Music and meaning

Music, syntax, and the meaning of “meaning”

I discuss the issue of meaning, and the definition of “meaning” in music. I propose that it is a mistake to import the linguistic notion of semantics into a musical context on the grounds that musical communication serves a different function and is of a different nature from linguistic communication, and that there is no evidence to support the suggestion that the two should function in a stro...

Language and music: sound, structure, and meaning.

Language and music are the most impressive examples of humans' capacity to process complex sound and structure. Though interest in the relationship between these two abilities has a long history, only recently has cognitive and neuroscientific research started to illuminate both what is shared and what is distinct between linguistic and musical processing. This review considers evidence for a l...

Exploring Meaning And Intention In Music Conducting

Conducting is a high-level form of expressive musical communication. The possibility of human-computer interaction through a conducting-based interface to a computer performance system has attracted many computer music researchers. This study explores conducting through interviews with conductors and musicians and also through accelerometers attached to conductors during rehearsals with a (huma...

Meaning and Entrainment in Language and Music Special Issue: Introduction

Response to Richard Widdess: Music, Meaning and Culture

This commentary discusses the anthropological implications of Richard Widess’ paper by summarizing some anthropological approaches to music, especially focusing on the way musical participation inculcates and transmits an aesthetic orientation that guides action across cultural domains such as politics, economics and religion. The paper ends by suggesting that the heart of human culture is more...