ABSTRACT

Twenty years ago, the mostly widely accepted view of the mind was that it represents information in symbolic form and carries out its processing operations by manipulating symbols. However, entirely different forms of representational systems have continuously been suggested, including analogical representation, connectionist representational systems commonly called connectionism, and non-representational theories. The purpose of this study was to explain how musical knowledge is represented. Representational theories in cognitive psychology were reviewed, and concepts and types of knowledge were described for a better understanding of musical knowledge. Musical knowledge and musical thinking have been often regarded as a cognitive ability, but this notion is wrong. Musical knowledge includes cognitive, affective and active knowledge. To expand on the notion of musical knowledge, David Elliott`s opinion on musical knowledge was introduced. Musical knowledge is represented as verbally and nonverbally, cognitively, emotively, and actively. Symbolic representation, like verbal, is not the only system that is a high-level process or high level function. Each form of representation has a unique high-level process or high function. Music must be understood as music. Ultimately, this study can act a theoretical basis for musical learning and teaching.