Conclusion

This chapter reflects where the interdisciplinary field of applied musicology sits in relation to other modes of thinking used in music education and music psychology research, where a variety of methodologies have been used. It is argued that these can helpfully be conceptualised in terms of the Sounds of Intent framework – as pertaining to Level 3, 4 or 5. Each has different implications for the nature of the cognitive processing involved, particularly in terms of memory. Different strategies for eliciting information about listeners’ engagement with music, from the traditional paradigm of eliciting retrospective verbal responses to the more contemporary measurement of neurological activity, are shown to be variously effective at different levels. ‘Applied musicology’ forms a distinct subset of such approaches, which uses data pertaining to the fabric of music itself to interrogate our understanding and appreciation of music, and to gauge intentionality and patterns of interaction in improvisation. It is noted that the capacity of particular groups of people, including some children on the autism spectrum, to interact musically may offer a unique window onto their thinking, given issues in language production.