The study of music perception has focused almost exclusively on sound, ignoring the role of seeing the performer's body movements. Whilst anecdotes frequently refer to the importance of the performer's movements, there is scant psychological evidence to support this finding. The closest equivalent work in visual event perception research has shown that covert mental dispositions (for instance, an intention to deceive an observer) are specified in body movements, and therefore provide important information for the observer.. With these findings in mind, this article investigates the information conveyed by the movements of a musical performer when s/he is asked to play-the same piece in three different expressive manners. These performance manners are presented to observers in three modes: vision alone, sound alone and sound and vision together to investigate the relative contributions of the different perceptual modes. The results reveal that not only is vision a useful source of information about manner, but that it actually more clearly specifies manner than the other modes. These findings emphasise the need to consider visual as well as sound information in psychological enquiries into music perception.

A sample of 257 young people aged between eight and 18 who had undertaken individual instrumental tuition were interviewed in depth about their performing history from the start of playing. A subset of 94 of these individuals also kept a practice diary for a 42-week period. The data collected allowed estimates to be calculated of the amount of time devoted to various types of practice and other activities. The sample was selected in order to encompass a wide range of levels of musical achievement, from pupils at a highly selective specialist music school through to individuals who had abandoned instrumental study after less than a year of formal instruction. Data about formal examination successes confirmed the very wide range of achievement in the sample. It was discovered that there was a strong relationship between musical achievement and the amount of formal practice undertaken. Weaker relationships were discovered between achievement and amount of informal playing. There was no evidence that high achievers were able to gain a given level of examination success on less practice than low achievers. High achievers tended to be more consistent in their pattern of practice from week to week, and tended to concentrate technical practice in the mornings. These data lend strong support to the theory that formal effortful practice is a principal determinant of musical achievement.Practice is a vital ingredient of human expertise. Practising on its own may be insufficient to produce the highest levels of mastery at a skill, and it has long been established that mere repetition does not necessarily lead to improved performance (Bryan & Harter, 1899), but sustained practising is nevertheless essential in order to establish high levels of competence at most, if not all, areas of expertise. * Requests for reprints Retrospective interview resultsGrade level at each age Analysis of the mean grade level attained at each age confirmed that group 1 was the most accomplished, and group 5 the least accomplished of the groups. For instance,

Abstract:Talents that selectively facilitate the acquisition of high levels of skill are said to be present in some children but not others. The evidence for this includes biological correlates of specific abilities, certain rare abilities in autistic savants, and the seemingly spontaneous emergence of exceptional abilities in young children, but there is also contrary evidence indicating an absence of early precursors of high skill levels. An analysis of positive and negative evidence and arguments suggests that differences in early experiences, preferences, opportunities, habits, training, and practice are the real determinants of excellence.

This paper examines the social and musical co-ordination between members of a student string quartet in rehearsal and performance. Devised as an exploratory observation and interview study, a two-tier analysis of the data is undertaken. The first deals with broadly socio-cultural issues, the second with moment-by-moment social and musical co-ordination. The results indicate that there are many factors that influence the functioning of such an ensemble. These include personal concerns about particular social dynamics within the group, performance anxiety worries, as well as immediate musical demands relating to the co-ordination of content and process. The paper concludes with a discussion of ways in which further studies of social and musical co-ordination might be developed. In particular, emphasis is given to the need for the development of a comprehensive theoretical framework reflecting a more adequate conception of music ontology and encapsulating the mutuality of the multi-tier social and musical factors.

A B S T R AC T In western society music performance is generally considered from the perspective of the elite performer, and the performance literature within the psychology of music has been representative of this preoccupation. But, in spite of much attention being directed to the 'how' of creating exceptional performances, little attention has been given to the 'why' of performance. Results of an investigation with members of a choir for homeless men indicated that group singing and performance, at the most amateur levels of musicality, yielded considerable emotional, social and cognitive benefits. The present article further explores the effects of group singing and performance with (a) a second choir formed for homeless and other marginalized individuals who had little or no music training or group singing experience, and (b) middle-class singers with low to high levels of music training and choral singing experience. Results indicate that the emotional effects of participation in group singing are similar regardless of training or socioeconomic status, but the interpersonal and cognitive components of the choral experience have different meanings for the marginalized and middle-class singers. Whereas the marginalized individuals appear to embrace all aspects of the group singing experience, the middle-class choristers are inhibited by prevalent social expectations of musicianship. The outcomes may be of relevance to music educators, therapists and choral conductors who wish to create a choral environment in which the benefits of singing and performance override elitist concerns.