Musical Imagery

Musical imagery – the mental experience of music – is a common occurrence for both musical experts and nonexperts alike. A diverse range of experiences can be classified as musical imagery, from the replaying of a tune in a listener's head after hearing it on the radio to a composer conjuring up the next notes of a new symphony. Overall, research in this domain has indicated that incidences of musical imagery often replicate a perceptual experience with a high degree of fidelity, and similar neural resources are recruited in both music perception and imagery. The diversity and fidelity of musical imagery experiences can be affected by expertise, suggesting imaginative processes related to music may be developed through dedicated, long-term practice. Both everyday and expert experiences of musical imagery can vary widely in terms of both intentionality and modality of recall, with some episodes comprising aspects of auditory, motor, and visual imagery. Implications for our understanding of creativity and suggestions for cross-disciplinary approaches to integrating psychological research findings with creative practice are discussed.