Nature article

Nature Magazine has recently published a series of essays about science and music. In total 9 essays were produced by leading figures in the field of music. The final essay was written by my supervisor John Sloboda. The article argues why it is impossible to study the influence of music on human beings in lab situations, and John argues why the best way to study the influence of music on thoughts and feelings is through diary studies, or experience sampling methods, followed by interviews. John also explains that we generally put too much trust in the effect of music on our life. We often refer to music as being a magic pill, while in fact music can help us to alter our mood and emotion to a certain extend, but exspecially in extreme situations, this can be hard to do.

This essay of John hints to my study in several ways which I will not point out here. I guess you will just all have to wait for my publications about my study to see. What I can say is that I am very thankfull to John to provide a reference in such a respectable place to back up the things I am doing.

On the nature site you can also find a podcast with John Sloboda about this topic.