Music Cognition

Although we do not offer a PhD in music cognition, students with interests in music cognition are encouraged to pursue graduate study at Eastman/UR. This can be done either through the PhD program in music theory at Eastman, or through the PhD program in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester. Students accepted into one of these PhD programs may design an interdepartmental PhD that combines coursework in both music theory and BCS and a jointly advised dissertation on a music-cognitive topic.

Students in Eastman’s theory PhD program have great flexibility in designing their own programs of study, and those with interests in music cognition are encouraged to pursue them. Students take graduate-level courses in the Brain and Cognitive Sciences department, and BCS faculty serve on dissertation committees. The theory department’s graduate-level course offerings include two courses in music cognition: a broad survey course entitled “Music and the Mind” (MTH 260), and a research-focused proseminar (MTH 560). The theory department’s Music Research Laboratory has a dedicated room for music perception/cognition experiments. For further information, contact David Temperley (dtemperley@esm.rochester.edu).

Visit the theory department’s website »»

The Brain & Cognitive Sciences department welcomes graduate and undergraduate students with interests in music, especially those wishing to explore connections between music and other areas of cognitive science, such as language, perception, and learning and development. At the graduate level, the department provides training in behavioral, computational, and neural approaches to the study of perception, cognition, and language. Students with interests in music cognition are encouraged to take courses at Eastman and work with Eastman faculty. For further information, contact Elise Piazza (elise.piazza@gmail.com), who joined the BCS faculty in 2020. Dr. Piazza’s research studies the cognitive neuroscience of auditory and music perception and communication across the lifespan. Learn more about her research at www.elisepiazza.com.

Visit the BCS website »»

The undergraduate curriculum in the School of Arts & Sciences and Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences requires that students choose a major in one of three areas—Humanities, Natural Sciences, or Social Sciences—and complete a “cluster” in each of the other two disciplines. It is now possible to complete a cluster in any of these three areas that includes coursework in music cognition (learn more about undergraduate clusters). Students may also minor in music cognition as a Natural Science (learn more). The Brain & Cognitive Sciences B.A. degree program offers an undergraduate “track” on “Music Cognition and Language” (learn more); the department also offers an undergraduate survey course on music cognition.

The music cognition symposium now has its own web page!

The following list is a sampling of recent publications and conference presentations in music cognition by people at the University of Rochester and Eastman.

