Music Theory as Cognitive Science: Some Conceptual and Methodological Issues

Abstract

Arguments in favor of a cognitive-scientific approach to music theory based on the following conceptual and methodological distinctions are presented: (1) external (physical) vs. internal (perceptual and cognitive) musical realities and (2) music theories that account for what a given (internal) musical reality is ("what-theories") vs. music theories that account for how this musical reality is constructed by the listener on the basis of some external (physical) stimulus ("how-theories").