The structure of musical experience: An attempt to construct a theoretical model

Dina K. Kirnarskaya

Abstract


In recent years, interest in music as a trigger of musical emotion has grown significantly. A substantial body of theoretical and experimental research includes publications summarizing existing concepts of musical emotions—their origin, attributes, and internal hierarchy. Among them is the present article, which proposes placing emphasis on aesthetic emotion—the least studied in psychological literature yet the most essential in real-world perception—as well as on the significance of musical experience within a specific culture as a prerequisite for the emergence of aesthetic feeling. As a conclusion, a hypothetical model of musical experience is proposed, the foundation of which is musical experience, with aesthetic feeling serving as an indispensable accompanying element across all levels of perception, where the trigger of musical emotion is its contagiousness/synchronization with an imaginary intonational hero. This article continues the author’s previous work published in the journal Contemporary Musicology, 2025, 9(3).

Keywords: musical emotion, emotional contagion, synchronization, imaginary hero, aesthetic feeling, musical experience

For citation: Kirnarskaya, D. K. (2026). The Structure of Musical Experience: An Attempt to Construct a Theoretical Model. Contemporary Musicology, 10(3), 200–241. https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2026-3-200-241

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2026-3-200-241

Copyright (c) 2026 Dina K. Kirnarskaya

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