Interactions of Music and Science (BASC0022)

This module has historically been popular. If you try to register on this module, we would advise exploring additional options, just in case.

This module will introduce students to the multidisciplinary nature of music by offering a critical introduction to a plethora of evidence, both from contemporary research and practice. Students will be enabled to witness how music celebrates artistic expression and experience but also scientific enquiry and discourse, as notions that symbiotically form a unique plateau, and not as distinct pillars (which, somewhat paradoxically, troubles educational policy).

Students will have the opportunity to become introduced to literature and evidence relating to the origins of music, the ontology and epistemology of music, musical development and education, music perception and cognition, sociological perspectives, and also the role of science and technology in, with and through music.

Indicative Topics

The module will cover the following topics, which may be subject to variation depending on developments in academic research and the interests of the class:

    Why do we have music?
    What is music?
    How do we learn it?
    What do we need to learn it?
    How do we use music?

By the end of the module, you should be able to have a deeper understanding on:

    the origins of music
    how music works and how current research suggests that we make sense of it?
    how we develop as musicians?
    how musical expression and general musical experience impact the bodymind?
    the cultural location of music
    a number of tools to record, manipulate, produce and program music and sound materials

Teaching Delivery

This module is centred on the weekly lectures and the diverse perspectives introduced by the course leader and a world-renouned group of visiting academics. Preparation will mainly rely on accesing core reading materials, lecture handouts and/or audio/video supplementary materials.