Psychology and Music

The relationship between psychology and music is characteristic of that between a new science and an established discipline. Western music theory has a very old tradition, dating at least from the time of Pythagoras; and the philosophical underpinnings of this tradition that were established in ancient times. Speculations concerning music may be traced back to very ancient times, but the foundations of Western music theory are generally held to have been laid by Pythagoras. Pythagoras was concerned mostly with the study of musical intervals. In general, the later Greek theorists adhered to the numerological approach of the Pythagoreans. There was, however, a notable exception. Aristoxenus, originally a pupil of the Pythagoreans and later of Aristotle, saw clearly that music cannot be understood by contemplation of mathematical relationships alone. He argued that the study of music should be considered an empirical science and that musical phenomena were basically perceptual and cognitive in nature.