Musical Illusions and Phantom Words

Diana Deutsch, a renowned expert on the psychology of music, explores how illusions of music and speech alter our understanding of the brain. She reveals that people hear musical patterns differently, reflecting variations in brain organization and language influences. Deutsch examines questions such as the real music during an orchestra performance, the rarity of perfect pitch, hallucinations, earworms, and the intertwined nature of music and speech. The book offers striking and paradoxical illusions that require hearing to believe.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 07 February 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

In this groundbreaking synthesis of art and science, Diana Deutsch, one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of music, reveals how illusions of music and speech, many of which she herself discovered, have fundamentally altered our understanding of the brain. These astonishing illusions demonstrate that people can differ remarkably in how they hear musical patterns, differences that reflect variations in brain organization as well as influences of language on music perception. Drawing on a wide range of fields, including psychology, music theory, linguistics, and neuroscience, Deutsch examines questions such as: When an orchestra performs a symphony, what is the real music? Is it in the mind of the composer, the conductor, or different members of the audience? Deutsch also explores extremes of musical ability and other surprising responses to music and speech. Why is perfect pitch so rare? Why do some people hallucinate music or speech? Why do we hear phantom words and phrases? Why are we subject to stuck tunes, or earworms? Why do we hear a spoken phrase as sung just because it is presented repeatedly? In evaluating these questions, she also shows how music and speech are intertwined, and argues that they stem from an early form of communication that had elements of both. Many of the illusions described in the book are so striking and paradoxical that you need to hear them to believe them. The book enables you to listen to the sounds that are described while reading about them.

In this groundbreaking synthesis of art and science, Diana Deutsch, one of the world's leading experts on the psychology of music, reveals how illusions of music and speech, many of which she herself discovered, have fundamentally altered our understanding of the brain. These astonishing illusions demonstrate that people can differ remarkably in how they hear musical patterns, differences that reflect variations in brain organization as well as influences of language on music perception. Drawing on a wide range of fields, including psychology, music theory, linguistics, and neuroscience, Deutsch examines questions such as: When an orchestra performs a symphony, what is the real music? Is it in the mind of the composer, the conductor, or different members of the audience? Deutsch also explores extremes of musical ability and other surprising responses to music and speech. Why is perfect pitch so rare? Why do some people hallucinate music or speech? Why do we hear phantom words and phrases? Why are we subject to stuck tunes, or earworms? Why do we hear a spoken phrase as sung just because it is presented repeatedly? In evaluating these questions, she also shows how music and speech are intertwined, and argues that they stem from an early form of communication that had elements of both. Many of the illusions described in the book are so striking and paradoxical that you need to hear them to believe them. The book enables you to listen to the sounds that are described while reading about them.

Weight: 376g
Dimension: 153 x 235 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197672280