Touch and talk: detailing embodied experience in the music masterclass

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ABSTRACT This paper analyses talk and touch in interaction in a musical masterclass setting. It shows how sequences of touch and talk enable the public evaluation and instruction of internal body experience through a focus on three forms of touch: “demonstrative touch,” “diagnostic touch,” and “manipulative touch.” As a consequence, it highlights the mechanisms of semiotic power in the instructional relationship as the province of private reflection (the embodied sense) is made public and available for the embodied instruction of a group of students.