Is There a Common Element in Music?

Do animals dance to the beat? When is birdsong music for a bird? Humans hear music in everything, but what about other species?

On this episode we talk with Henkjan Honing, professor of music cognition at the University of Amsterdam, about the biology of musicality. Among diverse species, he and his collaborators now study how and why some animals perceive elements of music but others do not.

We also discuss the earliest known examples of human musical instruments and the possible adaptive value of music. All of these topics and more are covered in his recent book, The Evolving Animal Orchestra: In Search of What Makes Us Musical.

Additional sound effects for this episode came from www.zapsplat.com

Cover art: Keating Shahmehri