WE are happy to present the delayed, but in many respects updated, Volume 7, Numbers 3-4, of Empirical Musicology Review. A number of changes have occurred since the previous special issue on 'Meaning and Entrainment in Language and Music'. The journal is now published using a new online system, hosted by the Ohio State University Libraries. It is the first issue published under our editorship and the editorial management of Daniel Shanahan, and in which Joseph Plazak joins Randolph Johnson as Assistants to the Editors.

Volume 7, Number 3-4, represents the breadth of scope of Empirical Musicology as an area of research. The paper by David Huron and Matthew Davis reports an empirical investigation of the association between sadness and the presence of small melodic intervals. It argues that the minor mode makes optimal use of small intervals. The commentaries by Richard Parncutt and Sarha Moore contextualise this study within a broader historical and ethnomusicological context, respectively. Richard Parncutt argues for the relevance of Schenkerian theory to highlight the relevance of the minor triad for the sadness experience of the minor mode, while Sarha Moore looks at alternative emotional experiences of flattened tonal scale degrees in non-western cultures.

By contrast, the paper by Micah Bregman, John Iversen, David Lichman, Meredith Reinhart and Aniruddh Patel presents a paradigm for investigating entrainment to a beat in horses. While Adena Schachner argues against attributing entrainment to vocal learning alone, Sandy Venneman provides methodological critique from the perspective of a researcher and horse trainer.

Finally, the issue includes a book review by Jakub Matyja interpreting improvisation from a cognitive perspective.

We hope that this issue within its new online format will generate renewed interest in Empirical Musicology, and are looking forward to more constructive discussions on prominent musicological topics that this issue exemplifies so well.