[The Psychology of Music] is a vivid account of a theoretically intricate field, rich in pertinent examples. Margulis's excellent survey may be read as an invitation to be more open to other fields of investigation and disciplines that approach the field of musicology. (Psychology of 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?

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis is Professor and Director of the Music Cognition Lab at the University of Arkansas. Her book On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind (2013) won the Wallace Berry Award from the Society for Music Theory and the Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. She has been a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation.