The subject of systematic musicology is subject to ongoing discussions regarding its definition, conceptualisation and historical development (Parncutt, 2007). Central research questions, such as the origins and effects of musical activity or the natural and social scientific justification of musical processing, can be derived directly from historical and current musical practice as well as from musical socialisation and educational processes. The specific orientation of the subject is subject to the interests of the individual chair holders of this rather extensive field of research.

The methodological spectrum of SMW includes physical (e.g. room and instrument acoustics), biological (e.g. physiology of hearing), psychological (e.g. psychoacoustics, cognitive psychology) and sociological approaches as well as information and neuroscientific approaches. Methods of empirical social research and experimental psychology are fundamental to the understanding and further development of the subject, almost regardless of the specific orientation of the various Institutes.

Literature

Parncutt, R. (2007). Systematic Musicology and the history and future of Western musical scholarship. Journal of Interdisciplinary Music Studies, 1, 1-32.