Abstract
It is important for us to be able to grasp how students form their own impressions to musical works we often present in music education. It was presumed that impression formation to musical works was influenced by the strength of the depression levels of individuals. Therefore, the author investigated this concept by involving 126 students enrolled in universities in Tokyo, in February 1997. According to the results of the investigation made, the author confirmed that the two groups which can be classified as "high depression level" and "low depression level" possess different features of impression formation to musical works. The author considers that this difference resulted from a sense of musical characteristics that include "dynamics" and "brightness". Accordingly, the author discussed the interaction of music with existing mental state, especially with depression, and put forward a desirable activity of listening taking into account student's mental state in music education.
