This book is aimed at composers and improvisers music theorists and musicologists What melodic
operations do inventors of melodies use in their creations? How are melodies constructed to
meet the approval of large numbers of listeners over decades and centuries? What are the
psychological mechanisms that allow melodies to find appeal among listeners? Answers to these
questions are sought and offered in this book in an interdisciplinary approach that combines
findings from cognitive science psychology anthropology linguistics musicology music
theory and musical practice
