The Relationship between Explicit Planning and Expressive Performance of Dynamic Variations in an Aural Modeling Task

Abstract

The present study is an examination of the performance of expressive dynamic variations by advanced pianists in an aural modeling (imitative) performance task. Twenty-four university musicians listened to expressive performances of short piano excerpts played for them via MIDI on a Yamaha Disklavier acoustic piano. These expressive models contained idiomatic features (musically appropriate) and nonidiomatic features (musically inappropriate). After hearing each model, subjects reported their thoughts regarding dynamic variations they had heard and then attempted to imitate the model in their own performance on the piano. Results indicated that expressive performance of dynamic variations is influenced by the performer's explicit identification of dynamic features and their incorporation into a specific goal performance plan. Analyses of individual dynamic features revealed that subjects who identified features consistently performed the features differently than did the subjects who did not identify them. Subjects who identified features played nonidiomatic features more accurately and played idiomatic features at more pronounced overall levels.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Clarke, E. F. (1993). Imitating and evaluating real and transformed musical performances. Music Perception, 10(3), 317–341.

Clarke, E. F. , & Baker-Short, C. (1987). The imitation of perceived rubato: A preliminary study. Psychology of Music, 15(1), 58–75.

Cohen, J. , & Cohen, P. (1975). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis in the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Crutcher, R. J. , Ericsson, K. A. , & Wichura, C. A. (1994). Improving the encoding of verbal reports using MPAS: A computer-aided encoding system. Behavioral Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 26, 167–171.

Dickey, M. R. (1992). A review of research on modeling in music teaching and learning. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 113, 27–40.

Ericsson, K A. , & Simon, H. A. (1993). Protocol analysis: Verbal reports as data (revised edition). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Gabrielsson, A. (1995). Expressive intention and performance. In R. Steinberg (Ed.), Music and the mind machine. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Gabrielsson, A. , & Juslin, P. N. (1996). Emotional expression in music performance: Between the performer's intention and the listener's experience. Psychology of Music, 24, 68–91.

Gordon, E. E. (1985). Research studies in audiation. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 84, 34–50.

10.

Gordon, E. E. (1993). Learning sequences in music. Chicago: G.I.A. Publications.

11.

Johnson, C. M. (1996). The performance of Mozart: Study of rhythmic timing by skilled musicians. Psychomusicology, 15, 87–109.

12.

Johnson, C. M. (1998). Effect of instruction in appropriate rubato usage on the onset timings and perceived musicianship of musical performances. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 436–445.

13.

Repp, B. H. (1992). A constraint on the expressive timing of a melodic gesture: Evidence from performance and aesthetic judgment. Music Perception, 10(2), 221–242.

14.

Rideout, R. R. (1992). The role of mental presets in skill acquisition. In R. Colwell (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 472–479). New York: Schirmer.

15.

Rosenthal, R. K. (1984). The relative effects of guided model, model only, guide only, and practice only treatments on the accuracy of advanced instrumentalists' musical performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 32, 265–273.

16.

Rosenthal, R. K. , Wilson, M. , Evans, M. , & Greenwalt, L. (1988). Effects of different practice conditions on advanced instrumentalists' performance accuracy. Journal of Research in Music Education, 36, 250–257.

17.

Royal Conservatory of Music Piano Syllabus (3rd ed.). (1994). Toronto, Canada: The Frederick Harris Music Co.

18.

Sang, R. C. (1987). A study of the relationship between instrumental music teachers' modeling skills and pupil performance behaviors. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 91, 155–159.

19.

Shaffer, L. H. (1995). Musical performance as interpretation. Psychology of Music, 23, 17–38.

20.

Sharp, M. D. (1988). Relationships among model performances and performances by piano majors: Articulation and dynamics in selected Bach fugal excerpts (Doctoral dissertation, Louisiana State University, 1988). Dissertation Abstracts International, 50, A1243.

21.

Sloboda, J. A. (1983). The communication of musical metre in piano performance. (Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 35A, 377–396.

22.

Sloboda, J. A. (1985). The musical mind: The cognitive psychology of music. Oxford, England: Clarendon.

23.

Sloboda, J. A. (1996). The acquisition of musical performance expertise: Deconstructing the “talent” account of individual differences in musical expressivity. In K. A. Ericsson (Ed.), The road to excellence: The acquisition of expert performance in the arts and sciences, sports and games (pp. 107–126). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

24.

Tait, M. (1992). Teaching strategies and styles. In R. Colwell (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 525–534). New York: Schirmer.

25.

Woody, R. H. (in press). Learning expressivity in music performance: An exploratory study. Research Studies in Music Education.

26.

Yarbrough, C , Speer, D. , & Parker, S. (1993). Perception and performance of dynamics and articulation among young pianists. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 118, 33–43.