Prof Adam Ockelford

Adam has had a lifelong fascination for music, as a
composer, performer, teacher and researcher. While
attending the Royal Academy of Music in London, Adam
started working with children with special needs - a number
of whom, he noticed, had special musical abilities too - and
he became interested in how we all intuitively make sense of
music, without the need for formal education. Adam
pursued this line of enquiry, and gained a PhD in music
at Goldsmith's College in London in 1993, in which he set
out his 'zygonic' theory of musical understanding. This
theory has proved a valuable tool in music theory and
analysis, in investigating musical development, and
exploring interaction in music therapy and education.

Adam is Secretary of the Society for Education, Music and
Psychology Research ('SEMPRE'), Chair of Soundabout, an
Oxfordshire-based charity that supports music provision for
children and young people with complex needs; and founder
of The AMBER Trust, a charity that supports visually impaired
children in their pursuit of music.

Research Interests & Expertise

Adam’s research interests are in music psychology, education, theory and aesthetics – particularly special educational needs and the development of exceptional abilities; learning, memory and creativity; the cognition of musical structure and the construction of musical meaning. He welcomes enquiries from PhD students with any of these or related areas of interest.

Adam is currently involved in four research projects:

Sounds of Intent – investigating early music development in children with severe, or profound multiple learning difficulties: a model, curriculum framework and interactive resources and assessment materials for teachers – in partnership with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (Sally Zimmermann) and the Institute of Education, University of London (Graham Welch and Evangelos Himonides), with financial support from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, the QCA and the AMBER Trust. The current phase of work is due to conclude in 2008.

Focus on Music – investigating musical development in children with identified syndromes: (i) Septo-Optic Dysplasia and Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, (ii) Retinopathy of Prematurity, and (iii) Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, in partnership with Goldsmith’s College (Linda Pring), with support from the AMBER Trust, Soundabout and SEMPRE. Due to conclude in 2009.

Fragments of Genius – exploring the skills of musical savants and the consequences for our understanding of learning, memory and creativity, in partnership with Goldsmith’s College and the IoE, with support from the AMBER Trust and SEMPRE. Due to conclude in 2010.

Music in Mind – investigating and modelling how musical structure and content relate to musical meaning. Ongoing.

Adam is series editor (with Ian Cross and Graham Welch) of ‘SEMPRE Studies in the Psychology of Music’, Ashgate, publication commencing 2008.

Publications

(2008) ‘Beyond music psychology’, in Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology, ed. S. Hallam, I Cross and M. Thaut.

G. Welch (2008) ‘The role of the institution and teachers in supporting learning’, in Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology, ed. S. Hallam, I Cross and M. Thaut.

(2008) Music for Children and Young People with Complex Needs, Oxford: OUP.

(2008) Review article of David Huron's 'Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation', Psychology of Music.

(2007) ‘A music module in working memory? Evidence from the performance of a prodigious musical savant', Musicae Scientiae, Special Edition on Performance, 5–36.

(2007) ‘Exploring musical interaction between a teacher and pupil, and her evolving musicality, using a music-theoretical approach', Research Studies in Music Education, 28, 3–23.

Pat Lloyd (2007) Foreword to 'Let's All Listen' by Pat Lloyd, London: Jessica Kingsley.

(2007) In the Key of Genius: The Extraordinary Life of Derek Paravicini, London: Hutchinson.

(2006) ‘Implication and expectation in music: a zygonic model’, Psychology of Music, 34(1), 81-142.

(2006) ‘Using a music-theoretical approach to interrogate musical development and social interaction’, in Sounding Off: Theorizing Disability in Music, N. Lerner and J Straus, (eds), New York: Routledge.

L. Pring, G.Welch, D. Treffert (2006) Focus on Music: Exploring the Musical Interests and Abilities of Blind and Partially-Sighted Children with Septo-Optic Dysplasia, London: Institute of Education.

(2005) ‘“Sounds of intent” mapping, assessing and promoting the musical development of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties’, Proceedings of International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation Conference 2005 (‘Vision’), Amsterdam: Elsevier.

L. Pring (2005) ‘Children with septo-optic dysplasia – musical interests, abilities and provision: the results of a parental survey’, British Journal of Visual Impairment, 23(2), 58–66.

G. Welch, S. Zimmermann, E. Himonides (2005) ‘Mapping musical development in children with PMLD: the “Sounds of Intent” project’, SLD Experience.

L. Pring (2005) ‘Musical interests and abilities of children with septo-optic dysplasia’, Proceedings of International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation Conference 2005 (‘Vision’), Amsterdam: Elsevier.

(2005) ‘Musical structure, content and aesthetic response: Beethoven’s Op. 110’, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 129(2), 112–155.

G. Welch, S. Zimmermann, E. Himonides (2005) ‘Sounds of intent’, Eye Contact, 40, 12–15.

(2005) Repetition in Music: Theoretical and Metatheoretical Perspectives, London: Ashgate.

(2004) ‘On similarity, derivation and the cognition of musical structure’, Psychology of Music, 32(1), 23–74.

G. Welch, S. Zimmermann (2002) ‘Music education for pupils with severe or profound and multiple difficulties’, British Journal of Special Education, 29(4), 178–182.

(2002) ‘The magical number two, plus or minus one: some limitations on our capacity for processing musical information’, Musicae Scientiae, Special Edition on Performance, 6, 177–215.

(2001) Objects of Reference: Promoting Early Symbolic Communication (Third Edition), London: Royal National Institute of the Blind.

G. Welch, S. Zimmermann (2001) PROMISE: The Provision of Music in Special Education, London: Institute of Education and Royal National Institute of the Blind.

(2000) ‘Music in the education of children with severe or profound learning difficulties: Issues in current UK provision, a new conceptual framework, and proposals for research’, Psychology of Music, 28(2), 197–217.