Perceiver movements

So far, we have only talked about the music-related motion of performers. But there are also several different types of motion to be observed in people experiencing music, the perceivers. The main movement categories are the same, however. Perceivers can also have sound-producing actions, most notably when clapping during performances. And this clapping is quite different, dependent on the genre. In the classical context, for example, the audience typically clap at the beginning and at the end of the pieces.

In such a setting, the audience is not expected to clap during the performance, not even between certain parts. This sometimes lead to some awkward situations in which people may tend to shift the positions between different parts, which in fact, may also lead to some sounds being produced, for example, chairs moving coughing, and so on.

In jazz settings, on the other hand, audiences are expected to clap after solos. While in the rock setting, the audience members often make a lot of sound throughout the entire performance.

For sound-accompanying motion there are also some differences. People attending classical concerts generally move little but they always move and they often move in relation to the musical sound. Jazz audiences typically move in relation to the pulse of the music, for example, through foot tapping or head nodding. While rock audiences may use their entire body and even play air instruments.

A lot of movement is also the case in club settings, in which the audiences typically dance to the beat of the music.

So we have looked at many different types of movements in a musical context, but Hans, are these different types of movements– how are they also related to how we communicate? Well, I think when we communicate, we also have a rhythm and we have a movement and a pattern that we are responding to each other. I’m nodding, for example. When you talk to me. I nod. It’s like a turn-taking between us. Yeah, you could call it that. That we respond in a rhythmical sense, and we are back and forth. It’s a musical thing. Yes, so to communicate is actually musical. Oh, yes. Well, let’s just try to sum up.

As we have seen here, there are numerous types of music-related body motion. As music researchers, we have developed terminology to describe the different types of motion as precisely as possible.

This includes a clear distinction between motion, action, and gesture, and between different functional categories such as sound-producing, sound-modifying sound-accompanying and communicative movements.

In this video, we have mainly looked at individual examples. Of course, the real musical world is much more complex than this. With all of these movement types being combined and with multiple performers and audience members interacting. All of this we will look more at in the coming videos.