Chapter 3, The Neurosciences and Music discusses the outcome of four international conferences
which presented current neuroscientific research. The conference in Venice 2002 focused on the
perceptual components of music and the import of musical training. The conference in Leipzig 2005
included studies of music and language, neurological disorders, music performance, and emotion in
music. Prominent themes in the conference in Montreal 2008 were rhythms in the brain, music ther-
apy and neuroscience, and musical memory. The conference in Edinburgh 2011 included studies of
musical imagery, cultural neuroscience of music, and the role of music in stroke rehabilitation.
Reports of each conference indicate noteworthy papers, critical comments stated at the confer-
ence, and an evaluation of the achievements and research problems of the studies. A summary of
research in the three conferences highlights noteworthy findings in neuroscience, including investi-
gations of pitch perception and the auditory cortex, musical expression and strong emotional experi-
ences of music, and mirror neuron systems.
A frequently occurring research problem in the conference papers is the low ecological validity
due to the sparse use of acoustic tones and real music. Furthermore, a cultural bias is prevalent due
to the preference for studies of western major-minor tonal music. Studies of improvisation, contem-
porary art music and percussion music are not considered in the conferences. Studies of voice, pop-
ular music and music from non-western cultures are sparsely represented.
In order to permit a comparison of music and music practice investigated in neuroscience and in
music therapy research, a survey of music types reported in a number of Aalborg University (AAU)
doctoral dissertations in music therapy 2002-2008 has been compiled.
Comparisons with research reported in the conferences 2002-2008 indicate the following.
In music therapy, songs and vocalizations are widely used as an important means of communication
and interaction. In the neuroscience papers, studies of the singing voice are scarce, and limited to
studies of single sung words or syllables, or studies of infants.
In receptive music therapy, the client listens to selected music guided by the therapist. A mu-
sic selection typically consists of entire pieces or movements of music, and the effect of the therapy
is dependent upon exposure to music over a period of time. In the conference proceedings, studies
of complete pieces of music are rare. Only two studies of strong emotions evoked by music are
based on responses to whole pieces.
Musical improvisation is a core activity in music therapy. Musical improvisations are based on
the spontaneous interplay between client and therapist, and can include vocal expression, playing on
melodic and percussive instruments, gestures, body movement, and facial expressions. In neurosci-
ence, the measurement methods typically require that the participant lies or sits still, and do not per-
mit studies of active interplay and body movement. Thus, until robust portable measurement devices
are developed, neuroscientific studies of music therapy improvisations are not probable.
On the basis of these comparisons, a number of future studies in the neurosciences and music
are suggested, including studies of voice qualities and percussive sound, and studies based on com-
plete pieces of music.
Chapter 4. The Musical Timespace includes 75 pages of text extracted from the 1996 edition of
the book. These excerpts constitute a concise version of The Musical Timespace, which represents
an investigation of the listening dimensions in music and the experience of musical space. It is a ba-
sic presupposition of the investigation that hearing is not designed for music listening, but for survival
in the surrounding world. The essential functions of listening are the identification and localization of
sound, and the detection of movement.
Material for the investigation is music that explores the natural continuum of sound, which is
not divided into discrete steps. The natural continuum of sound is prominent in music of Xenakis,
Ligeti, Lutoslawski and Ives. As a result of the investigation, it is proposed that the five basic listen-
ing dimensions in music are intensity, timbre, pitch, movement, and pulse. Four secondary listening