From Perception to Audiation. Theoretical and Practical Contexts in Music Education

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The article is an attempt to show the process, indicated in the title, that plays a crucial role in learners’ development: introducing individuals and social groups to the world of music and drawing value from engagement with it. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The central research question is how musical perception brings learners closer to audiation. The study is based on an in-depth analysis of the literature, which serves to identify themes that illuminate both the theoretical and practical dimensions of this issue from the perspective of music education. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The discussion begins with an outline of the praxis- aesthetic model, which remains dominant in contemporary music education. This introduction provides the basis for examining selected aspects of music reception and for clarifying the practical applications of musical perception and audiation. RESEARCH RESULTS: Active engagement with music in educational settings shapes learners’ preferences and promotes readiness for perception, as well as for the ideas that music conveys. It evokes emotions and subjective experiences, while also supporting practice through immersion in the structure of a musical work, grasping the composer’s language, and understanding the intentions of the performer. Auditory perception is necessary for audiation, understood as musical thinking, which allows listeners to grasp the meaning of the musical language. A listener who can recognize, assimilate, and imitate physically present sounds is prepared to develop audiational skills, that is, the ability to assign meaning to them. CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND APPLICABLE VALUE OF RESEARCH: Introducing learners to the world of music requires consideration of both the values inherent in music itself and learners’ readiness to learn about its diverse expressions. The praxis-aesthetic perspective adopted here provides a scaffold for teachers and learners to deepen their reflections on the theoretical and practical contexts of musical perception and audiation.