音楽の歴史は有史以前まで遡ることができるとされ、歴史や文化的視点からの研究はこれまでも多くなされてきました。近年は人の「心」との関わりで音楽を理解・解明しようとする研究が急速に進み、これが「音楽心理学」として知られるようになりました。音楽が人を感極まらせたり、踊り出させたり、手を叩いたりしたくさせるのはなぜ？ 音楽がジムでトレーニングする気を高めてくれる仕組みは？ 流行りの音楽が頭の中をぐるぐる回り続けるのはなぜ？ 音楽認知の専門家が最新の学識を踏まえ解説します。
 

• As an author acclaimed on both sides of the humanities-sciences divide, Margulis provides the kind of sensitive analysis that opens up the field to readers with diverse backgrounds, and readers who simply have a love for music
• Considers the very latest, up-the-minute research in the cognitive science of music
• Chronicles not only the potential of the psychology of music, but also its pitfalls, in hopes of advancing the field and its relationship with other modes of thinking about music

　
Music has been examined from multiple perspectives: as a product of human history, for example, or a product of human culture. But there is also a long tradition, intensified in recent decades, of thinking about music as a product of the human mind. Whether considering composition, performance, listening, or appreciation, the constraints and capabilities of the human mind play a formative role. The field that has emerged around this approach is known as the psychology of music. 

Written in a lively and accessible manner, this volume connects the science to larger questions about music that are of interest to practicing musicians, music therapists, musicologists, and the general public alike. For example: Why can one musical performance move an audience to tears, and another compel them to dance, clap, or snap along? How does a "pump up" playlist motivate someone at the gym? And why is that top-40 song stuck in everyone's head?