This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Tolbert, E. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Music and Meaning: An Evolutionary Story

Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, 1 E. Mt. Vernon, PI. Baltimore, MD 21202, U.S.A.tolbert{at}peabody.jhu.edu

The literature on the evolution of music is quite sparse, and the topic is often mentioned only in passing as part of larger proposals concerning the origin of language and the emergence of modem human cognitive abilities. Although music, no less than language, is a uniquely human behaviour, most evolutionary scenarios either do not mention music at all, or make ethnocentric assumptions concerning the nature of music and its relationship to language, assumptions that are at odds with findings in ethnomusicology concerning the social embeddedness and mutual interdependence of music and language across a wide range of socio-cultural contexts.

This paper attempts to articulate an evolutionarily plausible and socially grounded theory of musical meaning in light of recent proposals concerning the origins of human cognitive abilities. Expanding upon Donald's (1991) suggestion that the capacity for representation evolved prior to the development of language, this paper proposes that music is grounded in a capacity for "mimesis", or motor modelling, and has a social ontology rooted in gesture and preverbal spatio-temporal concepts. Although both music and language evolved from a mimetic capacity, musical meaning retains a distinct link to vocal mimesis through sonic representations of bodily movement and emotional states. This work challenges both structural and cultural accounts of musical meaning by suggesting that music's power is not derived solely from syntactical or semantic referents, arousals and expectancies, or from its indexical relationships to a particular cultural context, but rather through its immediacy as a performance of socio-emotional essence and embodied gesture.

Psychology of Music, Vol. 29, No. 1, 84-94 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/0305735601291006


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Crickmore A Re-Valuation of the Ancient Science of Harmonics Psychology of Music, October 1, 2003; 31(4): 391 - 403. [Abstract] [PDF]

				I. Cross Music, Mind and Evolution Psychology of Music, April 1, 2001; 29(1): 95 - 102. [Abstract] [PDF]