Music as Experience: a Processual and Ecological Approach

Main Article Content

Mark Reybrouck

Abstract

The major topic of this contribution is an experiential approach to music cognition. It conceives of music as something which is heard and enacted upon rather than being merely imagined or represented. As such, it stresses the richness of experience as against the economy of processing which is so typical for symbolic approaches to music cognition. Starting from the seminal work of Dewey and James on the distinction between ‘percept’ and ‘concept’ and the role of knowledge-by-acquaintance, it tries to bring together insights from semiotics and ecological psychology, which both stress the role of epistemic interactions with the sounds. Central in this approach is the ecological concept of affordance which can be defined as the perceived functional significance of something for an individual both in terms of its objective and subjective qualities. It is to be expected that this ecological concept is likely to promote further theoretical grounding and empirical research with as central topics the role of bodily resonance and emotions. Much is to be expected here from the findings of current neurobiological research.

Keywords: musical affordance, ecological psychology, Dewey, James, Gibson, musical experience, musical cognition

Article Details

How to Cite
Reybrouck, M. (2011). Music as Experience: a Processual and Ecological Approach. Music Scholarship / Problemy Muzykal’noj Nauki, 8(1), 164–175. Retrieved from https://musicscholar.ru/index.php/PMN/article/view/482
Section
International Division