What do we remember about a tune?

Abstract: When we hear a piece of music, we detect and occasionally remember motifs, themes, phrases, syncopations, and cadences. We recognize the instrument playing the melody, and even identify with the particular musician’s emotions. To this end, what exactly is the nature of mental representations underlying the musical experience? In this talk, I will discuss this question in relation to indexical – namely timbre and articulation – effects in melody recognition memory.

Stephen Wee Hun Lim, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
National University of Singapore