Anderson, N. A. 1980. "Aim-Directed Movement: improving technique by focusing on hand motion." Guitar Player 14:27-28.
motor behavior/music.
Baer, D. E. Motor skill proficiency: its relationship to instrumental music performance achievement and music aptitude.
motor behavior/music education.
Baily, John. 1977. "Movement Patterns in Playing the Herati Dutar," In The Anthropology of the Body, editor John Blacking, 275-330. Association of Social Anthropologists Monograph, 15. London: Academic Press.
Baily examines the performance techniques for three types of dutar played in and around Herat, Afghanistan, and compares them in the context of the anatomical, physiological, and psychological organization of the human motor system. His central thesis is that the interaction between the human body and the morphology of the instrument may shape the structure of the music, channelling human creativity in predictable directions. Baily first describes the changes in morphology of the dutar, which began in about 1950, from the 2- to 3- to 14-stringed versions. Given that the invention of the 14-stringed version was strongly influenced by the rebab, he frequently comments on that instrument also. Next Baily looks at the interaction between the human body and the dutar-s; right-hand patterns are considered, but since melodies are realized on a single string on all dutar-s, left hand patterns are stressed. For the left hand, visual, tactile, and aural feedback all play a role in competent performance, though to varying degrees on different dutar-s. The linear array of the dutar fretboard (as opposed to the tiered array of the rebab fretboard) poses a greater challenge to spatio-motor coordination. Traditional melodies specifically associated with the earlier dutar-s tend toward meandering downward motion, which helps reduce spatial confusion. The 14-stringed dutar, however, was specifically invented to play some of the "classical" rebab repertoire with very different types of melodies—but since these melodies are still realized on a linear array (on only one of the 14 strings), this lends to greater spatial confusion, and hence makes the 14-stringed dutar a more difficult instrument to play (for the left hand). Traditional Herati music is highly compatible with the spatial layout of the dutar, whereas the rebab is ideally suited to Afghan classical music. "This shows how closely these two kinds of music are adapted to the instruments on which they are habitually played and suggests that in both instances the instrument has to some degree shaped the music."
Baily uses the above observations to make some conclusions with wider implications. First, certain motor structures underlie musical styles on a given instrument, and these motor structures can become a generative grammar for further composition and improvisation. Second, assuming that the physiology and psychology underlying the ability to play an instrument are universal to humans, it should be theoretically possible to devise absolute measures of skill that have cross-cultural validity.
This article provides an excellent model for describing and comparing instrumental playing techniques in the context of human motor control. More important insights were gained from comparing dutar-s as a whole with the rebab than from comparing the three types of dutar with each other, and perhaps the title should have taken account of this. Since in this study Baily mainly considers competent players and less the process of skill acquisition, the emphasis falls on motor control rather than motor learning. His concept of a generative motor grammar seems to favor a schematic/computational view of cognition. On the other hand, the idea that feedback in the form of relative difficulty of playing musical styles on a given instrument shapes subsequent compositional and improvisational behavior has shades of a dynamical/ecological view of cognition.
Joshua Veltman.
anthropology/ethnomusicology/cognition/physiology.
Baily, John. 1985. "Music Structure and Human Movement," In Musical Structure and Cognition, editors Peter Howell, Ian Cross, and R. West. London: Academic Press.
cognition/ethnomusicology/physiology.
Baily, John. 1992. "Music Performance, Motor Structure, and Cognitive Models," in European Studies in Ethnomusicology: Historical Developments and Recent Trends, editors Max Peter Baumann, Artur Simon, and Ulrich Wegner, 142-158. Intercultural Music Studies, series editor. Max Peter Baumann, 4. Wilhelmshaven: Florian Noetzel Verlag.
Describes psychological approaches to musical cognition, in a tradition stretching from Helmholtz to Seashore to Sloboda, and their counterparts in the history of ethnomusicology, from von Hornbostel to Blacking, Kubik, and Wegner. Calls for a review of von Hornbostel's work for psychological insights (146). Contrasts psychological with anthropological approaches to the same subject, so-called cognitive anthropology or ethno-science that analyzes the use of language in classification systems, such as the ethnomusicological work of Zemp and Feld. While the anthropological approach relies on "verbalized music theory," psychology does not. Describes his own work in studying the cognition of performance in terms of "motor grammars," in the use of "spatio-motor mode" as a source of musical creativity. Outlines "three sets of factors: the morphology of the instrument, the movement patterns used in playing it, and the structural characteristics of the music produced" (148-149). Takes exception to Sloboda's privileging of the mental representation of musical patterns over the representation of motor patterns in a "hierarchy of levels," to the implication that musical thinking in terms of body movements constitutes inferior musicianship, and to the view of Western musical composition as an ultimate triumph of the musical mind over the body. Suggests that musical and motor patterns be accorded equal importance in the cognition of performance (not unlike the interrelated "image of the act" and "image of achievement" mentioned in Whiting, et al's 1992 review of the motor control and learning literature). Presents a simple example of a "motor grammar," six ergonomic rules for right-hand strokes in playing the Afghan rubab with which the player may make musical decisions. Concludes with a call for ethnomusicologists to use some methodological ingenuity in looking further into musical cognition and enculturation, "but that does not mean that they should start undertaking controlled quantitative experiments in the field. Such an enterprise would be quite alien to the humanistic spirit of the ethnomusicological endeavour" (155). Calls for graduate training for ethnomusicologists to include coursework in music cognition, for there to be more anthropological work on musicians' introspections on their mental operations in performance, and for a new emphasis on children's music and musical enculturation.
