The role of sign and symbol in musical perception process

Abstract

Music is an art of sound, art that evolves in time. Sounds are formed in a special way and organized into sound structures with their symbolic meaning. Symbols influence the perception of a musical work, its meaning. Musical work consists of elements that convey a certain semantic sign (the context) to the listener. In the perception of a musical work the diversity of signals transmitted to the listener, is processed and transformed into signs, which can later evolve into symbols. The perception of a musical work is characterized by the reflection of sound structures in human mind, and it is aimed at comprehension and understanding of artistic meaning, as a special form of reflection of reality peculiar to musical art.