Exploring the influence of body awareness on instrumental sound

Abstract

Results from recent research have demonstrated positive effects of somatic approaches, such as the Feldenkrais Method, somaesthetics, and body mapping in the field of music. However, the direct impact of such approaches on instrumental sound has not been studied so far. The present pilot study was thus designed to investigate the influence of non-judgmental body awareness on the sound of high string instruments. Eleven students of the music universities of Neuchâtel and Lausanne were requested to sense specific parts of their body while playing one long note. The analysis of audio recordings and interviews conducted post hoc show a positive correlation between the subjective experience of ease participants reported, and objective sound volume or stability. The largest effects were observed when participants were aware of their pelvis, rib cage or head region. Increases of sound volume or stability were often accompanied by non-voluntary changes in body-weight distribution, indicating that body awareness had a direct influence on the musculoskeletal system. In view of the reportedly high numbers of playing-related health problems in professional orchestra players, more research should be carried out to examine in detail possible effects of body awareness on instrumental sound and on psychological and physical well-being.

Keywords

body awareness instrumental sound mindfulness music sound analysis

Introduction

For any movement that has to do with transformation, we have to engage in direct bodily experience. The only thing we can do is to find our orientation in our organism, in processes. (Gindler, 1946, as cited in Ludwig, 2002, p. 150)

Music and somatic approaches

Recent qualitative studies about the influence of bodywork such as the Feldenkrais Method, somaesthetics, body mapping, and other kinds of physiological approaches (Buchanan & Hays, 2014; Paparo, 2015) demonstrate the potential of somatic approaches in the field of music. These studies suggest that bodywork leads to higher levels of body awareness, increased bodily presence, and musical expression for both singers and instrumentalists. Somatic approaches such as the Alexander Technique, the Feldenkrais Method, tai chi, and yoga have been established as a part of the curriculum at music colleges since the last decades of the 20th century, but the actual transfer of such approaches to the instrument seems to be difficult. Musicians not only invest a lot of individual training time to achieve a minimal level of acceptance in their professional field, but they continuously must prove their skills on stage and therefore remain subject to almost constant inspection by their colleagues and the audience. In such a competitive environment, the process of self-discovery and the incorporation of somatic work into individual instrumental technique can easily be regarded as a waste of time.

Constant stress, performance anxiety, and perfectionism, however, can trigger health problems typical for musicians, namely chronic pain and focal dystonia (Jäncke, 2011). Numerous studies document the high rate of playing-related, musculoskeletal problems among professional orchestra musicians (Gembris, Heye, & Seifert, 2018; Leaver, Harris, & Palmer, 2011; Steinmetz, Scheffer, Esmer, Delank, & Peroz, 2015). Somatic approaches could play an essential role in the prevention of such problems.

One key element of somatic work is body awareness (Mehling et al., 2011). As opposed to intentional, goal-oriented body control aimed at accomplishing a task in an efficient manner, body awareness, as defined here, is characterized by an attitude free of judgment. It includes “a quality of relating to one’s experience with an orientation of curiosity, experimental openness and acceptance” (Bishop et al., 2004, p. 234). The attentional focus is on the individual’s being rather than on its doing.

Body awareness in the work of Gindler and Jacoby

One of the most influential Western pioneers exploring body awareness was the German movement teacher Elsa Gindler, whose work had a sustained impact in the fields of somatic psychology and body-oriented psychotherapy (Weaver, 2015). In the framework of female Reformgymnastik in Berlin, in the early 1920s Gindler had already started experiments on sensing the body in “the present moment”. Initially, she concentrated on the awareness of respiration or the experience of gravity in basic situations, such as sitting on a chair or lying on the ground. As of 1925, she continuously developed her working method in close collaboration with pianist and composer Heinrich Jacoby. Together with their students, this pair explored possibilities for overcoming hindering habits by seeking appropriate questions and tasks, leading to a spirit of exploration and discovery during direct self-experience.

In some of these experiments, initially called Tastversuche, participants were encouraged to sense regions of their bodies, e.g., the left foot, the left lower leg, the distance between left knee and hipbone, or the left arm as a whole. Gindler’s long-term student and collaborator Sophie Ludwig (2002) notes that after these experiments, participants frequently reported that their muscles felt more “naturally” heavy, that the corresponding body regions were energized, and that blood supply was increased. At the same time, body movements regularly felt “surprisingly” light (Ludwig, 2002, pp. 146–147).

