Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception

In the current cognitive theory of music, concepts of Gestalt psychology are referred to in various ways. For example, neurocognitive models of music perception address the formation of auditory Gestalts as a stage in the formation of meaning. However, this view runs counter to central premises of G...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Klotz Sebastian
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Sciendo 2023-08-01
Series:Gestalt Theory
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2023-0014
_version_ 1797387245427097600
author Klotz Sebastian
author_facet Klotz Sebastian
author_sort Klotz Sebastian
collection DOAJ
description In the current cognitive theory of music, concepts of Gestalt psychology are referred to in various ways. For example, neurocognitive models of music perception address the formation of auditory Gestalts as a stage in the formation of meaning. However, this view runs counter to central premises of Gestalt psychology of Carl Stumpf’s school, which precisely did not describe Gestalts as synthesized phenomena. Nevertheless, it is argued here, borrowing from Gestalt concepts can promote current non-reductionist positions. They conceptualize musical perception not in the ways of information theory, but of phenomenology and action theory. Here the theory of affordance developed by J.J. Gibson in close collaboration with his wife Eleanor J. Gibson stands out. It was explicitly introduced into musicological research by Eric Clarke, but without reference to its Gestalt psychological roots. The article explores theories of musical affordance with the help of further methodological tools, which can be assigned to the philosophical schools of direct realism and constructivism. They open up the possibility of a non-cognitivist and non-representational perspective on musical perception. It turns out that Gestalt psychological concepts also have a catalytic effect on the expansion of our understanding of musical perception in this constellation, although this connection has hardly been visible so far.
first_indexed 2024-03-08T22:21:04Z
format Article
id doaj.art-442bcda10dfe41e1b388818fa6ce99fe
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2519-5808
language deu
last_indexed 2024-03-08T22:21:04Z
publishDate 2023-08-01
publisher Sciendo
record_format Article
series Gestalt Theory
spelling doaj.art-442bcda10dfe41e1b388818fa6ce99fe2023-12-18T12:44:55ZdeuSciendoGestalt Theory2519-58082023-08-01451-2658410.2478/gth-2023-0014Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perceptionKlotz Sebastian01Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Medienwissenschaft, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10099Berlin, Germany.In the current cognitive theory of music, concepts of Gestalt psychology are referred to in various ways. For example, neurocognitive models of music perception address the formation of auditory Gestalts as a stage in the formation of meaning. However, this view runs counter to central premises of Gestalt psychology of Carl Stumpf’s school, which precisely did not describe Gestalts as synthesized phenomena. Nevertheless, it is argued here, borrowing from Gestalt concepts can promote current non-reductionist positions. They conceptualize musical perception not in the ways of information theory, but of phenomenology and action theory. Here the theory of affordance developed by J.J. Gibson in close collaboration with his wife Eleanor J. Gibson stands out. It was explicitly introduced into musicological research by Eric Clarke, but without reference to its Gestalt psychological roots. The article explores theories of musical affordance with the help of further methodological tools, which can be assigned to the philosophical schools of direct realism and constructivism. They open up the possibility of a non-cognitivist and non-representational perspective on musical perception. It turns out that Gestalt psychological concepts also have a catalytic effect on the expansion of our understanding of musical perception in this constellation, although this connection has hardly been visible so far.https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2023-0014affordanceecology of perceptionperceptual mediationembodied cognitionrealismenactivism
spellingShingle Klotz Sebastian
Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception
Gestalt Theory
affordance
ecology of perception
perceptual mediation
embodied cognition
realism
enactivism
title Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception
title_full Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception
title_fullStr Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception
title_full_unstemmed Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception
title_short Musical Affordances and the Gestalt Legacy: enriching music perception
title_sort musical affordances and the gestalt legacy enriching music perception
topic affordance
ecology of perception
perceptual mediation
embodied cognition
realism
enactivism
url https://doi.org/10.2478/gth-2023-0014
work_keys_str_mv AT klotzsebastian musicalaffordancesandthegestaltlegacyenrichingmusicperception