
Research
The Human Faculty for Music - What's special about it?
In this cross-disciplinary project I have been seeking to describe a "narrow faculty for music" - qualities and/or capabilities that are at once universally present and operational in music across cultures whilst also being specific to our species and to the domain of music. I have suggested that configurations of musical pulse; musical tone; and musical motivation provide a particular and sustained attentional structure for managing personal experience and interpersonal/group interaction - they offer a continually renewing phenomenological link between the immediate past, the perceptual present and future expectation [see 2021.pdf]. Music’s unique “design features” are therefore considered as a quasi-architectural framework in which our most central affective and socio-intentional drives are afforded extended time, stability, and a degree of abstraction, intensity, focus and meaning. Crucially, this perspective has many important implications for our understanding of broad issues on music psychology, health; culture; communication; attention; therapy; and cognition. Interested readers can read the introduction here [Intro.pdf] while the full exposition of my thoughts on this topic is available in my PhD thesis [see PhD.pdf]. Extending from previous publications [see 2006.pdf; 2009.pdf; 2012.pdf], I also plan (funding dependent! ;-)) to prepare a précis of my main arguments in article form, targeting publication and peer commentary in Behavioural Brain Sciences (CUP) - 'the musical moment' - for a wider and more general readership [see RP.pdf below].

Sensorimotor Harmonisation
I am keen to move into more practical/experimental research areas and am, hence, currently enrolled (PT/DL) on the MSc course in Experimental Psychology at the University of Nottingham. The project described above highlighted some critical gaps in our understanding of pitch and harmony in musical interaction and in related comparative analyses. One particular approach I am therefore proposing is a new experimental paradigm for investigating pitch matching and correction mechanisms in music. My psychophysiological study of pitch perception and production in humans and other animals [PhD.pdf Chapter 3] suggests that this missing experimental paradigm will contribute to our broad understandings of music in evolution, social interaction, perception-action coupling, volitional control of vocalisation, and the psychology of musical harmony. I am currently considering some initial pilot studies and will be keeping my eye open for funding/research positions to run more extensive experiments . More details are available here [RP.pdf].

Publications
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Bispham, J.C. (in preparation). The Human Faculty for Music: What's special about it? (Precis). To be submitted to Behavioural Brain Sciences (Cambridge University Press).
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Bispham, J.C. (2021). Music, Evolution and the Experience of Time. Invited Chapter Submission for ‘Oxford Handbook of Time in Music’ (Oxford University Press).
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Bispham, J.C. (2018). The Human Faculty for Music: What's special about it?. PhD Thesis, Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.3183
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Bispham, J.C. (2012). How musical is Man? – An evolutionary perspective. Chapter in “Sound Musicianship: Understanding the Crafts of Music. - 1/7 Meaningful Music Making for Life”. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
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Bispham, J. C. (2010). Modelisation de la musique - motivation, pulsation et tonalites musicales. In 'Musique et Evolution' Eds. Deliege, I., Vitouch, O. PSY Mardaga.
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Bispham. J.C. (2009) – Music’s “design features”: Musical motivation, musical pulse, and musical pitch. Musicae Scientiae, special issue: music and evolution.
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Cross, I., Bispham, J., Himberg, T. &Swaine, J. (unpublished) – Evolution and Musical Rhythm. Submitted to Evolutionary Anthropology.
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Bispham, J.C. (2007) – Music as socio-affective confluential communication? Response to 'a commentary on Bispham’ (2006). Music Perception, 25;2
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Bispham. J.C. (2006) - Rhythm in Music: What is it? Who has it? And Why? Journal of Music Perception, special issue on rhythm perception and performance, 24;2, 125-134.
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Bispham, J.C. (2006) - Music means nothing if we don’t know what it means - lead review of ‘The Singing Neanderthals’ by S. Mithen. Journal of Human Evolution, 50, 587-593.
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Bispham, J.C. (2004) – Bridging the Gaps – Music as a Biocultural Phenonmenon. Commentary on ‘In time with the music: The concept of entrainment and its significance for ethnomusicology’ by Clayton, M., Sager, R., & Will, U. ESEM Counterpoint 1.
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Bispham, J.C. (2003) - An Evolutionary Perspective on the Human Skill of Interpersonal Musical Entrainment. Submitted in partial recognition of MPhil in Music Psychology. Centre for Music and Science, University of Cambridge.

