Music Cognition: MUSC 495.02, NSCI 466, NSCI 710.03
Spring 2009: MW 1:00 - 2:15, Nwcb 115

Prof. Barbara Jazwinski
jazwinski at tulane dot edu
x-5251 (voice mail 24 hours a day)
Dixon Annex, room 256
Office hours: M W 10 - 11 AM, or by appointment

Prof. Harry Howard

(504) 862-3417 (voice mail 24 hours a day)
Office hours: MW 2:15 - 3:00 pm, F 1:30-3 pm & by appointment @ Newcomb Hall 322-D
(the link goes to my home page, which displays my Google calendar)
Facebook: friend me!

Objectives:

Outcomes: For you to demonstrate your attainment of of the objectives, you will perform the following tasks:

The final grade for the class will reflect the quality and the creativity of your assignments.

Grade equivalency

89.5-91.4 A-

91.5-100 A

79.5-81.4 B-

81.5-87.4 B

87.5-89.4 B+

69.5-71.4 C-

71.5-77.4 C

77.5-79.4 C+

59.5-61.4 D-

66.5-67.4 D

67.5-69.4 D+

0-59.4 F

 

Prerequisites

Code of Academic Integrity

“The integrity of Newcomb-Tulane College is based on the absolute honesty of the entire community in all academic endeavors. As part of the Tulane University community, students have certain responsibilities regarding work that forms the basis for the evaluation of their academic achievement. Students are expected to be familiar with these responsibilities at all times. No member of the university community should tolerate any form of academic dishonesty, because the scholarly community of the university depends on the willingness of both instructors and students to uphold the Code of Academic Conduct. When a violation of the Code of Academic Conduct is observed it is the duty of every member of the academic community who has evidence of the violation to take action. Students should take steps to uphold the code by reporting any suspected offense to the instructor or the associate dean of the college. Students should under no circumstances tolerate any form of academic dishonesty.” For further information, point your browser at http://college.tulane.edu/code.htm.

Violations of the Code of Academic Integrity will not be tolerated in this class. I will rigorously investigate and pursue any such transgression.

Students with disabilities who need academic accommodation should:

Schedule of readings and assignments, Spring 2009

Main text:
Levitin, 2007, This Is Your Brain on Music: The science of a human obsession [BoM][$17 Amazon]

Other readings
There may be supplementary readings, distributed as pdf files on Blackboard.
{Sacks, 2008, Musicophilia: Tales of music and the brain, Revised and Expanded Edition}
{Mithen, 2006, The Singing Neanderthals: The origins of music, language, mind and body}
{Benzon, 2001, Beethoven's Anvil: Music in mind and culture}

Date
Day
Topic Readings, exercises, etc Projects Slides Recordings
Jan. 12 1 Introduction to the class, What is music? BoM Intro, §1  

14

2
Pitch, timbre BoM §1      

19

  MLK'S BIRTHDAY        

21

3
         

26

4
A theory of music cognition    

28

5
         

Feb. 2

6
Introduction to perception    

4

7
         

9

8
Introduction to the brain's macrostructure and audition    

11

9
   
 
   

16

10
Model of musical processing 1    

18

11
   

 

   

23

  LUNDI GRAS        

25

12
         

Mar. 2

13
The mismatch negativity and the innateness of beat induction    

4

14
   

 

   

9

15
Auditory scene analysis    

11

16
   

 

   

16

17
Expectancy in music I    

18

18
     
 

23-7

 

SPRING BREAK  

 

   

30

19
Expectancy in music II    

April 1

20
Behind the curtain: cognitive neuroscience, perception, illusions; Anticipation: what we expect from Liszt (and Ludacris); Schema, neurotransmitter, EEG, laterality, synasthesia, MRI, Music categorization, constructivist vs. record-keeping memory, prototype, exemplar, PDP, Music & emotion, Musical expertiseFoot tapping: Rhythm, meter, tempo, loudness, harmony BoM §3, §4, §5, 6, §7 §2

 

   

6

21
Rhythm    
8
22
Musical taste BoM §8

 

   
10-13
EASTER BREAK        

15

23
   

 

   

20

24
Rhythm & language    

22

25
         

27

26
Music instinct, Party BoM §9    

May 7

27

(Thurs) Presentation of final projects, 1 - 5

(finals from May 1 - 8)

 
 
 

Other readings

{Levitin, 2008, The World in Six Songs: How the musical brain created human nature}

Stewart, L., von Kriegstein, K., Warren, J. D., & Griffiths, T. D. (2006). Music and the brain: disorders of musical listening. Brain, 129(10), 2533-2553.
Patel, Aniruddh D., and Joseph R. Daniele. “An Empirical Comparison of Rhythm in Language and Music,” Cognition 87.1 (2003): B35-B45.


Go back to Harry Howard's home page

Inception: 12/12/00. Last revision: April 28, 2009. HH