Music and Action

Abstract

In this chapter, the relationship between music and action is examined from two perspectives: one where individuals learn to play an instrument, and another where music induces movement in a listener. For both perspectives, we review experimental research, mostly consisting of neuroscientific studies, as well as select behavioral investigations. We first review research examining how learning to play music induces functional coupling between motor and sensory neural processes, which ultimately changes the way in which music is perceived. Next, we review research examining how certain temporal properties of music (such as the rhythm or the beat) induce motor processes in a listener, depending on or irrespective of musical training. The coupling of perceptual and motor processes underpins predictive computations that facilitate the anticipation and adaptation of one's movement to music. Such skills in turn support the capacity to coordinate one's movements with another in the context of joint musical performance. This picture emphasizes how studying the relationship between music and action will ultimately lead us to understand music's powerful social and interpersonal potential.