Routledge Grounding the Analysis of Cognitive Processes in Music Performance: Distributed Cognition in Musical Activity (Explorations in Cognitive Psychology)

Through the systematic analysis of data from music rehearsals, lessons, and performances, this book develops a new conceptual framework for studying cognitive processes in musical activity. Grounding the Analysis of Cognitive Processes in Music Performance draws uniquely on dominant paradigms from the fields of cognitive science, ethnography, anthropology, psychology, and psycholinguistics to develop an ecologically valid framework for the analysis of cognitive processes during musical activity. By presenting a close analysis of activities including instrumental performance on the bassoon, lessons on the guitar, and a group rehearsal, chapters provide new insights into the person/instrument system, the musician’s use of informational resources, and the organization of perceptual experience during musical performance. Engaging in musical activity is shown to be a highly dynamic and collaborative process invoking tacit knowledge and coordination as musicians identify targets of focal awareness for themselves, their colleagues, and their students. Written by a cognitive scientist and classically trained bassoonist, this specialist text builds on two decades of music performance research; and will be of interest to researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in the fields of cognitive psychology and music psychology, as well as musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, and performance science. Linda T. Kaastra has taught courses in cognitive science, music, and discourse studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University. She earned a PhD from UBC’s Individual Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program. Review "An ambitious range of ideas flows through six chapters, moving outwards from the micro to the macro: from a person-instrument system, informational resources in musical activity, small ensemble, to the orchestra as a cognitive system where Kaastra lays the landscape for future research. […] The strength of Kaastra’s book relies on her effective analyses of selected case studies, grounded in an array of theories and methodologies based on a combination of methodological measures. [The] book will be of particular interest to early researchers in the fields of cognitive psychology, music psychology, and performance science. Additionally, it offers insights into the learning and understanding of music, with applications for music education. An original investigation, this book comes recommended." -- Francesca Carpos, Bassoonist, Professor, and Founding Member of the Institute for Social Impact Research in the Performing Arts, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, UK About the Author Linda T. Kaastra has taught courses in cognitive science, music, and discourse studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University. She earned a PhD from UBC’s Individual Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies Program.