Gindler and Jacoby were convinced that the human organism latently keeps its ability to function as a whole, even if it is used inadequately over long periods of time. In their opinion, step-by-step regeneration can be achieved by conscious bodily experience and the ability to differentiate forced action from organic action. Gindler and Jacoby did not consider their approach to be therapy but rather a possibility for adults to unfold their dormant potential; they called it simply “the work”, without creating a theory around it.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction

Body awareness is also a central element of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Jon Kabat-Zinn, emeritus professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, developed the MBSR programme. He has been engaged in introducing and spreading knowledge about Buddhist mindfulness practices in Western society and medicine. Kabat-Zinn (2012, pp. 17–18) defines mindfulness as “what arises when you pay attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally, and as if your life depended on it”. He speaks of a “being mode” as opposed to a “doing mode” state of mind, and claims that the shift from one mode to the other can be achieved by attention and awareness.

During the past two decades, mindfulness has become a common object of research in the fields of medicine, neuroscience, psychology, and education. Studies have been concerned with chronic pain (Zautra et al., 2008), depression and recovery from it (Teasdale et al., 2000), psychosomatic symptoms and emotional expression (Landsman-Dijkstra, van Wijck, Groothoff, & Rispens, 2004), brain activity (Kerr, Sacchet, Lazar, Moore, & Jones, 2013; Tomasino & Fabbro, 2016), attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (Zylowska et al., 2007), skill-acquisition and performance in sports (Kee & John Wang, 2008; Zhang et al., 2016), stress management for medical and mathematics students as well as performance under challenging conditions (Bellinger, DeCaro, & Ralston, 2015; Rosenzweig, Reibel, Greeson, Brainard, & Hojat, 2003), and education in general (Bai, Beatch, Chang, & Cohen, 2017).

In the field of music, mindfulness research has focused on musical performance and performance anxiety in the frame of mindfulness-based meditation (Lin, Chang, Zemon, & Midlarsky, 2008), the development of psychological skills (Steyn, Steyn, Maree, & Panebianco-Warrens, 2016), and vocal technique (Czajkowski & Greasley, 2015). Rodríguez-Carvajal and Lecuona (2014) highlight music as a promising subject for further mindfulness research and, inter alia, point out the lack of empirical studies in this field.

One of the basic practices in the eight-week MBSR programme is the body scan, an attention-focusing practice. It shows remarkable similarities to Gindler’s Tastversuche. In a guided meditation, participants are directed to be aware of various parts of their body while sitting or lying in a comfortable position. Observations made by the participants can be at the physical, emotional, or cognitive level. As a result, the body scan offers the possibility to cultivate a distinction of various bodily sensations. It helps to sustain non-judgmental attention and allows the perception of automatic judgment during experience. The body scan does not emphasize immediate or future change but the acceptance of whatever is in the focus of awareness, whether positive, negative, or neutral. It has received little attention as a stand-alone practice in mindfulness research (Dreeben, Mamberg, & Salmon, 2013), although it is a central element of the MBSR programme. A recent study suggests that in a clinical setting a brief mindfulness-based body scan has an immediate positive effect for people experiencing chronic pain (Ussher et al., 2014).

Open questions and aims of this research

To date, mindfulness research in the field of music has tended to focus on mindfulness separate from action rather than mindfulness during action. Very little is known therefore about a possible direct influence of non-judgmental, plain body awareness during musical performance. This lack of research is surprising because the body is involved at any moment during musical action, be it practicing, teaching, rehearsing, or performing. The present research aims to contribute towards closure of this gap by exploring the relationship between body awareness and instrumental sound during musical activity. This leads to the following research questions:

Are there changes in sound when musicians maintain non-judgmental body awareness while playing?

What do participants experience when maintaining awareness of their body while playing?

Is there a relationship between the perceived experiences of participants and measured results?

