ABSTRACT

This chapter explores the relationships between music, emotion and learning. Learning is a process that has content (curriculum) and form (pedagogy) however it is a common assumption that the links between musical development and emotional development lie solely in the content of music learning. This chapter critiques the notion that emotional development occurs as a result of engagement with emotional content embedded within music, and suggests that it is not the type of music or musical activity that is learnt, rather it is the way that music is learnt that gives rise to emotional development.