title: Varieties of musical experience.
abstract: In this paper, we argue that music cognition involves the use of acoustic and auditory codes to evoke a variety of conscious experiences. The variety of domains that are encompassed by music is so diverse that it is unclear whether a single domain of structure or experience is defining. Music is best understood as a form of communication in which formal codes (acoustic patterns and their auditory representations) are employed to elicit a variety of conscious experiences. After proposing our theoretical perspective we offer three prominent examples of conscious experiences elicited by the code of music: the recognition of structure itself, affect, and the experience of motion.
authors.affiliation: Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA. Jamshed.Bharucha@tufts.edu
authors.forename: Jamshed J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bharucha
authors.forename: Meagan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Kaivon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Paroo
mesh_terms: D001307:Auditory Perception; D003071:Cognition; D019336:Cognitive Science; D003142:Communication; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009039:Motion Perception; D009146:Music / Q000523:psychology*; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological; D011571:Psychoacoustics