Exploring the Embodied Origins of Musical Communication and Meaning: A Brief Review of Key Concepts and Research Dylan van der Schyff SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY To be presented at the 2014 ISME World Conference in Music Education Abstract A growing number of psychological and philosophical musicologists are becoming dissatisfied with the limitations of standard approaches to music cognition, which are often based on disem- bodied and de-contextualized appraisal processes. The activities and phenomena associated with the word ‘music’ span an incredibly wide range of human experience and as a result, many re- searchers are turning to ‘embodied’ approaches in order to develop more nuanced ways of ac- counting for musical meaning and communication as it emerges at the intersection of biology, culture and lived experience. The practical implications of ‘embodied cognition’ are beginning to be developed across a range of areas, including music education. However, while the notion of ‘embodied ways of knowing’ is increasingly embraced by music and arts educators, the philo- sophical and scientific grounding for 'embodied music cognition' often receives less attention than it deserves. With this in mind, this paper examines embodied music cognition in the context of musical communication and meaning making; and it introduces related literature in human development, philosophy, and neuroscience. To conclude, the relevance of embodied music cog- nition is considered in the context of music education and practice. Keywords Embodied music cognition; music and meaning; music and the brain; cross-modal cognition; music education; embodied aesthetics