Commentary: Although he concentrates on a "motor grammar," author does not seem to come out strongly in favor either of a computational or an ecological view of motor behavior in music. For example: "Whether the music can be said to have been generated from the instrument, or the instrument to have been adopted or designed so that certain pre-existing musical structures can be readily produced by patterns of movement, is perhaps immaterial, for both possibilities assume the importance of human factors which interact with the spatial layout" (150). Is this an ecological argument, i.e., one that seeks an integral relationship between perception and action, environment and actor? Do we not also need a theory of the relationship of instrument construction to environmental, visual, tactile, ergonomic, and musical factors?
Mark DeWitt
This article provides an overview of psychological and anthropological perspectives of music cognition, with an emphasis on performance, rather than perception of music. His own research has investigated the nature of mental representations of musical performance. He proposes that there may be a motor grammar associated with playing an instrument, and that these grammars may arise from characteristics of the motor movements involved in strumming. Hence, his research seems to reflect both the motor programming theories (Rosenbaum's definition of motor programs includes a rule system) and dynamical system theories (the inclusion of motor constraints). The article is very readable, provides a hopeful account of reconciling the concerns within the domains of anthropology and psychology, and between ethnomusicology and psychology, and offers ways to expand the field of cognitive ethnomusicology. One of his desires is to expand the study of children's music and performance as a way to study how cognitive representations of music are developed; this sounds strikingly similar to the comments of Whiting et al. (1992).
Rosalee Meyer.
ML3797.7.E876 1990 MUSI.
music/cognition/ethnomusicology/physiology.
Baily, John, and Peter Driver. 1992. "Spatio-Motor Thinking in Playing Folk Blues Guitar." World of Music 34/3:57-71.
A short theoretical study of what constitutes idiomatic guitar-playing in folk blues, rock, and jazz styles. Focus is mostly on ergonomic issues; questions about cognition are raised but not substantively addressed: "How does the performer consciously represent the task performed, in terms of the planning and execution of action? How is that representation used in the process of performance? What do musicians have to tell us about their introspections regarding performance?" (59) It seems that no fieldwork or experiments were done for this paper; anecdotes and details of performance practice are culled from secondary sources, with no mention of personal experience of the authors. Cites the accordion as another instrument, like the guitar, that is used in widely different ways in different musical styles.
music/cognition/aesthetics/ethnomusicology/physiology.
Blacking, John. 1977. "Towards an Anthropology of the Body," In The Anthropology of the Body, editor John Blacking, 1-28. Association of Social Anthropologists Monograph, 15. London: Academic Press.
anthropology/ethnomusicology/cognition/physiology.
Brunner, L. 1989. "Fingering and psychomotor development in the child." The Flutist Quarterly 14:31.
motor behavior/music education.
Carlsen, James. 1986. "Motor learning in music: A preface." Psychomusicology 6/1-2:5-6.
motor behavior/music education.
Daniow, Elliott. 1977. "Physical effects and motor responses to music." Journal of research in music education 25/3:
Bibliography.
motor behavior/music education.
Deecke, Luder. 1995. "Motor cortical fields and rhythmic coordination of the hands in music performance," in Music and the mind machine: The psychophysiology and psychopathology of the sense of music, editor Reinhard Steinberg, 225-241. Berlin: Springer.
motor behavior/music.
Deecke, Luder, and Wilfried Lang. 1989. "Motorische Hirnrindenfelder und rhythmische Koordination der Hande beim Musizieren," in Musik--Gehirn--Spiel: Beitrage zum vierten Herbert von Karajan-Symposium, 163-178. Basel: Birkhauser.
Translation of title: Areas for motor activity in the cerebral cortex and rhythmic coordination of the hands when playing a musical instrument.
motor behavior/music/neuroscience.
Freund, Hans-Joachim. 1989. "Handmotorik und musikalisches Lernen (Hand motor activity and musical learning)," Musik--Gehirn--Spiel: Beitrage zum vierten Herbert von Karajan-Symposium, 103-110. Basel: Birkhauser.
motor behavior/music.
Halsband, U., and et al. 1994. "The role of the perception of rhythmic grouping in musical performance: evidence from motor-skill development in piano playing." Music Perception 11/3:265-288.
motor behavior/music/rhythm/perception.
Harvey, Nigel. 1985.
"Vocal Control in Singing," In Musical Structure and Cognition, editors Peter Howell, Ian Cross, and R. West, 287-332. London: Academic Press.
Outlines singing as a motor skill involving the coordination of three subsystems: exhalation, phonation, and articulation. cognition/ethnomusicology/physiology.