Methods

To address these questions, three body journeys¹ similar to the body scan and following a predetermined route along the body were used. Two types of data related to these journeys were collected: recordings of the long notes for sound analysis (i.e., quantitative data) and interviews in which participants shared their subjective experiences during the body journeys (i.e., qualitative data).

Participants

Nine women and two men, age 18–25 years (M = 22 years), took part in this research. All were studying at the music universities of Neuchâtel or Lausanne, and played a high string instrument, namely the violin (n = 10) or the viola (n = 1). Five volunteers were studying at the bachelor’s level and six at the master’s level. String players were chosen because it is possible for them to play continuous sounds that can be carried on independently from the breath.

Procedure

Body journeys

Participants were introduced approximately 20 minutes before the three body journeys (BJs). They were told to choose on their own a long note to play during the BJs with the sole condition that it should have little natural resonance (e.g., F, B, or C#) to reduce the sympathetic vibrations of open strings to a minimum. The focus of each BJ was on a different body region. In BJ1, participants started by focusing their awareness on the left foot, shifting it after a moment to the left ankle, left knee, left hip joint, sacral bone, right hip joint, right knee, right ankle, and right foot. In BJ2, they started by focusing their awareness on the left finger that pressed down the string, shifting it after a while to the left hand, left wrist joint, left elbow, left shoulder, left shoulder blade, spine, whole rib cage, right shoulder blade, right shoulder, right elbow, right wrist joint, right hand, and right fingers. In BJ3, they started by focusing their awareness on the space above the head, shifting it after a while to the skull, down the spine to the sacrum and simultaneously down the back of their legs to the feet. Figure 1 displays the three BJs.²

Figure 1.

The three body journeys used in this research.

Participants were told to maintain body awareness as constantly as possible during their BJs. They also were encouraged to strive throughout for a benevolent attitude towards themselves, registering the fluctuation of body sensations from moment to moment. Finally, they were explicitly allowed to change the experiment spontaneously should they feel the need to do so (e.g., to change the course of their “journey”).

Audio recordings

In order to minimize the differences across all journeys, researchers took care of maximal similarity concerning the setup of the recordings of the long notes played during the BJs (i.e., microphone position, gain stage of the microphone preamplifiers, recording position).

Markers for important moments

To place a time reference on which to rely during data analysis, participants were asked to give the researchers a sign whenever they felt that something special was happening that they might want to share during the interview, which would take place directly after the respective BJ. Such signs were given via eye contact (e.g., a wink) and allowed the sound engineer to set a marker as a point of orientation on the recording software.

Interviews

Short semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants after each BJ. First, participants were asked to explain with which body part each of the time markers corresponded and what had occurred at these points. They then were encouraged to mention any experience they wished to share. Finally, if not mentioned spontaneously, they were asked if they had noticed any change in sound (i.e., quality or volume) or in the fluidity of their movements. If they reported an increase in volume, they were asked at which point of their BJ it had occurred and if they felt they had used more physical effort during that moment. Notes taken during the interviews were transcribed and double-checked with the participants afterwards.

Data analysis

Sound analysis

In a first step, the recordings from the BJs were analysed to explore whether the sound had changed during one or more BJs, and if so, how and at what point. The psychoacoustical methods³ used to investigate the recordings were based on measurements of the spectral energy distribution as well as on three psychoacoustic descriptors: loudness (i.e., perceived volume), spectral centroid, and spectral roll-off (Peeters, 2004). Different audio analysis software was tested for suitability for the purpose of this study; finally, AudioSculpt (Version 3.4.5, 2016) was chosen (see Appendix for details about the descriptors, spectral energy distribution, spectral centroid, and spectral roll-off).

Loudness measurement

Loudness is a psychoacoustical rather than a physical attribute of sound. It corresponds to the sound intensity and the spectral content of the sound. Whereas the sound intensity as well as the spectral content can be objectively measured, loudness is an attribute of sound that determines the intensity of the auditory sensation produced by a sound. It is based on statistical measurements strictly connected to the human auditory system. The sone is a unit of loudness; its values describe changes in volume based on the isophonic curves (i.e., equal-loudness contours).⁴ The loudness plot provides fundamental information to assess the impact of the experiment at the dynamic level. The display of the loudness (Figure 2) shows the graphic of the spectral energy in the background as well. When a change of the spectral energy distribution is observed, it likely corresponds to a change in loudness. In fact, sound changes can be objectified more deeply when a direct relationship among the measurements taken on the spectral energy and the loudness can be observed.

