The Developmental Psychology of Music

David J. Hargreaves (Author)

9780521314152, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 December 1986

272 pages, 19 b/w illus. 8 tables 14 music examples
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.5 cm, 0.44 kg

This book sets out the psychological basis of musical development in children and adults. The study has two major objectives: to review the research findings, theories and methodologies relevant to the developmental study of music; and to offer a framework within which these can be organised so as to pave the way for future research. It describes the relationship between thinking and music, and discusses the relationship between thinking and music in pre-schoolers and schoolchildren in areas such as singing, aesthetic appreciation, rhythmic and melodic development, and the acquisition of harmony and tonality. The book describes the development of musical taste, and discusses the questions of musical creativity, and of the social psychology of musical taste and fashion. As a comprehensive study of the links between developmental psychology and music education, Hargreaves' work demonstrates the practical and theoretical importance of psychological research on the process underlying children's musical perception, cognition and performance.

Preface
1. The developmental psychology of music
2. Children's thinking and musical development
3. Musical development in the preschooler
4. Musical development in the schoolchild
5. Development of responses to music
6. Creativity, personality, and musical development
7. Social psychology and musical development
8. Development psychology and music education
References
Author index
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]