ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores different ways in which practitioners can use research by authors who are all both performing musicians and researchers. It defines the ways in which psychological techniques and findings can be applied to the practitioner's work. The book argues that music colleges and conservatoires are ideal locations to investigate practical music. It discusses research data that rely on the opinions of the students. The book focuses around perception and cognition that are explored from very different perspectives and examines how the performer and listener can help the psycho-acoustician to understand how mental operations in perceiving musical pitches might occur. It provides the reader with an engaging and important exploration of music research relevant to the music practitioner and demonstrates several different empirical approaches to collecting and analysing data.
