Musical groove: body-movement, pleasure and embodied cognition - Maria Witek (University of Birmingham)
Tuesday, 14 May, 2024 - 17:00
What is it about rhythm in music that makes people want to move? And why does moving to the beat feel so good? In this talk, I will review a selection of my research studies focusing on musical groove – defined in psychology as the pleasurable desire to move to a musical beat. Using online surveys, motion-capture and fMRI...
Quantifying musical note usage in major pentatonic ragas - Achintya Prahlad (University of Cambridge)
Tuesday, 30 April, 2024 - 12:00
Indian classical music, including Hindustani music, is based on the concept of rāga. A rāga, while based on or derived from a scale, is not the same thing. It is an aesthetic and grammatical entity somewhat similar to Arabian maqām, Turkish makam and Persian maqām or māye. In Hindustānī music, two or more rāgas can have an...
Absolute pitch training for adults: How effective is the “Melody Triggers” method? - Sam Leak (University of Cambridge)
Tuesday, 23 April, 2024 - 17:00
Despite over a century of research into absolute pitch (AP), musicians and scientists alike still cannot agree on what it is or how it develops. Some researchers hold that it is entirely innate, although there is little compelling evidence for this. Many studies suggest it can be fostered through early musical training...
