Perceiving Conductors' Expressive Gestures from Different Visual Perspectives. An Exploratory Continuous Response Study

Wööllner, Clemens; Auhagen, Wolfgang

doi:10.1525/mp.2008.26.2.129

Cited by 35 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Madsen, 2009;McLaren, 1985;Morrison et al, 2009;Price & Chang, 2005;VanWeelden, 2002;VanWeelden & McGee, 2007;Wöllner & Auhagen, 2008), and that body movement in performers positively influences listeners' perception of the listening experience (Davidson, 1991(Davidson, , 1993(Davidson, , 1994(Davidson, , 1997(Davidson, , 2001Davidson & Correia, 2002;Juchniewicz, 2008). There was a main effect for major, which is inconsistent with previous body movement studies; however, the small effect size tempers the practical significance of such an effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The effect of body movement on listeners’ perceptions of musicality in trombone quartet performance

Silveira

2013

International Journal of Music Education

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The purpose of this study was to determine what effect body movement would have on listeners' (N = 90) perceptions of a professional chamber ensemble performance. Specifically, an audio/video recording of a trombone quartet performance was used for the music stimulus. Listeners were asked to rate each performance on the basis of perceived appropriateness of style and perceived ensemble expressivity. While the video portion of the stimulus changed to reflect each of three movement conditions: (1) deadpan -no extraneous movement, (2) head/face movement only, (3) full body movement, the audio portion of the stimulus remained the same. Results indicated that body movement condition did significantly affect listeners' ratings of perceived style and expressivity. Increased movement in performance corresponded to higher ratings. Differences were also found on the basis of major (although the effect size was small) and presentation order. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

The effect of body movement on listeners’ perceptions of musicality in trombone quartet performance

Silveira

2013

International Journal of Music Education

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“…Using the left hand independently helps an ensemble distinguish expression more clearly apart from mechanics, though expressive gestures should remain within a close field of view with mechanics to avoid different perceptions and responses in musicians to the left and right of the conductor. 5 Alternatively, expressive gestures can be adapted into right-hand patterns by varying the size, speed, weight, and strength of motion at points going into, at, and between each beat. Expressivity also involves the conductor's face in reflecting the emotion of the music, which in turn stimulates emotional responses in musicians and draws out their deeper expressive performance, consequently affecting the audience more deeply as well.…”

Section: Expressive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Functions of Conducting

Gumm¹

2012

Music Educators Journal

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A s music educators, when we step in front of a group of musicians to conduct, we draw on a common tradition of mechanical beat patterns and expressive gestures centuries old in its development. 1 In this tradition, both functions-mechanical and expressive-are passed down so each new generation of conductors can learn to communicate a full variety of musical features to our musicians.The art of conducting, however, has progressed beyond this traditional foundation of mechanical and expressive functions. The progress is in how we have learned to connect with musicians who make the music more than merely portraying the music to musicians. This intent has certainly been expressed before, but it has remained difficult to articulate within the limited terms of our two traditional functions. 2 However, a Abstract: This article poses six functions of conducting as a new foundation for music educators. Two traditional functions focus on music: the mechanical precision function indicates beat, tempo, meter, rhythm, cues, entrances and cutoff releases, and the expressive function indicates dynamics and other expressive characteristics interpreted in a score. Used to a lesser degree, yet representing distinct camps or schools of thought in the field, are functions that focus on musicians. Gestures that draw musicians into an intense mental and visual connection with the conductor serve a motivational function. Gestures that mimic and guide performance on specific instruments serve a physical technique function. Smaller, circular, or rising motions serve an unrestrained tone function that unites an ensemble in a self-reliant tempo and tone. Sharing the intention of planned gestures, teaching musicians to conduct, and drawing gestures from musicians' familiar experiences serve a psychosocial function. This multifunctional view of conducting draws attention beyond the act of delivering gestures to how an ensemble receives and responds to gestures. It is educationally better rounded, providing a more complete foundation for music educators.

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“…In order to accomplish the demands of coordination in ensemble performance, for example, musicians need to respond to each others’ gestures and sound output in the shortest of time to reach synchronisation (see Keller 2008). Several studies highlighted the importance of visual information in musical ensemble communication (see reviews by Goodman, 2002; Davidson & King, 2004) and between conductors and musicians (Luck & Toiviainen, 2006; Wöllner & Auhagen, 2008). There is evidence for the development of domain-specific superior perceptual processes in conductors (Nager, Kohlmetz, Altenmüller, Rodriguez-Fornells & Münte, 2003) and pianists (Repp & Knoblich, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Keeping an eye on the violinist: motor experts show superior timing consistency in a visual perception task

Wöllner

Cañal‐Bruland

2010

Psychological Research

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Common coding theory states that perception and action may reciprocally induce each other. Consequently, motor expertise should map onto perceptual consistency in specific tasks such as predicting the exact timing of a musical entry. To test this hypothesis, ten string musicians (motor experts), ten non-string musicians (visual experts), and ten non-musicians were asked to watch progressively occluded video recordings of a first violinist indicating entries to fellow members of a string quartet. Participants synchronised with the perceived timing of the musical entries. Results revealed significant effects of motor expertise on perception. Compared to visual experts and non-musicians, string players not only responded more accurately, but also with less timing variability. These findings provide evidence that motor experts’ consistency in movement execution—a key characteristic of expert motor performance—is mirrored in lower variability in perceptual judgements, indicating close links between action competence and perception.

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Perceiving Conductors' Expressive Gestures from Different Visual Perspectives. An Exploratory Continuous Response Study

Cited by 35 publications

References 18 publications

The effect of body movement on listeners’ perceptions of musicality in trombone quartet performance

The effect of body movement on listeners’ perceptions of musicality in trombone quartet performance

Six Functions of Conducting

Keeping an eye on the violinist: motor experts show superior timing consistency in a visual perception task

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