Figure 2.

Loudness graph and spectrum of Alain’s BJ2.

Comparing sound analysis and interview data

To explore how qualitative and quantitative data could be merged and a potential relationship between the participants’ experiences and measurable results could be established, the sound analyses were compared with the notes from the interviews. The large amount of data was difficult to prioritize at first. After initial comparison of the data from recordings, sound analysis, and interviews, contrasting recordings of BJ2 (Alain, Michelle, Hanna)⁵ were selected. These participants’ interviews were compared in detail with the corresponding spectral analysis, loudness, spectral centroid, and spectral roll-off. Figure 3 shows the spectral energy graph and the loudness descriptor of Michelle’s BJ2 including the markers and the corresponding body parts as reference points for the comparison of sound data with interview data.

Figure 3.

Loudness graph and spectrum of Michelle’s BJ2.

In the next stage of the analysis, all participants’ interviews were re-examined and content analysed; data treatment was carried out using ATLAS.ti software (Version 8.1, 2017). To analyse and compare the large amount of qualitative and quantitative data, methods were tested in an iterative process in an adaption of grounded theory (see Corbin & Strauss, 2015). Participants’ statements, audio recordings, spectral analysis, and sound descriptors were compared, contrasted piece by piece against each other, and reviewed. Examples of tables and diagrams are shown in the Results section.

Results

In this section, the principal findings will be presented as follows: first, the body parts corresponding to the markers set by the participants; next, the loudness measurements and the interviews; and, finally, the comparison of qualitative and quantitative data.

Markers

A single BJ lasted from 46 to 185 s. Mean values for BJ1 were 84 s, for BJ2 98 s, and for BJ3 110 s. During the three BJs, the 11 participants set 111 markers: 32 in BJ1, 43 in BJ2, and 36 in BJ3. In 20 out of 33 BJs, they placed 3 or 4 markers, in 8 BJs 2 or fewer markers, and in 5 BJs 5 or more markers. Figure 4 displays the number of markers set by the participants per body part. In BJ1, the knees were marked most often, in BJ2, the rib cage, and in BJ3, the sacral bone. No relationship was found between duration of BJs and numbers of markers.

Figure 4.

Body parts of the BJs and the corresponding number of markers set by participants.

Loudness

Minimum and maximum

Table 1 presents the minimal and maximal loudness values of each participant’s BJs (examples are shown in Figures 2 and 3) as well as the ratios of the maximal and minimal values. The sone values indicate a stable sound lasting at least 1 second and refer to the tone, without the noise from the bow changes. Doubling the sone values or halving them corresponds to doubling or halving the perceived dynamic sensation.

Table 1.

Loudness extremes.

		BJ1			BJ2			BJ3
Participant	Grade	Min	Max	Ratio	Min	Max	Ratio	Min	Max	Ratio
Hanna	BA 1	3.5	5.0	1.43	3.3	5.2	1.58	3.3	5.3	1.61
Michelle	BA 3	3.2	5.8	1.81	3.1	6.1	1.97	4.6	7.1	1.54
Marie	BA 3	3.1	4.5	1.45	3.1	4.3	1.39	3.1	4.5	1.45
Maude	BA 3	5.5	7.8	1.42	6.5	8.7	1.34	7.1	8.4	1.18
Rose	BA 3	3.6	5.4	1.50	3.2	4.6	1.44	2.8	4.0	1.43
Jean	MA 1	4.4	6.2	1.41	4.8	6.2	1.29	4.3	5.8	1.35
Alain	MA 1	4.4	5.4	1.23	4.4	7.2	1.64	4.8	6.5	1.35
Laura	MA	2.8	4.2	1.50	4.0	5.2	1.30	3.5	5.0	1.43
Emilie	MA 2	4.0	5.9	1.48	5.0	6.9	1.38	4.2	6.8	1.62
Sophie	MA 2	2.9	4.9	1.69	4.0	6	1.50	4.0	5.9	1.48
Julie	MA	5.9	7.1	1.20	5.8	7.9	1.36	6.7	8.5	1.27
Mean				1.47			1.47			1.43

