Abstract
It is a pleasure and an honour to be able to introduce this special edition of Psychology of Music. This is one of a number of events that celebrate SEMPRE’s activities and achievements over the past 40 years. In this edition, we have invited past and current editors to contribute articles and the submitted papers therefore cover an impressive range of disciplines and approaches. No particular overarching theme is explored and each editor was free to contribute an article that met the aims and objectives of Psychology of Music and, as a result, a broad range of topics that lie at the heart of Psychology of Music’s mission are covered. During the planning for this issue, all past editors of Psychology of Music were invited to write an article: unfortunately Rosamund Burke (formerly Rosamund Shuter-Dyson) was unable to take part, but sincere gratitude is extended to her for the vital and pioneering work she undertook during the early days of the journal. Her dedication and passion were hugely influential in helping Psychology of Music thrive. Special thanks are also due to the 15 anonymous reviewers who worked very efficiently and diligently in reviewing the papers within a tight time frame.
In the opening article, Psychology of Music’s first editor, Desmond Sergeant, collaborates with a number of colleagues who have all been influential in the development of both SEMPRE and Psychology of Music. This article traces the history of SEMPRE, originally the Society for Research in Psychology of Music and Music Education (SRPMME). It outlines key moments in the development of an international academic society that has remained at the forefront of research in psychology of music and music education throughout its 40-year history. The article also outlines the development of Psychology of Music, from its genesis as an idea proposed at a conference in 1971 by Desmond Sergeant, through to recent innovations such as moving to six editions per year in 2012. Key topics presented within the journal throughout its history are also considered in detail.
This special issue deals with a range of topics that have remained of central importance to Psychology of Music over the past 40 years. Creativity, performance, emotion, communication and meaning are all discussed within this issue and these areas are of fundamental importance to researchers interested in developing our understanding of the psychological aspects of music. For example, David Hargreaves outlines his conception of musical imagination and shows how it can facilitate new and innovative insights into understanding musical creativity. Drawing on a huge breath of academic research, from the Scottish enlightenment through to recent advances in neuropsychology the article concludes that creative listening is a highly important and often neglected aspect of general creativity. This article contributes to the topical debate about how and why music affects us, and there is no doubt that developing our knowledge of listening as a creative process has profound implications for furthering understandings of musical communication.
Creative listening is also part of the research presented in Graeme Wilson and Raymond MacDonald’s article. They present various interpretations of how musicians listen to their own performances and in particular, they discuss how silence can be interpreted in a multitude of different ways by performers during an improvisation. This work highlights the socially constructed nature of meaning in music, especially when musicians are discussing their own performances. This paper also signals the utility of improvisation as a unique, social and creative process that facilitates collaboration between musicians from very different backgrounds.
Alexandra Lamont’s article also investigates how performers perceive their own music but in a quite different and unique way. Her focus is on the intense emotional experiences that can occur in the performance of music, and the potential for these experiences to have positive effects on health and wellbeing. In particular, she highlights how intense positive performance experiences can have beneficial effects on motivation to participate in music. These positive motivational effects may help foster continued musical engagement over extended periods of time.
Intense musical experiences in performance contexts are also an important element of Jane’s Davidson paper. She discusses the importance of body movements and facial expressions within the overall musical communication process. In two case studies, she provides evidence to support the existence of a repertoire of body movements and facial expressions that fulfil special communication functions within music performance. These features of non-verbal communication help in conveying structural aspects of music, and the unfolding narrative development of performances.
Musical communication processes are also examined in John Sloboda’s article, written in collaboration with Gail Brand and colleagues. In a series of interviews with jazz musicians and audience members, they present a study investigating the reciprocal relationship that exists between performers and audiences. A key finding is that jazz musicians are crucially aware of an audience’s reaction to their music. The musicians also report that their performance is, to some extent, influenced by audience responses. Importantly, the authors also highlight that audience members report being aware of this power dynamic.
Susan Hallam and colleagues investigate the development of performance skills in young musicians by focusing on the practice strategies of young people aged between 6 and 19. Their study, which includes over 3000 participants, demonstrates how practice strategies develop and change as the young people’s musical skills grow over time. A key concern for music educationists within these contexts is how to develop and sustain high levels of motivation in young people over prolonged time periods.
This special edition of Psychology of Music covers a range of topics, all of which have been of central concern to Psychology of Music throughout its 40-year history. Furthering our understanding of how we experience music as performers, audience members or casual listeners remains a perennially relevant topic. Furthermore, developing and sustaining motivation to practice and perform music lies at the heart of music education agendas that seek to maximise the potential for universal musical participation in all its manifestations. In closing I would like to thank all the authors for their invited contributions, and I hope you enjoy reading this special issue, which celebrates 40 years of Psychology of Music in all its multidisciplinary glory.