Peter Keller

The proposed research entails work on a book manuscript on Human Interaction Through Music: Psychological & Social Foundations of Group Music-Making. The central thesis of the book is that group music making, as exemplified by musical ensemble performance, is a microcosm of human interaction. Participation in collective musical activities draws upon a broad spectrum of sensory, perceptual, cognitive, motor, and social processes that support other forms of collaborative behaviour in everyday life. In fleshing out this idea, I will adopt an interdisciplinary approach that brings together research from fields within psychology, neuroscience, and the humanities (including empirical musicology, ethnomusicology, and anthropology). Documenting and synthesising different theoretical approaches and empirical findings will provide a repository of knowledge that can further our understanding of an ancient form of human social communication, one that is quite likely the oldest surviving means of fostering group cohesion and communicating one group’s collective intentions and feelings to other groups. This knowledge will also inform practices related to group musical activity in the context of education, as well as the use of music to promote health and wellbeing in daily life and in clinical settings.

The book is structured in three parts. The first part will deal with the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of musical interaction by defining the concept, discussing the forms it takes across cultures, and the evolutionary conditions that may have led to its genesis. A historical overview of research related to musical interaction will also be given in this part. The second part will address how musical interaction works from psychological, social, and neurophysiological perspectives. The third part will delineate pedagogical implications and clinical applications, and conclude with a section that presents a synthesis of the main ideas presented in the book.