Music and Time Annotation << Back Hearing a Professional Musician in the Context of Cognitive Approach I.G. Alieva Otherness of national musical cultures is a problem that places special demands on the professional musical ear. The relationship «musical ear – knowledge» as well as «musical ear – the professional competence of a musician» are examined in the context of cognitive approach. The concepts of intuitive-empirical (the state of ear «I hear – I can not define») and cognitively organized musical ear (state of ear «I hear – I define exactly») are being introduced in this article as two interrelated cornerstones of professional musical ear. The offered concepts allow to distinguish requirements imposed upon musical ear, when, on the one hand (the intellectual – verbal – component), the musical ear must comply with the obligatory requirements of musical theory, on the other hand (art component), to be prepared for the perception of non-verbal in its nature musical phenomena. The article also proposed the concept of «music-theoretical set» (predisposition of cognitive system of a musician to apply certain concepts and terms in respect of musical appearances) and «music-empirical set» (a state of predisposition to apply certain intonations). It is shown how the same musical phenomenon receives a different conceptual and terminological explanation and interpretation, depending on the «sets» of the musician, and depending on what musical theoretical basis (European or Eastern) his cognitive-organized ear was formed. The offered concepts can be used as objective criteria of professional competence of a musician. Keywords: ear training, professional musical hearing, cognitive musicology, Eurocentrism, Orientalism. Contacts: E-mail: Gorbunova@herzen.spb.ru Pp. 10-14.