Empirical Musicology provides a much-needed survey of scientific, quantitative approaches to the study of music. It is typically English in its emphasis on data gathering and analysis rather than theory building. Distinguished authors contribute chapters to a broad range of musical disciplines, including ethnographic and sociological investigations, the study of musical performance, computational modeling of musical structures, and psychoacoustics.
Fred Lerdahl, Fritz Reiner Professor of Music, Columbia University
Empirical Musicology manages to fulfill three important functions. It provides a comprehensive review of the historical development of empirical approaches within musicology. It functions as a how to primer for anyone wishing to get started in the field. Above all, it adopts a critical yet positive approach to empirical work, discussing both potentials and limitations, and showing how quantification and measurement may enhance and clarify the task of musical interpretation and understanding. It will be useful not only to musicologists, but to researchers in any discipline which engages in systematic study of music..
John Sloboda, Unit for the Study of Musical Skill and Development, Keele University, UK