Of course prior experience or “knowledge” affects how we experience music.
A whole bunch of things in our lives, experiences, memories, etc. do this.
I just sit still and listen.
If I don’t like it I move on.
If I like it I inquire further.
If I’m non-plussed I just move on with the sense that maybe at some point I’ll come back to it and have a stronger feeling, + or -
Expectation and musical perception
The PBS series "Closer to Truth" did a episode on "How Do Human Brains Experience Music?"
https://youtu.be/1TsitZvvcsw?si=UnTa-wlFnrrFiTnB
in which they explained the complex pathway by which the brain turns perception of sound into recognizable speech or music. Most significantly Prof Elizabeth Margulis of Princeton states that prior knowledge in the brain actually changes what we perceive when listening to music. The whole show is worth watching but at least check out her segment around the 23 minute mark.
What I get from this is that when listening to music the issue of expectation bias is HUGE. If the brain is expecting something it can open the door to hearing it, and the reverse is also true.
I see relevance here to the many on-going discussions on this forum. What do you think?
Some of you may beinterested in Dr. Margulis books or the work of her Music Cogntion Lab at