onlincourse

Music Moves: Why Does Music Make You Move?

Learn about the psychology of music and movement and how researchers study music-related body motion in this free online course.

Duration

6 weeks

Weekly study

3 hours

100% online

How it works

Unlimited subscription

Learn more

Learn about why and how music makes you move.

Music is movement—a bold statement that we will explore together in this free online course.

Together we will study music through different types of body motion. This includes everything from sound-producing keyboard actions to energetic dance moves.

You will learn about the theoretical foundations of embodied music cognition and why the body is crucial for how we experience the emotional moods in music. We will also explore different research methods, including advanced motion capture systems and sound analysis methods.

You will be guided by a group of music researchers from the University of Oslo, with musical examples from four professional musicians. The course is rich in high-quality text, images, video, audio and interactive elements.

Join us to learn more about terms such as entrainment and musical metaphors and why it is challenging to sit still when you experience a good groove.

Week 1
Introduction & History
- Welcome to Music Moves
  Let's get started! First you will get to know the educators and then you can introduce yourself to your fellow learners.
- Historical Overview
  A brief historical overview on how the listening experience has evolved.
- Music-Related Body Movement
  When talking about music we need a agree on the same concepts to avoid misunderstandings. In this video we start off with an introduction to key terminology.
- Introduction to Research Methods
  There are many different approaches and methods available when studying music.
- A wrap-up of Week 1
  What have we learnt so far this week and what lies ahead?
Week 2
Perception & Performers
- Welcome to Week 2
  An introduction to Week 2
- Perception & Cognition
  How do we experience music? Here you will learn about the psychological foundations for what we call "embodied music cognition".
- Sound-Producing Actions
  Here we explore the different types of actions that can produce sound: impulsive, sustained and iterative.
- Sound and Movement Analysis
  What types of methods can be used to study music and movement? Here we will explore computer-based sound analysis and get an overview of qualitative movement analysis.
- A wrap-up of Week 2
  What have we learnt so far this week and what lies ahead?
Week 3
Multimodality & Mocap
- Welcome to Week 3
  An introduction to Week 3.
- Multimodality
  Music is not only about listening with our ears. In fact, all our senses and modalities are involved when we experience music. This is what we often refer to as "multimodal" perception.
- More music-related movements
  When a pianist presses the pedals on the piano, she modifies the sound. Here we look at such sound-modifying actions and other types of non-sound-producing movements.
- Motion Capture
  Researchers often use various types of technologies for recording and measuring music-related body movement. Here we will explore different types of quantitative analysis methods and look into a musical motion capture lab.
- A wrap-up of Week 3
  What have we learnt so far this week and what lies ahead?
Week 4
Pulse & Perceivers
- Welcome to Week 4
  An introduction to Week 4.
- Pulse and Entrainment
  We will have a closer look at musical pulse, and the term entrainment
- Perceivers
  The movements of perceivers can be described using many of the same terms as for performers' movements
- Mobile Motion Capture
  Motion capture does not have to take place in a dedicated laboratory. Certain technologies are more suited than others for capturing outside the lab.
- Peer review
  You will use what you have learned so far in the course to write a short text on the role of multimodality in perception.
- A wrap-up of Week 4
  What have we learnt so far this week and what lies ahead?
Week 5
Groove & Gestures
- Welcome to Week 5
  An introduction to Week 5.
- Groove
  When does music groove and how can you identify a groove? Is it the groove that makes you move?
- Gestures and Coarticulation
  These terms *gesture* and *coarticulation* are key to understand how music and movement are related.
- Video Analysis
  Video recordings are important in movement analysis.
- A wrap-up of Week 5
  What have we learnt so far this week and what lies ahead?
Week 6
Emotion & Motion
- Welcome to Week 6
  An introduction to Week 6.
- Bodily Metaphors
  Is there only a word-like connection between emotion and motion, and how are these connected to music?
- Biosensors and NIME
  Biosensors are used to measure physiological signals in the body. Both biosensors and the various types of motion capture technology we have looked at so far can be used in developing new interfaces for musical expression (NIME).
- A wrap-up of Week 6
  What have we learnt during this course and will you be more moved by music in the future?