Music Perception

The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of comprehensive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory research. The v- umes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hearing research including advanced graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes are intended to introduce new investigators to important aspects of hearing science and to help established investigators to better understand the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume presents a particular topic comprehensively, and each serves as a synthetic overview and guide to the literature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in pe- reviewed journals. The volumes focus on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beg- ning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature.

From the reviews:“For advanced graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and clinical investigators, Jones … compile eight chapters that overview a relatively new field of psychoacoustic and hearing research involving perception of musical sound patterns. Scholars working in psychology, behavioral and brain sciences, cognition, physiology, development, and neuroscience in the US, UK, and Canada discuss theory and research related to the basics of musical note perception; the way relative pitch in music conveys tonal relationship to listeners … and the ability to recognize melodies at different ages.” (SciTech Book News, December, 2010)“Music Perception deals precisely … how listeners make sense of and garner meaning from the complex stream of nonrandom sound and silence that constitutes music. … of interest to psychologists, acoustics researchers, and the musically inclined (lay or professional) … . In general, the book is outstanding. It will not only inform people about the current exciting state of the research on music perception, but it should also serve as a model for how interdisciplinary research can richly inform a key topic of human experience.” (Aaron Kozbelt, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 56 (5), February, 2011)“Springer handbook is for advanced students and researchers interested in the perceptual processing of musical materials. … suited for readers already knowledgeable of various basic fields … . Indeed, the detailed, up-to-date and systematic presentation of theoretical debates, empirical results, and controversial aspects of the literature give the researcher and the motivated student a head start in the design of novel experiments … . Music Perception Handbook is a precious research instrument. The community and the scientific field will undoubtedly benefit by this novel publication.” (Bruno L. Giordano and P. L. Marston, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 129 (6), June, 2011)