Science and Music

Rating:
Summary: start here
Review: An especially well-written and entertaining introduction to musical acoustics. I keep a copy among my musical reference books.

Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful
Review: SCIENCE AND MUSIC is great, but I should like to direct those readers interested in an in-depth more recent study to THE PHYSICS AND PSYCHOPHYSICS OF MUSIC by Juan Roederer.

Rating:
Summary: clear, engaging book on the physics of sound, esp. music
Review: This book presents its material in an engaging and clear way, very interesting, but you must ignore certain outdated assertions in the introduction.

It's a solid general reference on the physics of sound (music in particular) from instrument through air to the ear. It predates cognitive science, it doesn't address that.