Implications of Embodied Cognition and Schema Theory for Discerning Potential Meanings of Improvised Rhythm

Rhythm is an essential and therefore indispensable aspect of all music. Arguably, rhythmic elements are the most accessible of all the musical elements for clients in music therapy to produce and manipulate expressively (Hiller, 2011). Yet, theoretical understanding of rhythm and its use in musical expression is a neglected area of both music therapy (Bunt, 1994; Daveson & Skewes, 2002) and musicological inquiry (Gabrielsson, 1993; Kramer, 1988; Mead, 1999). However, the area of psychological investigation known as “embodied cognition” or “schema theory,” which has been constructively applied to composed tonal music, may prove fruitful in deepening our understanding of potential meanings of rhythm in music therapy, particularly in clinical improvisation. Aigen (2009) has astutely noted that music therapists must take responsibility for providing theoretical explanations of the therapeutic meanings of all the musical elements used in therapy processes. How do we explain a client’s rhythm? Where do a client’s abilities to use rhythm for self-expression and to relate to others come from? Ansdell (1997) supports the notion that music therapy and musicology can enhance each other’s pursuits of knowledge regarding music. Significantly, Aigen (2005, 2009) has been a leading author in bringing concepts from schema theory to music therapy toward explaining tonal aspects of clinically improvised music. This chapter seeks to shed light on the meaning potentials of rhythm in improvisation from the perspective of schema theory and to briefly highlight implications for improvisational music therapy.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/books/1055/thumbnail.jp

An Investigation of Meaning in Clinical Music Improvisation with Troubled Adolescents

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate meaning-making in clinical music improvisation with troubled adolescents. Participants were six youth from two partial hospitalization programs. These individuals, ranging in age from 12 to 17, had severe behavioral and emotional disturbances. Each participant was involved in approximately five improvisation sessions with the researcher. The adolescents were asked to create nonreferential and referential instrumental improvisations, both alone and with the researcher. After each improvisation, the participants and the researcher listened to and/or talked about the piece. Selected improvisations were then analyzed using Bruscia’s (1987) Improvisation Assessment Profiles (IAPs), in order to discern intramusical and intermusical relationships. Textual data from session transcripts and field notes were analyzed, and intrapersonal and interpersonal relationships were identified. Musical and textual data were compared, as were data for the participants and the researcher. While the manner in which the musical elements were organized to create meaningful improvisations was unique to each individual, tendencies did appear across cases with respect to rhythmic integration, tonal expression, timbre, and playing configuration. Analysis of the verbal meanings assigned to the improvisational products and processes also revealed commonalities, such as the perception that music evoked emotions and allowed for the expression of existing feeling states. A comparison of participant and researcher data revealed both divergent and analogous musical and verbal meaning-making tendencies. Conclusions and implications for clinical practice, education and training, and further study are presented

Innermost Echoes: Integrating Real-Time Physiology into Live Music Performances

In this paper, we propose a method for utilizing musical artifacts and physiological data as a means for creating a new form of live music experience that is rooted in the physiology of the perform- ers and audience members. By utilizing physiological data (namely Electrodermal Activity (EDA) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)) and applying this data to musical artifacts including a robotic koto (a traditional 13-string Japanese instrument fitted with solenoids and linear actuators), a Eurorack synthesizer, and Max/MSP software, we aim to develop a new form of semi-improvisational and signif- icantly indeterminate performance practice. It has since evolved into a multi-modal methodology which honors improvisational performance practices and utilizes physiological data which of- fers both performers and audiences an ever-changing and intimate experience. In our first exploratory phase, we focused on the development of a means for controlling a bespoke robotic koto in conjunction with a Eurorack synthesizer system and Max/MSP software for controlling the incoming data. We integrated a reliance on physiological data to infuse a more directly human elements into this artifact system. This allows a significant portion of the decision-making to be directly controlled by the incoming physiological data in real-time, thereby affording a sense of performativity within this non-living system. Our aim is to continue the development of this method to strike a novel balance between intentionality and impromptu performative results

Composing for improvisers : information flow, collaborative composition and individual freedom in large ensembles

Rooted in the lineages of European ‘free’ improvisation, jazz, the New York ‘Downtown’ scene, Chicago’s AACM, and various ‘indeterminate’ approaches, this research project deals with the creation and evaluation of a portfolio of compositions, each of which explores particular facets of the open-ended and interpretable links between composer, performer and piece, exploiting interactive and real-time elements inherent in collective music-making. The compositional models I have developed here focus specifically on large groups of improvisers, and aim to function malleably in ways that encourage collaboration and prioritise the freedoms, personal voices and creative powers of all involved, whilst maintaining a degree of compositional integrity.Following an iterative methodology of experimentation, performance and reflection, this portfolio evolves, via several pieces that each focus on particular criteria, towards 'Micromotives', a collection of pieces designed to be collectively constructed in real-time by a large improvising ensemble. 'Micromotives' provides a modus operandi that is largely consistent with that of free improvisation, bypassing fixed authority figures, timelines and personnel groupings that are common yet arguably problematic staples of many comparable approaches that have emerged since the 1960s (Butcher, 2011; Stenström, 2009). Instead, performer obligations are removed so that predetermined materials can be referred to as and when they are desired. Any player can try to instigate collective action at any time, and is able to communicate detailed information in real-time by way of a series of bespoke hand signs. Underpinned by an ethos of invitation, as opposed to direction, 'Micromotives' allows larger numbers of improvisers to maintain high levels of individual freedom whilst simultaneously enabling constituent pieces to be distinguishable from one another, encouraging modes of collective synchronicity that are virtually unheard in large ensemble free improvisation

Key Components of Musical Discourse Analysis

Musical discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary study which is incomplete without consideration of relevant social, linguistic, psychological, visual, gestural, ritual, technical, historical and musicological aspects. In the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, musical discourse can be interpreted as social practice: it refers to specific means of representing specific aspects of the social (musical) sphere. The article introduces a general view of contemporary musical discourse, and analyses genres from the point of ‘semiosis’, ‘social agents’, ‘social relations’, ‘social context’, and ‘text’. These components of musical discourse analysis, in their various aspects and combinations, should help thoroughly examine the context of contemporary musical art, and determine linguistic features specific to different genres of musical discourse

Different Every Time: The Integration of Improvisation into Through-Composed Music

The aim of this research project has been to write a portfolio of compositions which integrate improvisation with through-composed contemporary classical techniques. The intended result is that the improvised elements aid the development and outcome of the musical argument and help contribute to the architectural structure of each piece in performance. The stylistic elements and structure of the compositions should embrace the aesthetics of improvisation in a way that promotes both coherence and flexibility. Although the written score is an important document of the composer’s intentions, equal importance is placed on the process of creative realisation. It is in performance that the benefits of improvisation can be evaluated in each piece. These will include elements of spontaneity, a heightened sense of engagement of both performers and audience, and unpredictable outcomes. Above all, the integration of improvisation into the compositions will lead to each perform ance being a unique experience

Free as in BEER: Some Explorations into Structured Improvisation Using Networked Live-Coding Systems

Much improvised music that has developed since the advent of free jazz has been concerned with the imposition of structure, often through systems of directed improvisation, or through the use of rule-based approaches (e.g., game pieces). In this article, we explore the possibility of a networked live-coding system as a structural intervention mechanism par excellence, through the discussion of two pieces from the repertoire of the Birmingham Ensemble for Electroacoustic Researc