Abstract
Musical psychology has been interested in musical imagery for almost 100 years. The literature review summarizes the current views on musical imagery and imagination as shown in the latest international literature.
The paper consists of five parts. In the initial part, the fundamental psychological concepts as perception/sensation, imagery, mental representation of reality, imagination and fantasy are explained.
The second part describes the concept of musical imagery and concentrates on its different types, functions, and hierarchical structure. It is emphasized that these images are specific and they either persist in the mind of man (are readily at disposal) or the individual can recall them in the situation in which direct sensory perception of music is absent and the process evolves in mind.
The third part of the paper characterizes the concept of musical imagery as a basis of musical activities. The Hargreaves' model is presented which assumes that there exists an important mediator between musical production and musical reception, i.e., musical imagination/musical imagery.
The fourth part of the paper introduces the assessment of musical imagery by means of qualitative approaches (i.e., introspection, interview, journals, and observation), by means of quantitative approaches (tests, generic and specific questionnaires, measurement of physiological variables, projection of functions of the brain by EEG, functional magnetic resonance), and by means of a mixed assessment approach. The fifth part of the paper indicates the processes through which musical imagery can be fostered.