2011/03/01 by Philip Ball · 8 citations
Neuroscience · Computer Science · Psychology · #Neuroscience and Music Perception #Music and Audio Processing #Music Technology and Sound Studies #Tone (literature) #Cognition #Psychology #Cognitive science #Music psychology #Composition (language) #Cognitive psychology #Linguistics #Musicology #Philosophy #Neuroscience
paper · doi:10.1179/030801811x12941390545645
published in Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 36(1), 24-41 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2011/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Atonal compositions based on the 12-tone method devised by Arnold Schoenberg remain, in some cases a century after they were written, largely unpopular with music audiences. Research on the science of music cogni- tion may now offer some clues to why this is. Schoenberg’s method of atonal composition actively undermines some of the basic cognitive princi- ples that allow our brains to turn notes into music. Unless 12-tone music is granted other aids to cognition, it may thus fail to create a cognitively coherent auditory experience, but becomes a mere collection of sounds.