Books in the SEMPRE Studies in The Psychology of Music series

The book celebrates the rich diversity of ways in which learners of all ages participate in social music projects in complex settings. Contributions focus broadly on musical and social processes, considering its conceptualization and practices in a number of contexts.

Drawing on perspectives from music psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, musicology, clinical psychology, and music education, Music and Mental Imagery provides a critical overview of cutting-edge research on the various types of mental imagery associated with music.

This book addresses the need to rethink the concept and enactment of professionalism in music, and how such concepts underpin professional higher music education.

Musical leadership is associated with a specific profession-the conductor-as well as being a colloquial metaphor for human communication and cooperation at its best. This book examines what musical leadership is, by delving into the choral conductor role, what goes on in the music-making moment and what it takes to do it well. One of the unique features of the musical ensemble is the simultaneity of collective discipline and individual expression. Music is therefore a potent laboratory for understanding the leadership act in the space between leader and team. The musical experience is used to shed light on leading and following more broadly, by linking it to themes such as authority, control, empowerment, intersubjectivity, sensemaking and charisma. Jansson develops the argument that musical leadership involves the combination of strong power and deep sensitivity, a blend that might be equally valid in other leadership domains. Aesthetic knowledge and musical perception therefore offer untapped potential for leadership and organisational development outside the art domain.

At head of title on cover: Sempre: Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research.

Investigates CoMP as a rich model for community engagement, musical participation and transformation in music education. This book provides a study of the social process of collective music-making that builds on and expands a 'community of practice' framework.

Performing in musical ensembles provides a remarkable opportunity for interaction between people. When playing a piece of music together, musicians contribute to the creation of an artistic work that is shaped through their individual performances. However, even though ensembles are a large part of musical activity.

Studio lesson activity is represented as a private interaction, dealing with skill acquisition and reflecting a tradition based in apprenticeship, as well as the personal attributes and intentions of participants. This title helps to create a framework that can support reflection among practitioners as they continually develop their work.

Despite their central role in many forms of music-making, drummers have been largely neglected in the scholarly literature on music and education. Drawing on data collected from in-depth interviews and questionnaires, Gareth Dylan Smith explores the identities, practices and learning of teenage and adult kit drummers in and around London.

What can infants hear? Is it useful for them to sing and listen to music? Is their auditory sensitivity developed before their birth? At what age do they start singing, and clapping their hands? This book focuses on the development of human musical abilities, and puts forward an educational perspective based on the results of the research.

In recent years, empathy has received considerable research attention as a means of understanding a range of psychological phenomena, and it is fast drawing attention within the fields of music psychology and music education. This volume seeks to promote and stimulate further research in music and empathy, with contributions from many of the leading scholars in the fields of music psychology, neuroscience, music philosophy and education. It exposes current developmental, cognitive, social and philosophical perspectives on research in music and empathy, and considers the notion in relation to our engagement with different types of music and media. Following a Prologue, the volume presents twelve chapters organised into two main areas of enquiry. The first section, entitled ''Empathy and Musical Engagement'', explores empathy in music education and therapy settings, and provides social, cognitive and philosophical perspectives about empathy in relation to our interaction with music. The second section, entitled ''Empathy in Performing Together'', provides insights into the role of empathy across non-Western, classical, jazz and popular performance domains. This book will be of interest to music educators, musicologists, performers and practitioners, as well as scholars from other disciplines with an interest in empathy research.

Body and space refer to vital and interrelated dimensions in the experience of sounds and music. Sounds have an overwhelming impact on feelings of bodily presence and inform us about the space we experience. Even in situations where visual information is artificial or blurred, such as in virtual environments or certain genres of film and computer games, sounds may shape our perceptions and lead to surprising new experiences. This book discusses recent developments in a range of interdisciplinary fields, taking into account the rapidly changing ways of experiencing sounds and music, the consequences for how we engage with sonic events in daily life and the technological advancements that offer insights into state-of-the-art methods and future perspectives. Topics range from the pleasures of being locked into the beat of the music, perceptionΓÇôaction coupling and bodily resonance, and affordances of musical instruments, to neural processing and cross-modal experiences of space and pitch. Applications of these findings are discussed for movement sonification, room acoustics, networked performance, and for the spatial coordination of movements in dance, computer gaming and interactive artistic installations.

In recent years, empathy has received considerable research attention as a means of understanding a range of psychological phenomena, and it is fast drawing attention within the fields of music psychology and music education. This volume seeks to promote and stimulate further research in music and empathy, with contributions from many of the leading scholars in the fields of music psychology, neuroscience, music philosophy and education. It exposes current developmental, cognitive, social and philosophical perspectives on research in music and empathy, and considers the notion in relation to our engagement with different types of music and media. Following a Prologue, the volume presents twelve chapters organised into two main areas of enquiry. The first section, entitled ''Empathy and Musical Engagement'', explores empathy in music education and therapy settings, and provides social, cognitive and philosophical perspectives about empathy in relation to our interaction with music. The second section, entitled ''Empathy in Performing Together'', provides insights into the role of empathy across non-Western, classical, jazz and popular performance domains. This book will be of interest to music educators, musicologists, performers and practitioners, as well as scholars from other disciplines with an interest in empathy research.

Familiarity underpins our engagement with music. This book highlights theoretical and empirical considerations about familiarity from three perspectives: listening, musicology and performance. Part I, ΓÇÖListeningΓÇÖ, addresses familiarity as it relates to listenersΓÇÖ behaviour and responses to music, specifically in regulating our choice and exposure to music on a daily basis; how we get to know music through regular listening; how comfortable we feel in a Western concert environment; and musicΓÇÖs efficacy as a pain-reliever. Part II, ΓÇÖMusicologyΓÇÖ exposes the notion of familiarity from varied stances, including appreciation of music in our own and other cultures through ethnomusicology; exploration of the perception of sounds via music analysis; philosophical reflection on the efficiency of communication in musicology; evaluation of the impact of researchersΓÇÖ musical experiences on their work; and the influence of familiarity in music education. Part III, ΓÇÖPerformanceΓÇÖ, focuses on the effects of familiarity in relation to different aspects of Western art and popular performance, including learning and memorizing music; examination of ΓÇÖgrooveΓÇÖ in popular performance; exploration of the role of familiarity in shaping socio-emotional behaviour between members of an ensemble; and consideration about the effects of the unique type of familiarity gained by musicians through the act of performance itself.