Speaking of Music: The Use of Motor-Affective Metaphors in Music Instruction

Barten, Sybil S.

doi:10.2307/3333561

Cited by 47 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Music instructors frequently exploit the similarities between musical sound and human emotion or movement through the use of gurative language marked by imagery and descriptive metaphors. Referring to the 'motor-affective' elements of emotion and music, Barten (1998) described heuristic imagery as a means of communicating to students the desired target experience for the physical skills required in music performance or the produced sound itself. Such information is often more easily expressed metaphorically than any other way.…”

Section: Theories Of Emotion Imagery and Metaphor In Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion, Imagery and Metaphor in the Acquisition of Musical Performance Skill

Woody¹

2002

Music Education Research

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In teaching music students to perform expressively, many instructors use imagery and metaphors to call attention to the emotional qualities of music. This article examines existing theories of emotion, imagery and metaphor in music performance, and reviews empirical studies of expressive performance that have considered these topics. Also presented are the results of a small-scale study of the imagery and metaphors used by college music instructors. Several conclusions are drawn. First, motional aspects of music, seen in imagery using terms such as ' owing' or 'bouncy', are considered crucial in the connection between performed music and felt emotion. Additionally, among advanced musicians, there appears to be a shared and relatively limited affective vocabulary used to elicit expressive performance, perhaps largely drawn from the compositional structure of the piece of music being performed.

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Section: Theories Of Emotion Imagery and Metaphor In Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emotion, Imagery and Metaphor in the Acquisition of Musical Performance Skill

Woody¹

2002

Music Education Research

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“…Verbal based methods such as metaphor use and focusing on the performers felt emotion (e.g. Barten, 1998;Woody, 2002), as well as model-based methods such as aural modelling (e.g. Dickey, 1992) are well-known strategies for teaching performance skills (Davidson & Scripp, 1992;Tait, 1992).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Instrumental music teachers' views on expressivity: a report from music conservatoires

Laukka

2004

Music Education Research

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Expressivity is generally regarded as a crucial component of a successful musical performance, but at present there is little knowledge of how it is addressed in instrumental music education. To achieve a better understanding of how teachers approach expressivity, instrumental music teachers (n ϭ 51) from music conservatoires in Sweden and England were asked to fill out a questionnaire that focused on the following issues: (i) what constitutes musical expressivity? (ii) How can expressive skills be taught to music students? (iii) What are the prospects of using computer-based instruction in teaching expressive skills? The results suggest that expressivity is the most appreciated characteristic in performers, and that a majority of the teachers define expressivity primarily in terms of communicating emotion. Modelling and verbal-based instruction focusing on the students' felt emotions were the preferred methods for teaching expressive skills. The teachers would also like to spend more time on teaching expressive skills, but they were sceptical regarding the utility of computer-based instruction. Expression and emotion seem to play important roles in the professional lives of the teachers, and it is suggested that expressive skills deserve more attention in higher instrumental music education.

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“…One such strategy is the use of metaphors. Metaphors are used to focus the emotional qualities of the performance by serving as a reference or evoking a mood within the performer (Barten, 1998;Rosenberg & Trusheim, 1989). For example, a teacher may say: "Close your eyes and think about how you would feel if you received a phone call later that day saying a close friend or relative was just killed in an accident" (Bruser, 1997, p. 57).…”

Section: Traditional Teaching Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Juslin

Karlsson

Lindström

et al. 2006

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied

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Communication of emotions is of crucial importance in music performance. Yet research has suggested that this skill is neglected in music education. This article presents and evaluates a computer program that automatically analyzes music performances and provides feedback to musicians in order to enhance their communication of emotions. Thirty-six semiprofessional jazz/rock guitar players were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions: (1) feedback from the computer program, (2) feedback from music teachers, and (3) repetition without feedback. Performance measures revealed the greatest improvement in communication accuracy for the computer program, but usability measures indicated that certain aspects of the program could be improved. Implications for music education are discussed.

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Speaking of Music: The Use of Motor-Affective Metaphors in Music Instruction

Cited by 47 publications

References 2 publications

Emotion, Imagery and Metaphor in the Acquisition of Musical Performance Skill

Emotion, Imagery and Metaphor in the Acquisition of Musical Performance Skill

Instrumental music teachers' views on expressivity: a report from music conservatoires

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

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