How are we able to distinguish instruments, timbres and rhythms from the intertwined sonic stream presented by the world? How do we organize these elements in time to create rhythms, melodies, phrases and pieces? How do perception and memory interact to allow us navigate a musical work? We will explore these questions by considering the cognitive and perceptual processes that shape our musical experience. Topics will include event distinction, temporal perception, hierarchical organization, perceptual grouping, expertise, memory and categorization. We will illustrate these ideas in musical contexts by listening to a variety of musical works. We will consider how psychological principles are applied to music technologies, such as compression algorithms, mixing methodologies and the field of music information retrieval. We will consider experiments that focus on some of these topics to further our understanding about how we experience music. Note: Students that received credit for MU 202X may not receive credit for MU 2501. Students also may not receive credit for both MU 2501 and PSY 2501. This course can count for either the HUA or the SSPS requirement, but it cannot double count for both the HUA and SSPS graduation requirements.
Fundamentals of Music I and/or Fundamentals of Music II