Six of the 11 participants reached their maximum loudness in BJ2, two in BJ3, one in BJ1, one participant in both BJ1 and BJ2, and one participant achieved the same maximum in all three BJs. One participant (Marie) generally played more softly (min = 3.1 sones, max ⩽ 4.5 sones), and two participants (Maude and Julie) played with more loudness (min ⩾ 5.5 sones, max ⩾ 7.1 sones) than the other eight. Most of the ratios were above 1.4, which can be considered as a relevant change.

Loudness and body regions

Figure 5 shows the body regions corresponding to the maximum loudness: in BJ1, 4 times the left side (one for passing from left foot to left knee, two for the left knee, and one without a marker), 7 times the pelvic region, and 6 times the right leg (two for the right knee and right foot, and two without a particular marker); in BJ2, once the left side (without marker), 7 times the rib cage region, and 5 times the right side (three for the right hand, and two without a marker); in BJ3, 7 times the head region including jaw bones and neck, 4 times the lower back including the sacral bone, and once the lower legs/feet. Ten times the maximum loudness values were reached twice during the same BJ (six times in BJ1, three times in BJ2, and once in BJ3).

Figure 5.

Body regions with the corresponding number of times participants reached maximum loudness values.

In BJ1 and BJ2, correlations were observed regarding laterality in the loudness curves of eight participants. If the loudness increased or decreased on one side of the body in BJ1, this was also the case in BJ2. For example, if an increase occurred in the region of the left knee in BJ1, there also was an increase in the region of the left elbow in BJ2; or if a decrease occurred in the region of the right hip bone in BJ1, there also was a decrease in the region of right shoulder in BJ2.

Interviews

Although all participants reported not having had previous experience with the body scan, they coped well with the BJs and the interviews that followed. During the interviews, participants often took their time between the sentences to recall their body sensations and to find suitable expressions to describe them. They mentioned, for example, “the transition to the legs was blurry” (Julie) and “it took me incredibly long to find the hip bones” (Sophie). A total of 149 statements of this kind were collected. In 105 of these, participants reported feelings of ease or unease, which included different grades of physical well-being, stability, easiness, difficulty, relaxation, precision, freedom, and “groundedness”. Twenty-five statements referred to the sound volume (e.g., Michelle: “It sounded louder”), 11 to the sound quality (e.g., Marie: “The sound quality in the right hand was more quiet, more clear”), and 8 statements had a neutral or general meaning (e.g., Jean: “I felt the arm weight when I moved on”). Furthermore, participants repeatedly made statements related to laterality (14), playing effort (10), time or tempo (9), and/or fluidity of movement (8).

When participants were asked if an extra effort had been necessary to increase the volume, they negated that. They rather indicated a moment of relaxation, an unintended increase of arm weight, or a sensation of greater lightness (e.g., Michelle: “It relaxed a little bit in the knees”, Julie: “not more effort, but more arm weight”, Laura: “a feeling of more lightness”).

Comparison of qualitative and quantitative data

Interviews and loudness measurement

Twenty-one of the 149 statements collected during the interviews could not be matched with the results of the sound analysis because of missing markers or a neutral or a general meaning. Ninety-two of the remaining 128 statements referred to different grades of ease. We expected that feelings of ease would be reflected in an increase of loudness and sound stability and vice versa. Indeed, in 86 of these statements, the loudness values were higher or more stable when participants reported having felt at ease, or lower or less stable when participants reported having not felt at ease (Table 2). Twenty-five statements referred to the sound volume and were, with one exception, all in line with the measured loudness values. Eleven statements referred to a better sound quality and were reflected in higher loudness values as expected.

Table 2.

Participants’ statements relative to loudness values.

		Loudness values
Statements	n	Expected change	As expected	Different
Grades of ease
positive (at ease)	64	Increase/stability	59	5
negative (not at ease)	28	Decrease/instability	27	1
Increase of sound	24	increase	23	1
Decrease of sound	1	decrease	1
Better sound quality	11	Increase/stability	11
No corresponding marker	13^a
Neutral expression	8^a
	149		121	7

Could not be matched with the results of the sound analysis (i.e., lack of information respectively neutral content).

