Thinking Music: Processes of Musical Cognition

Abstract

Art is a cultural system, Clifford Geertz¹ said nearly four decades ago. He added that the analysis of art forms is not the same as research of scientific law, but that it requires interpretive analysis in search of meaning. Interpretive, reflective analysis of musical thinking in society – music as societal “cognition in action” – is exactly what this chapter aims at. Blacking² identified this social cognition as musical thinking which is culturally defined in contrast to, although not separate from musical intelligence, an individual but universal potential among human beings. Elliot Eisner³ adds the idea of felt thought, the ability to experience qualitative relationships in sound, whereas Bereiter⁴ emphasizes the importance of connectionism. The latter idea is a pattern detection device by means of which the mind acquires abilities and dispositions to recognize and respond in various ways to different patterns. In this chapter, we will be investigating these and other interpretations of musical thinking.