Hedden, S. K. 1987. "Recent research pertaining to psychomotor skills in music." Council For Research In Music Education Bulletin 90:25-29.
motor behavior/music.
Johnson, Anna. 1984. "Voice Physiology and Ethnomusicology: Physiological and Acoustical Studies of the Swedish Herding Song." Yearbook for Traditional Music 16:42-66.
cognition/ethnomusicology/physiology.
Johnson, Anna, Johan Sundberg, and Hermann Wilbrand. 1985. "'Kölning': Study of Phonation and Articulation in a Type of Swedish Herding Song". in editors. A. Askenfeldt, S. Felicetti, E. Jansson, and J. Sundberg, SMAC 83: Proceedings of the Stockholm Music Acoustics Conference, July 28-August 1, 1983, 187-202. Stockholm: Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
cognition/ethnomusicology/physiology.
Kaipainen, Mauri. 1994. Dynamics of musical knowledge ecology: Knowing-what and knowing-how in the world of sounds. Acta musicologica fennica, 19. Helsinki: Suomen Musiikkitieteellinen Seura.
PhD diss., Musicology, Helsingin Yliopisto, 1994.
motor behavior/music/cognition.
Krampe, Ralf Thomas. 1991. Maintaining excellence: Cognitive-motor performance in pianists differing in age and skill level. [dissertation]. Berlin: Erziehungs- u. Unterrichtswissenschaften, Freie U.
motor behavior/music/cognition.
Lehmann, S. 1995. "Grundsaetze der motorischen Entwicklung und ihre Bedeutung fuer den fruehen Blockfloetenunterricht." Tibia 20/2:431-438.
motor behavior/music education.
MacKenzie, C. L. 1986. "Motor skill in music performance: comments on Sidnell." Psychomusicology 6/1-2:25-28.
motor behavior/music.
McArthur, V. H. An application of instructional task analysis and biomechanical motion analysis to elementary cognitive and psychomotor piano learning and performance.
motor behavior/music education.
Miklaszewski, Kacper. 1995. "Representation of musical structure in the player's performance and mind: A review," Der Horer als Interpret, 81-97. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Lang.
motor behavior/cognition/music.
Murry, T., and M. P. Caligiuri. 1989. "Phonatory and nonphonatory motor control in singers." Journal Of Voice 3/3:257-263.
motor behavior/music/singing.
Rouget, Gilbert. 1977. "Music and Possession Trance," In The Anthropology of the Body, editor John Blacking, 233-239. Association of Social Anthropologists Monograph, 15. London: Academic Press.
anthropology/ethnomusicology/cognition/physiology.
Sidnell, R. G. 1986. "Motor learning in music education." Psychomusicology 6/1-2:7-18.
motor behavior/music education.
Steinberg, Reinhard, editor. 1995. Music and the mind machine: The psychophysiology and psychopathology of the sense of music. xiv, 270 p. Berlin: Springer.
motor behavior/music/cognition.
Summers, Jeffery J., Jennifer A. Todd, and Young H. Kim. 1993. "The influence of perceptual and motor factors on bimanual coordination in a polyrhythmic tapping task." Psychological research: An international journal of perception, learning and communication 55/2:107-115.
motor behavior/music/rhythm.
Todd, Neil P. McAngus. 1992. "The dynamics of dynamics: A model of musical expression." Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 91/6:3540-3550.
This article proposes and tests a theory as to why certain expressive combinations of tempo and dynamics seem "natural" in music performance. A main premise of the theory is that musical expression has its origins in simple motor actions and that the performance and perception of tempo and dynamics is based on an internal sense of motion. Performance data were analyzed for a Chopin prelude (gathered on a piano equipped to record performance data, similar to the Bösendorfer here at OSU). (The analysis makes extensive use of advanced mathematics, and for this reason I am not in a position to evaluate it.) The main implication of the analysis is that expression based on simple mechanics, e.g. constant acceleration, sounds natural.
The author provides the following psychological/neurophysiological interpretation for this. The organs of the inner ear (central vestibular system) have long been known to be sensitive to gravity and linear and rotational acceleration. It has recently been shown that these organs may also be sensitive to sound vibrations. So, it may be the case that expressive sounds can induce a percept of self-motion in the listener and that the internal sense of musical motion referred to above may have its origin in the central vestibular system. Thus, according to this theory, the reason why expression based on the equations of elementary mechanics sounds natural is that the vestibular system evolved to deal with precisely these kinds of motions.
While the theory is provocative, the pool of performance data for this study was relatively small (I was was not clear whether it was one piece played by several different performers or one performer playing it several times). The author avows that the scope must be widened to include a range of performers and musical styles. This theory was conceived and tested within the paradigm of Western art music, so it would be interesting to explore if and how this theory applies to various non-Western musics, with a view to determining possible cross-cultural validity. The article also lacks any overt explanation of whose criterion of "naturalness" was used (presumably the performer’s and/or the author’s). Despite these reservations, it seems that Todd’s theory is a significant step toward explaining the connection between music and bodily movement.
motor behavior/music.