MUSIC 1212

Music on the Brain

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025.

This course is for anyone who listens to music or plays music and wonders what's happening in your brain that makes you feel the way you do. Starting with the music each of you knows and loves—the soundtrack to your life—we'll tackle questions like: What is the relationship between speech and music? Do animals have music, too? How does the brain process aspects of music, including rhythm, melody, harmony, and form? Why does some music trigger an emotional response? What does it mean to say that music is an embodied behavioral act? What is the relationship between music and memory? Through lectures, discussions, experiments, compositions, recording technologies, student presentations/performances and writing assignments we'll explore how/why you've chosen the particular tunes on the soundtrack of your life, and how your brain processes musical thoughts and experiences.

When Offered Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: first- and second-year students.

Distribution Category (ALC-AS) (CA-AG, LA-AG)
Course Subfield (HC)

Comments Students may also enroll in MUSIC 1213, an optional 1 credit field study.

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