The performer’s experience: A case for using qualitative (phenomenological) methodologies in music performance research

Abstract

The experience of the performer is fundamental to the creation of any music performance, but has as yet received relatively little attention from researchers. Empirical investigation has been undertaken across a range of disciplines (mainly psychology, physiology and psychoacoustics), but hitherto using predominantly quantitative methods. This theoretical article seeks to build on more recent trends towards qualitative research, with the aim of revealing hitherto unexplored aspects of performance, specifically through the subjective world of the performer. To this end, the authors draw on advances in qualitative theory across a range of disciplines, including philosophical reasoning, social science and music education. Cross-discipline theoretical perspectives are offered that centre on both social and cognitive sciences. Theoretical support for a phenomenological approach as a form of philosophical enquiry is discussed, including its potential to illuminate qualitative methods and procedures which have already been shown to be effective in music performance research. Suggestions for further research include the potential to gain insight from a deeper appreciation of the aesthetic embodiment of the artist through more wide-ranging analysis of interview data (for example, relating to the use of metaphor) and also drawing on methodological discussions within other artistic disciplines.

Playing together without communicating? A pre-reflective and enactive account of joint musical performance

“…Through the presentation of the theoretical framework together with the interview data, in line with Holmes and Holmes' (2013) recommendation, we hope to have pointed to a real dimension of the lived experience of joint musical performance that has hitherto been undertheorized and mostly under-investigated in music psychology. We hope to have shown how prereflective embodied and interactive awareness is to be understood within the setting of musical interaction, and how it concretely works in driving this interaction.…”

Audience reactions to the program notes of unfamiliar music

“…Supporting Holmes and Holmes’ (2013, p. 81) call for “a more flexible and imaginative approach towards the use of phenomenological (and other qualitative) methods in music performance research … to enable better understanding of the more elusive, intangible elements of performance”, in subsequent phases of our study we will gather both written and oral audience feedback as well as further listener reflections, audience critiques, different formats of program note delivery and the co-construction of program notes. We anticipate that the inclusion of performers, listeners and composers will enable us to build a multi-faceted understanding of the use and impact of program notes and compositional information, and to develop an informed view of how listener experiences might be supported and respected.…”

Giving voice to jazz singers’ experiences of flow in improvisation

“…Three singers were purposively selected on the basis of their extensive experience of vocal jazz improvisation and their willingness to discuss their experiences in detail (Smith et al, 2009). Small participant pools are common in IPA-three participants provide researchers with sufficient scope for individual case analysis as well as comparison between cases (Holmes & Holmes, 2013;Smith et al, 2009; e.g., Erasmus & van der Merwe, 2017). Each participant has engaged with improvisation for well in excess of a decade and considers improvisation to be central to their performance practice and artistic identity.…”