Kansas State University Department
of Music
MUSIC 806
Psychology of Music
Instructor:
Dr. Frederick
Burrack Office:
McCain 228 Phone:
532-5764 fburrack@ksu.edu
Office hours: by appointment
Course
Description:
MUSIC 806 is the
study of the psychological and physical aspects of human musicality and musical
perception. Attention is given to
research, possible applications to the teaching and learning of music, and processes
in the development of musical preference. This course is designed to acquaint
the graduate student in music with a broad field of study including musical
acoustics, perception and cognition of music, music learning, nature and
testing of musical aptitude and achievement, affective response to music,
musical preference, and the functionality of music. Emphasis is placed on reviews of research in these areas and
in-depth study of research in selected areas.
Required
Materials:
Radocy, R. & Boyle, D. (Ed). (2003)
Psychological Foundations of Musical Behavior (4th edition)
Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas
Additional Resources:
Aiello, R. (Ed.) (1994). Musical
perceptions. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Colwell, R. (Ed.) (1992). Handbook of
research in music teaching and learning.
New York: Schirmer.
Hodges, D. (Ed.) (1996). Handbook of music psychology (2nd ed.). University of Texas at San
Antonio: Institute for Music
Research, IMR Press.
Lowry, H. (1966). A
guide to musical acoustics. New York: Dover.
Course Requirements
and Grading:
- All
requirements must be completed in order to pass this course
2. Attendance
is required and directly related to your grade. Check your schedule for the entire semester and notify me of
any possible conflicts, including rehearsals and performances, as it is your
responsibility to foresee conflicts and avoid missing class.
- Be ready to
discuss reading assignments (as assigned) during class. You should make notes on the
readings, citing appropriate page numbers
Research
paper 30
points
Course
Topic Presentation 30
points
Examinations
(2)
Mid-Term 30
points
Final
Exam 30
points
Attendance/
Participation 40
points
Includes class presentations, participation, and
contributions to discussions
Project 40
points
Total Possible = 200 points
Grading
Scale:
A = 180-200 points (90-100%)
B = 160-179 points (80-89%)
C = 140-159 points (70-79%)
D = 120-139 points (60-69%)
F = 0-119 points (0 -59%)
Attendance
Policy: Attendance is a
required component of this course.
Two points will be deducted from your final grade point for each class
absence. One point will be
deducted for each time you are tardy, but do come to class.
Academic
Honesty: Kansas State UniversityÕs Academic
honesty policies govern the formal procedures for handling cheating,
plagiarism, destroying someone elseÕs work, or abetting any of these acts (see
ÒCode of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Student Academic Ethics PolicyÓ).
The
Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: "On my honor, as a
student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic
work." Plagiarism or violations of copyright
policies are also a form of academic dishonesty and are treated as an ethics
violation. You are expected to
research and learn from existing material, but also to give credit to its
source. A grade of XF can
result from a breach of academic honesty.
The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an
Honor Pledge violation.
Participation
Policy: Active participation
is a required component of this course.
Active participation includes: (a) perceptive questions and comments;
(b) active involvement in class activities; (c) uniqueness of contributions
made in class; and (d) assignments completed in a timely manner.
Late
Assignment Policy: Late
assignments will be accepted only under the following condition: any assignment
turned in late will have 10% of its possible points deducted for each day it is
late.
Please Note: Medical emergencies, family emergencies, and personal
disability issues that result in absences and/or late assignments will not
affect your final grade if you have discussed them with me. Missed examinations can be made up only
if due to one of these reasons.
Please contact me if you anticipate an absence. Telephone number and e-mail address are
listed on the first page of this syllabus.
Research
Paper: Purpose: to prepare possible articles for
submission to either the Music Educators Journal, Update, or other relevant music journal.
Your familiarity with these publications will greatly assist you in
developing your research writing style towards these differing audiences. We
will discuss numerous possible topics during class. Choose a focal point or central issue, and after reading the
principle selections, write at least a five-page (double-spaced) paper in which
you (a) state the issue or problem, (b) summarize the main points relating to
it, (c) discuss the implications for music listening, music performance and/or
music education, and, if applicable, (d) suggest means of addressing the issue
or pointing out how you would solve problem(s) involved. A reference page must be included with
the paper.
Course Topic
Presentation: You will
select on of the topics from the course syllabus, prepare the content from the
reading (find relevant research if possible), highlight important issues and
meanings, lead the class discussion.
Prepare a handout for each member of the class as an outline for notes
as well as a study guide for future reference.
Project: Based on a topic of interest, study a
specific field within the psychology of music (e.g., aural perception,
auditory-visual perception and musical behavior, structure of cognition and
music decision-making, developmental theories of music learning, the transfer
of music learning, creative thinking in music) and create a presentation that
includes the following:
a.
Describe the
topic, with a brief history and definition
b.
Identify and
survey the underlying base in psychology
c.
Explain how
this base transfers to music learning/performing situations
d.
Classify and
discuss music-related research
e.
Indicate the
strengths of solutions/relevance to music
f.
Explore
related problems that remain unresolved
g.
Include
anything else relevant that you consider important
h.
Elucidate how
any/all of the above relates to your readings and class discussions in this
course
i.
Relate what
implications are there for music learning and teaching
The project will be
presented in class, using PowerPoint and/or active-learning strategies that may
include cooperative learning, goal-oriented approaches, and enact various
learning theories as appropriate to your topic. You must create a detailed
handout for the class members covering the areas above to accompany the
presentation.
General topic areas for
Paper and Project
Note: These are broad
topic areas only. You can choose
from any other topic of interest. This list is provided merely as a starting
point.