Subtle sound changes and sound analysis

Finally, seven of the 128 statements that could not be related to the loudness measurement were analysed further to explore a possible connection between body awareness and sonic results. In six cases, the spectral roll-off and the spectral centroid representation together with the spectral analysis highlighted more subtle timbre changes or body sensations to which the participants referred. The most evident one was the roll-off stability (see Appendix, Figure A3) due to a certain body stability reported by participants or the roll-off instability due to a searching phase when the participants were shifting their awareness during the BJ. Indeed, the stationarity of the roll-off corresponded to a body stability and vice versa. In only one case, no relation could be found between the participants subjective experience and sound analysis.

Discussion

Main findings

Table 2 shows the most important finding. In 95% of the cases, the players’ perceptions of grades of ease and dynamics could be related easily to the loudness measurement. In practical terms, this indicates that non-judgmental, plain awareness of different body regions has a direct impact on the instrumental sound. As expected, the awareness of feelings of well-being and ease during the BJs correlated with higher dynamics and sound stability. From the data shown in Table 1, it also can be seen that the ratio between the maximal and minimal loudness value for each participant corresponded to a relevant change of loudness taking into account that the volume increase was not intentional.

The body regions with the highest positive impact on instrumental sound were the pelvis, right leg, rib cage and head (Figure 5). At first, it appears that these body regions are not directly linked to instrumental technique, but our findings indicate that by using body awareness during the BJs, such a link becomes established. In fact, participants regularly stated that volume increases had happened unintentionally and without a specific effort. These increases were accompanied by sensations of increased arm weight, general relaxation, or feelings of lightness. This enables us to hypothesize that body awareness during instrument playing induces non-voluntary changes in the musculoskeletal system that influence the efficiency of the instrumental technique.

Implications for practice

The BJs can be adapted easily for teaching sessions and workshops, enabling instructors and students to create a space for sharing an experience in a context of mutual participation, beyond the need to fulfil externally imposed goals. Tools such as Sonic Visualiser⁶ and Audacity⁷ are readily available at no cost. We consider that regular spectral analysis carried out during the teaching process can be used to clarify the understanding of sonic improvement during the development of instrumental skills.

Based on our results, we assume that body awareness has a significant impact not only on single tones but also on whole musical phrases or passages. BJs could be helpful in discovering individual body spots that might serve as anchors during performances, thus facilitating specific sounds or a particular musical expression, helping to surmount technical difficulties, and shifting one’s attention when caught up by stage fright or negative thoughts. Body awareness creates space for exploration and creativity, not only during lessons, but also during practicing, rehearsing, and performing.

Ideas for future research

Taken together, our approach combining BJs with interviews and sound analysis proved to be suitable to detect links between body awareness and instrumental sound. The limited number of participants and types of instruments included in this pilot study does not allow us to draw more general conclusions, but the first results presented here bring forward ideas for future research.

In some cases, the reports of the participants were not sufficiently detailed, rendering later comparison of interviews and sound analysis difficult. It therefore is important to encourage the participants to describe their experience during the BJs in great detail. Based on our experience, interviews after the BJs should be held in two parts with space for free narration at the beginning, followed by a semi-structured discussion. A video recording of the interviews could be helpful to record details such as when participants show the body parts to which they refer without indicating them verbally.

Conclusions

Body awareness is a straightforward means of acquiring self-contact in an open-minded manner. The body always offers the possibility to become aware of the present moment, be it in a professional context or in private life. Body journeys put the focus on the lived experience; they are easy to carry out and therefore highly suitable for introducing body awareness in a teaching environment. Body awareness during instrument playing has a direct impact on the sound. It can open musicians’ sensory perception and encourage the development of self-knowledge and stage presence. Sound analysis additionally allows quantification of the influence of the personal experience on instrumental sound.

Studies involving other groups and instruments during prolonged periods of time are necessary to further explore the impact of body awareness on instrumental sound and technique, the interplay within an ensemble, and psychological and physical well-being, including stage fright, professional stress, and related health issues.

Footnotes

Appendix

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Notes

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