PERCEPTION OF MUSIC - THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE
Maureen Bailey · 2023
Why do we listen to music so much?Why is it that we listen to the same piece of music many times and why is it that we do not usually do the same with movies or books?Even more curiously, why do we sometimes end up listening to a piece of music over and over again, when initially we found it quite unpleasant?Why do we stop listening to a piece of music, which once we did not wish to remove from the CD player?This paper attempts to investigate some of the different reactions to music and offers some explanation as to why these reactions might take place.It also will attempt to offer a broader explanation of the human response with relation to other aspects of daily life.Finally, there will be an analysis of some basic experimentation that has been used to investigate these ideas.Secondly, I have had the benefit of some further research, mostly within the Mark Gander Library in California -for which I am extremely grateful to him.Finally -I relish the prospect of presenting something that links my interests in music and psychology.This is not a subject that often surfaces in my usual line of work but when the conference title "Perception, Reception, Deception" was decided upon I seized the chance to explore and then covey my thoughts further. I hope you find my comments interesting.