ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a development in research that investigates the role of emotions in the music listening process—do emotions influence the way we perceive and remember music. It focuses on emotions in response to Western tonal music, in particular "classical" music, as this has been the central domain for music and emotion research and deals with film music. Feeling the emotion expressed in music can occur through a process of "emotional contagion"—one of the mechanisms included in P. Juslin and D. Vastfjall's review on emotion induction in music listening. Interactions between emotion and cognition are well evidenced outside of the musical domain. Emotion in music has attracted considerable research attention and this body of research continues to grow. The complexity of emotion induction by music is amplified further by the interrelationships and interactions between different processes. The example of experiencing sad music highlights contextual nature of emotional responses to music, in addition to feeling the emotion expressed in the music.
