Generative Processes in Music: The Psychology of Performance, Improvisation, and Composition (Oxford Science Publications)

This book draws together pioneering contributions to the study of the processes by which music is created. It redresses a balance in contemporary literature on the psychology of music which has, to date, concentrated mainly on receptive processes. The focus throughout is on empirical observation and the development of cognitive theory, with fascinating explorations of such topics as the generation of expression in musical performance, problems of synchrony in ensemble performance, improvisational skill in trained and untrained musicians, childrens' spontaneous notations for music, and formal constraints on compositional systems.

Professor John Sloboda is the leading authority world-wide on the psychology of music. His classic book 'The musical mind' was published by OUP in 1985, and has been reprinted 15 times.