The Science-Music Borderlands

Interdisciplinary essays on music psychology that integrate scientific, humanistic, and artistic ways of knowing in transformative ways.

Researchers using scientific methods and approaches to advance our understanding of music and musicality have not yet grappled with some of the perils that humanistic fields concentrating on music have long articulated. In this edited volume, established and emerging researchers—neuroscientists and cognitive scientists, musicians, historical musicologists, and ethnomusicologists—build bridges between humanistic and scientific approaches to music studies, particularly music psychology. Deftly edited by Elizabeth H. Margulis, Psyche Loui, and Deirdre Loughridge, The Science-Music Borderlands embodies how sustained interaction among disciplines can lead to a richer understanding of musical life.

The essays in this volume provide the scientific study of music with its first major reckoning, exploring the intellectual history of the field and its central debates, while charting a path forward.
The Science-Music Borderlands is essential reading for music scholars from any disciplinary background. It will also interest those working at the intersection of music and science, such as music teachers, performers, composers, and music therapists.

Contributors:
Manuel Anglada-Tort, Salwa El-Sawan Castelo-Branco, Hu Chuan-Peng, Laura K. Cirelli, Alexander W. Cowan, Jonathan De Souza, Diana Deutsch, Diandra Duengen, Sarah Faber, Steven Feld, Shinya Fujii, Assal Habibi, Erin. E. Hannon, Shantala Hegde, Beatriz Ilari, Jason Jabbour, Nori Jacoby, Haley E. Kragness, Grace Leslie, Casey Lew-Williams, Deirdre Loughridge, Psyche Loui, Diana Mangalagiu, Elizabeth H. Margulis, Randy McIntosh, Rita McNamara, Eduardo Reck Miranda, Daniel Müllensiefen, Rachel Mundy, Florence Ewomazino Nweke, Patricia Opondo, Aniruddh D. Patel, Andrea Ravignani, Carmel Raz, Matthew Sachs, Marianne Sarfati, Patrick E. Savage, Huib Schippers, Jim Sykes, Gary Tomlinson, Jamal Williams, Maria A. G. Witek, Pamela ZAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1

I Beyond Nature vs. Nurture 
Volume editors
1 Human Musicality and Gene-Culture Coevolution: Ten Concepts to Guide Productive Exploration 15
Aniruddh D. Patel
2 Musical Meaning in Transspecies Perspective: A Semiotic Model 39
Gary Tomlinson
3 Cross-Species Research in Biomusicality: Methods, Pitfalls, and Prospects 57
Diandra Duengen, Marianne Sarfati, and Andrea Ravignani
4 Humane Treatment, Sound Experiments 97
Rachel Mundy

Interlude
5 Of Sound Minds and Tuning Forks: Neuroscience's Vibratory Histories 115
Carmel Raz

II Beyond Music as a Window into the Mind
Volume editors
6 Music, Mind, Body and World 135
Jonathan De Souza
7 Rhythmis Entrainment and Embodied Cognition 161
Maria A. G. Witek
8 The Musical Mind: Perspectives from Developmental Science 183
Haley E. Kragness, Erin E. Hannon, and Laura K. Cirelli
9 The Science of Music Is about Relations 203
Jim Sykes

Interlude
10 Toward Neurotechnology for Musical Creativity 221
Eduardo Reck Miranda

III Beyond Reductionism
Volume editors
11 Combating Reductionism in Music Neuroscience with Ecologically Valid Paradigms: What Can (and Cannot) Be Gained? 239
Jamal Williams and Matthew Sachs
12 Hidden Repertoires in the Brain Accessed by Music in Aging and Neurodegeneration 263
Sarah Faber and Randy McIntosh
13 Composing at the Border of Experimental Music and Music Experiment 277
Grace Leslie

Interludes
14 Music Theory and Experimental Science 291
Diana Deutsch
15 Conversation with Pamela Z 303
Pamela Z, Psyche Loui, and Deirdre Loughridge

IV Beyond Musicians and Nonmusicians 
Volume editors
16 "The Musical Mind Is the Normal Mind": Remaking Musicianship for Eugenics 315
Alexander W. Cowan
17 The Musician-Nonmusician Conundrum and Developmental Music Research 329
Beatriz Ilari and Assal Habibi
18 Building Sustainable Global Collaborative Networks: Recommendations from Music Studies and the Social Sciences 347
Patrick E. Savage, Nori Jacoby, Elizabeth H. Margulis, Hideo Daikoku, Manuel Anglada-Tort, Salwa El-Sawan Castelo-Branco, Florence Ewomazino Nweke, Shinya Fuji, Shantala Hegde, Hu Chuan-Peng, Jason Jabbour, Casey Lew-Williams, Diana Mangalagiu, Rita McNamara, Daniel Mullensiefen, Patricia Opondo, Aniruddh D. Patel, and Huib Schippers
19 Conversations with Steven Feld 367 
Steven Feld, Nori Jacoby, Deirdre Loughridge, Psyche Loui, and Elizabeth H. Margulis

List of Contributors 385
Index 389"[H]ighly recommended for all scholars, in both the humanities and the sciences, who are ready to face, probe, and move beyond conceptual, methodological, and institutional rifts in pursuing earnest interdisciplinary collaborations in music studies. It invites researchers to engage in critical reflections on their own methodologies and problematize concepts that were previously accepted without scrutiny."
—Twentieth-Century Music

"[T]his forward-looking volume conjures a fantastically thought-provoking vision of music scholarship and science....A reminder that the study of music is a collective enterprise, nourished by scientific, humanistic, and aesthetic modes of expertise originating from a multitude of lives and experiences."
—Music & Science

"The Science-Music Borderlands stands as a pioneering and brave effort in defining the landscape of music and music studies. Transcending traditional academic disciplines, the book advocates for an interdisciplinary synthesis that interweaves music with scientific and cultural threads. This work emphasizes the lively interplay between music and human cognition, culture, and environment, directing us to view music not as an isolated thing but as a vibrant, multi-dimensional phenomenon. Its insightful exploration challenges preconceived notions, beckoning us towards a more enriched, inclusive understanding of music’s role in the tapestry of human experience."
—Social Epistemology Review and Reply CollectiveElizabeth H. Margulis is Professor and Director of the Music Cognition Lab at Princeton University. She is the author of On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind and The Psychology of Music: A Very Short Introduction. Psyche Loui is Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Music, Imaging, and Neural Dynamics Lab at Northeastern University. Deirdre Loughridge is Associate Professor of Music at Northeastern University. She is the author of Haydn's Sunrise, Beethoven's Shadow: Audiovisual Culture and the Emergence of Musical Romanticism.