cognitive studies on the music–language relationship. Part II contains three chapters probing the perception and cognition of musical elements. Part III has four chapters demonstrating how musical capacities are developed according to different professional levels and different ages from pre-birth to adulthood. In four chapters, Part IV focuses on the power and meaning of music in terms of social psychology, philosophy, emotions, and cultures. Although the book’s chapters are independent, they are logically organized and linked. For example, in Part III, the first three chapters are structured in age order, which gives us a clear picture of how certain musical skills progress, or even regress, with age. The last chapter on “The psychology of music performance” (p. 183) introduces Brunswikian lens model, which is also an important topic in the communication of emotions in music in Part IV.
Although each chapter only has approximately 20 pages, the authors have successfully provided deep insights into this field by making clear arguments with detailed and necessary research examples in tidily organized subsections. They cover almost all the important theories and models on certain topics. Moreover, as the authors claim in the book, approximately 500 new citations, including plenty of contemporary studies, have been added, which gives readers a better impression of the current research status in this field. In addition, after the exploration of experimental studies and the discussion of theories, application in a real-world context sheds light on how theoretical knowledge could be implemented, which makes the reading experience of this book more enjoyable.
For instance, Chapter 14 (“The emotional power of music,” p. 241) starts with two quotations from Professor Gabrielsson, who is one of the key scholars in the field of communication and induction of emotions in music. In the introductory section of this chapter, Oxford Handbook of Music and Emotion is mentioned along with Professors Eerola and Vouskoski’s review, both of which are cornerstones in the field of music and emotion. The main body begins with a discussion of the differences between perceived and felt emotion, followed by subsections which explore each in detail. Although little attention is paid in these sections to the debate concerning the discrete emotion model versus the dimensional emotion model, it appears that scholars prefer the discrete emotion model regarding perceived emotions. The subsection of perceived emotions includes the impacts of acoustic cues of music on the communication of emotions with an adequate amount of empirical research.
Next, the induced emotion section initiates exploration directly from the studies of physiological responses, instead of the traditional self-report measurements, such as Likert-type scales, which better reflects the current research status on this topic. Music’s effect on emotional regulation is demonstrated after the discussion of the “prevalence and scope of felt emotions” (p. 250). Afterward, Juslin’s induction mechanism of musical emotions (BRECVEMA) is used to answer a passionately discussed question: “Why do people like to listen to sad music?” Finally, some PET and fMRI studies on the neural basis of musical emotions are cited before the attention of this chapter switches to the emotional power of music in the film industry, which is the area of expertise of one of the authors, Professor Tan.
In conclusion, Psychology of Music: From Sound to Significance (Second Edition) is a fantastic book for anyone interested in the psychology of music. For students and researchers at the very early stage of their exploration of this field, clear topics with a large stock of studies in this book could help them to find their direction. For university instructors, the logical structure and unambiguous organization of this book could easily complement their teaching routines. Even for readers driven only by curiosity, its compact style of writing is far more appealing than reading complex academic studies.
