Performance: aspects of musical skill

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Performance aspects of musical skill

• MUSI 1911/2
• Introduction to the Psychology of Music

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Overview

• A Psychology of Performance
• Experiments, models and observation
• The score and the performance
• Examples of research
• Beyond mental structures
• Jazz, pop, rock and beyond
• Summary

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A 'Psychology of Performance?

• The performer(s)
• Planning
• what knowledge is stored
• how is it internalised
• Execution
• errors
• expressive aspects
• pragmatic aspects
• Communication
• between musicians
• with audience
• Related studies (anxiety)

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A 'Psychology of Performance?

• The listener(s)
• Perceptual consequences
• recovery of structure by listener
• (emotional) responses to performance variables
• These different aspects may be interrelated

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Experiments, models and observation

• Experiments
• manipulate performances, study perception
• manipulate performer, study production
• Models
• turn observations into rules
• check models against reality (synthesis,
  comparison)
• Observation
• measure audio, video, mechanically captured data
• look for patterns

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The score and the performance

• Score
• canonic, small whole number ratio durations
• crotchet, quaver (quarter, eighth) gt 21
• variable attention to dynamics (etc.)
• Performance
• deviates from precise ratios
• 21 gt 2.10.9
• much uninstructed variation in dynamics, timbre
• Only applies when there is a score!

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Examples of research

• Palmer (1989)
• Expressive timing
• musical structure
• mental representation
• Repp (1997)
• evaluation
• individuality
• listening panels

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Palmer (1989)

• Method
• skilled pianists, playing the same piece, under
  different instruction (normal, unmusical)
• different piece, notating their choice of lead
  voice and phrase boundaries
• Measurements
• tempo change (relative to metronome)
• asynchronies
• overlaps

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Palmer (1989)

• maximal tempo change at phrase boundaries
• melodic voice leads, especially on strong beats
• overlap greatest for adjacent events in melody
• all of the above change in magnitude with
  different instructions but not in distribution
• structural notation (lead voice and phrasing) is
  a good predictor of where expression occurs

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Conclusions from many studies of expression

• Expression is consistent and predictable
• Expression can be predicted from musical
  structure and a set of rules
• Differences between performers can be accounted
  for by changes in interpretation (musical
  structure) and the precise application of rules
• Differences within performers can be accounted
  for by changes in the application of rules to the
  same structure. Expression varies in magnitude
  but not in distribution

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Repp (1997)
http//www.haskins.yale.edu/haskins/MISC/REPP/AP2.
html

• Do we like performances which are
• most unusual?
• closest to the norm?
• Faces
• preference for average face
• closest to any individual face
• Listening panel
• Preferred performances closest to their own
• Preferred the average (on average)

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Beyond mental structures

• Most studies suggest
• Motor program (set of instructions)
• Clock (generating a time-base)
• Motor program and clock are mental entities
• Structure of motor program is related to musical
  structure (often a hierarchy of bars and beats or
  phrases)
• What about the body?
• May play role in generating patterns of timing
• Plays role in the perception of expression
  (Davidson, 1993)
• (see Clarke, 1999 for a review)
• What about responses?
• Gabrielsson (see Gabrielsson, 1999 for a review)

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Jazz, pop, rock and beyond

• Most studies
• Timing/Dynamics
• Concerned with pianists
• Solo performance
• Classical/romantic repertoire
• However
• Vibrato
• Duets and ensembles
• Jazz ballads
• Some studies of rock/jazz drumming
• Tend to find similar connections between
  expression and structure

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Summary

• Expression is systematic
• Expression is closely tied to our mental
  representations of structure
• Studies limited in scope
• Less known about responses to expression
• But also seem systematic to an extent
• Little known about individuality
• May be less valued than we imagine?