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Why We Love Music
PREFACE
The magazine, Time, commenting on my new book, ThePsychology of Music[A], spoke approvingly of the scientific contributionsto music, but gibed that, "psychologists have not explainedwhy we love music." As a reply to that I wrote a note, Why DoWe Love Music?[B] This seemed to call for a wider excursion implementingthe views there taken, as in the present Chapter I.That, in turn, led to the writing of the remainder of this volume,in which each chapter deals with some of the salient factors involvedin the development of feeling for music.
These ventures digress from my habitual style of writing, as atechnical psychologist, in that I frequently indulge in generalizationsand predictions in a practical and popular vein. The attemptto interpret and evaluate present tendencies in the region offorward movements in music naturally takes me into unexploredterritory and will stimulate questioning on the part of promotersof various interest in the field. I hold no brief for infallibility ofthe positions taken, except to say that they are my convictionsat the present moment. While they are not direct reports ofscientific experiments in the laboratory or the studio, they maybe regarded as an extension or interpretation based upon scientificexperiments and observations. It is hoped that they may serveas hypotheses or at least a challenge for investigation and practicaltrial. The reader must judge what is new and what is truefrom his point of view. Many of the things I advocate are in anexperimental stage and in advance of current prevailing practice.