Music

Music is more than just a sequence of sounds, but an active cultural design process that has evolved in human evolution. Listening as well as the vocal and instrumental production of sounds are essential components of human culture. Across all cultures, there are various universal characteristics of music, and its functions are identical despite different culture-specific musical expressions. This chapter presents a cultural psychology of music, dealing with the interpretation of sounds, silence, noises, or clamor, depending on the cultural context. The cultural understanding of listening experiences is illustrated using the example of some compositions by John Cage. Music can be understood as a fundamental human expression within a semiotic system of sounds.