• Matt Chiu & Noah Kahrs (2021). “Chord Spacing and Quality: Lessons from Timbre Research.” Presented at the New York Society for Music Theory Annual Meeting and the Future Directions of Music Cognition Conference.
• Braden Maxwell, Jo Fritzinger, and Laurel Carney (2021). “A new auditory theory and its implications for timbre.” Future Directions of Music Cognition Conference.
• Ethan Lustig and Ivan Tan (2020). “All about that bass: Audio filters on basslines determine groove and liking in electronic dance music.” Psychology of Music 48(6), 861-875.
• David Temperley (2019). “Uniform information density in music.” Music Theory Online, 25.2.
• Lissa Reed, Braden Maxwell, & David Temperley (2019). “Cognitive coupling between stress and meter.” Society for Music Perception and Cognition Annual Meeting, New York University.
• Betsy Marvin, Hannah Dick, Charles Babb, & Anne Luebke (2019). “Validation of a Paired-Comparison Speech-In-Noise Test Against the HINT Test: Effects of Musical Training and Musical Aptitude on Auditory Filtering Abilities.” Society for Music Perception and Cognition Annual Meeting, New York University.
• David Temperley (2017). “Rhythmic Variability in European Vocal Music.” Music Perception 35, 193-99.
• Adam Waller & David Temperley (2016). “Rhythmic complexity in rap.” Poster presented at the International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition, San Francisco.
• David Temperley, Amanda Yung, & Celeste Kidd (2016). “Effects of Range and Proximity on Liking for Melodies.” International Conference for Music Perception and Cognition, San Francisco.
• James Sullivan and Elizabeth West Marvin (2015). “Categorical perception of irregular rhythms.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Nashville.
• Elizabeth West Marvin, Joseph vanderStel, & Joseph Siu (2015). “A qualitative study of absolute pitch perception.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Nashville.
• David Temperley, Adam Waller, & Trevor de Clercq, “Changes in Rock Harmony, 1950-2010.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Nashville.
• Joseph VanderStel (2013). “Tonal ambiguity between relative keys.” Milestones in Music Cognition Conference, McGill University.
• Daphne Tan (2013). “Ernst Kurth at the Boundary of Music Theory and Psychology.” Music Theory Midwest Conference.
• Joseph Siu (2013). “Perception of the Tritone Paradox among Cantonese and Mandarin Speakers.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Ryerson University.
• Joseph Siu (2013). “Psychological Limits on Rhythm and Meter.” Graduate Student Workshop, Society for Music Theory.
• David Temperley & Trevor de Clercq (2013). “Statistical Analysis of Harmony and Melody in Rock Music.” <i.Journal of New Music Research 42, 187-204.
• David Temperley & Daphne Tan (2013). “Emotional Connotations of Diatonic Modes.” Music Perception 30, 237-57.
• Andrew Aziz (2011). “Debussy’s ‘Hommage a Haydn,’ Ravel’s ‘Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn’, and the Probabilistic Key-Finding Model.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Jenine Brown (2011). “The Psychological Representation of Musical Intervals in a Twelve-Tone Context.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Keturah Bixby, Joyce McDonough, & Betsy Marvin (2011). “Perceptual grouping: The influence of auditory experience.” Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Katie Cox (2011). “Playing in a Dialect: a Comparison of English and American Vowels and Trombone Timbres.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Robert Hasegawa (2011). “An Acoustic Model for Chord Voicings in Post-Tonal Music.” Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Elizabeth Marvin & Elissa Newport (2011). “The Absolute Pitch Continuum: Evidence of Incipient AP in Musical Amateurs.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Alice Asako Matsumoto & Caroline Marcum (2011). “The Relationship Between Music Aptitude and the Ability to Discriminate Tone Contours in the Cantonese Language.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Andrew Snow & Heather Chan (2011). “Linguistic Influences on Rhythmic Preference in the Music of Bartok.” Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• Daphne Tan (2011). “Past and present conceptions of music in the mind: An introduction to Ernst Kurth’s Musikpsychologie.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• David Temperley (2011). “A Bayesian Theory of Musical Pleasure.” Society for Music Perception and Cognition Annual Meeting, Rochester.
• David Temperley and Trevor de Clercq (2011). “Key-finding Algorithms for Popular Music.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.
• David Temperley & Daphne Tan (2011). “The Emotional Connotations of Diatonic Modes.” Biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Rochester.

• Joseph VanderStel. 2021. “The Evolution of Syncopation in 20th-Century Popular Music.” (Advisor: David Temperley)
• Ethan Lustig. 2021. “The Effect of Perceived Complexity and Formal Location on Musical Preference.” (Advisor: David Temperley)
• Adam Waller. 2016. “Rhythmic Complexity in Rap.” (Advisor: David Temperley)
• Andrew Flowers. 2013. “The Rhythm of the Polyphonic Conductus: a computational model and its implications”. (Advisor: David Temperley)
• Daphne Tan. 2012. “Ernst Kurth at the Boundary of Music Theory and Psychology.” (Advisor: Robert Wason)
• Kelly Francis. 2011. “Attention and Multi-Part Music.” (Advisor: David Temperley)
• Christopher Bartlette. 2007. “A Study of Harmonic Distance and Its Role in Musical Performance.” (Advisor: David Temperley)
• Panayotis Mavromatis. 2005. “The Echoi of Modern Greek Church Chant in Written and Oral Transmission: A Computational Model and its Cognitive Implications.” (Advisor: Matthew Brown)
• Gavin P. Chuck. 2004. “Toward a Cognitive Theory of Musical Meaning.” (Advisor: Robert Wason)
• Scott Spiegelberg. 2002. “The Psychoacoustics of Musical Articulation.” 2002. (Advisors: Dave Headlam and Elizabeth Marvin)
• Nancy Rogers. 2000. “The Role of Verbal Encoding in Musical Memory.” (Advisor: Elizabeth Marvin)