Learning Expressivity in Music Performance: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Forty-six college musicians were questioned regarding how they had previously learned and continue to develop expressivity in their musical performance. The results showed that the instruction provided in private lessons, as compared to that of ensembles or music classes, were considered more consequential in learning expressive music performance. Although virtually all subjects reported that some teacher modeling was used in their college private lessons, a majority of subjects (61%) indicated that their lessons consisted mostly of verbalbased instruction regarding expressivity. Students with model-oriented private instructors reported spending a significantly greater proportion of practice time working on their felt emotions during performance. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for music education. Specific consideration is given to the use of an emotion-centered pedagogy in music instruction, and the relationship between performer felt emotion and the physical sound properties of expressive music performance. he relationship between music and human expression has been discussed and debated for centuries. Many theories have been proposed to explain the expressive nature of music (e.g., Langer, 1953; Meyer, 1994; Reimer, 1989, chap. 2). Although these philosophies differ in many aspects, virtually all agree on one general idea: Music is expressive. Most performing musicians intend to communicate some kind of meaning (emotion, feeling, or mood) in their performances, and listeners tend to hear this expressed in music (Gabrielsson & Lindstr6m, 1995; Shaffer, 1992). The communication of expressivity through a musical composition can be understood as having several sequential components, including the inspiration of the composer, the produced written score, the interpretive and expressive intentions of the performer(s), the produced sounding music, and the perception and emotional response of the listener (Gabrielsson & Juslin, 1996; Kendall & Carterette, 1990). Two of these

Play it again with feeling: Computer feedback in musical communication of emotions.

“…Second, the study demonstrates that contrary to what is sometimes claimed (e.g., Woody, 2000), it is possible to learn expressive skills-provided that one receives informative feedback. Performers are able to make use of explicit feedback concerning individual acoustic cues and to translate such information into altered patterns of playing.…”

“…This neglect of expressivity may result in students developing expressive skills rather late in their artistic development. Thus, for example, 48% of the music students in Woody's (2000) questionnaire study did not become "seriously concerned with expressivity" until they were well into high school, or even in their first year of college.…”

“…Another teaching strategy endorsed by some teachers is to focus on the performer's felt emotions (Woody, 2000), trusting that these emotions will naturally translate into appropriate sound properties. Many music students and teachers believe that the emotions must be felt by the performer in order to be communicated well (e.g., Laukka, 2004;Lindström et al, 2003).…”

The effects of projected films on singers’ expressivity in choral performance.

“…Although music teachers intend to focus on expressivity in their teaching, technical aspects can often dominate the pedagogical practices in music education; thus the teaching of expressivity skills are often neglected in the music learning environments (Kelly, 2009;Persson, 1993;Tait, 1992). However, music education and expressive performance research has recently migrated towards the exploration of how expressivity can have a prominent impact on students in a music performing environment (Persson, 1996;Sheldon, 2000, Woody, 2000. Sloboda (1996) suggests that music learners may find it too challenging to store and retrieve memory programmed changes and nuances of music through a lectured based approach.…”

“…Studies suggest that performers who are consistently exposed to audio-recordings of performances of specific expressive features can be more apt toward replicating the same expressive features in performance (Woody, 1999). With the purpose of creating a healthy understanding and experience through expressive music performance practices, Woody (2000) suggests three general pedagogical approaches that can be used among music educators: (1) attention to the acoustical music factors of a performance (tempo, dynamics, articulation), (2) attention to aural modeling and imitation, and (3) attention to the emotions of the performers through 'extramusical' approaches.…”