Expressive Piano Performance Research Articles

Interaction of motor practice and memory training in expressive piano performance: expanding the possibilities of improvisation.

This paper aimed to investigate the influence of motor practice and music performance experiences on musicians' auditory memory, the effect of auditory distinctiveness on melody recognition, and the differences in the working memory of classical and jazz pianists. The study was conducted among 26 jazz and 24 classical music students at Shenyang Conservatory of Music. To achieve the goal set, a melody recognition ability was analyzed after listening, performing without sound, and simultaneous listening and performing using computer recordings and pianist-taken notes. The study was conducted following repeated measures mixed design. The within-group variable was the learning condition. As the within-participant variable, the number of melody practicing trials was chosen. The type of influence on auditory memory was chosen as a between-group variable. The dependent variables were auditory recognition score, motor imagery ability, and auditory imagery ability. Students' recognition of the heard melodies was assessed by means of a 3-point Likert scale. Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to investigate the relationship between working memory and other student characteristics. The study outcomes unveiled that pianists are much better at recognizing tunes they generate themselves in auditory-motor practice than auditory practice alone. It was pointed out that the ability to recognize melody in auditory-motor learning is influenced by its acoustic characteristics. Hence, melodies that are slow in tempo and regular in time and intensity are easier to recognize than more variable pieces.

Psycho-physiological responses to expressive piano performance

The present study examined selected autonomic and cardio-respiratory responses of nine elite pianists during solo performances of the same single musical piece. The subjects performed the piece with and without self-perceived emotional expression, and with and without free ancillary body movements during expressive performance. Autonomic nervous system and cardio-respiratory parameters were continuously monitored during all experimental conditions. These parameters were heart rate (HR), sweating rate, the root mean square of successive difference (RMSSD) of heart rate variability and respiratory measurements such as oxygen consumption (VO2), minute ventilation, tidal volume and respiratory rate. Kinematics of the trunk and arms were recorded during all conditions. The subjects also provided subjective rating of the emotions that they experienced during their performances for each experimental condition. Analysis revealed that expressive performance clearly produced higher levels of valence and arousal than the non-expressive condition. This observation is consistent with current embodiment theory. The expressive condition also had significantly higher levels of HR, sweating rate, minute ventilation, and tidal volume, and lower levels of RMSSD and respiratory rate than the non-expressive condition. No difference was found for VO2 between these conditions. The expressive condition with ancillary body movements did not significantly differentiate any of the physiological measures except for respiratory rate from those observed without such body movements. These findings suggested that expressive musical performance could modulate the emotion-related autonomic and cardio-respiratory responses that are independent of the effect of physiological load due to expressive ancillary body movements in playing the selected music on the piano.

An Algorithm to Extract Expressive Timing and Dynamics from Piano Recordings

Measurable features of expressive piano performance include timing, dynamics, articulation and pedalling. This paper concerns the measurement of expressive timing and dynamics in audio recordings of piano music using a multi-stage semi-automated expression extraction process. A digitised version of the musical score is synchronised with the audio recording using a simple manual beat tapping system. The continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is then employed, with a Morlet wavelet, to correct the beat tapped times, and any further errors are then corrected manually. Precise note and chord onset times and dynamics of the recorded performance can then be calculated using the CWT. Sample results of the measurement of expression in keyboard music by Bach are given and the application of the algorithms to end users discussed.

Modeling, analyzing, and synthesizing expressive piano performance with graphical models

Trained musicians intuitively produce expressive variations that add to their audience’s enjoyment. However, there is little quantitative information about the kinds of strategies used in different musical contexts. Since the literal synthesis of notes from a score is bland and unappealing, there is an opportunity for learning systems that can automatically produce compelling expressive variations. The ESP (Expressive Synthetic Performance) system generates expressive renditions using hierarchical hidden Markov models trained on the stylistic variations employed by human performers. Furthermore, the generative models learned by the ESP system provide insight into a number of musicological issues related to expressive performance.

Visualizing Expressive Performance in Tempo—Loudness Space

December 01 2003 Visualizing Expressive Performance in Tempo—Loudness Space Jö;rg Langner, Jö;rg Langner Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany, jllangner@aol.com Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Werner Goebl Werner Goebl Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (ÖFAI), Freyung 6/VI, 1010 Vienna, Austria, werner.goebl@ai.univie.ac.at Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Jö;rg Langner Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany, jllangner@aol.com Werner Goebl Austrian Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence (ÖFAI), Freyung 6/VI, 1010 Vienna, Austria, werner.goebl@ai.univie.ac.at Online ISSN: 1531-5169 Print ISSN: 0148-9267 © 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology2003 Computer Music Journal (2003) 27 (4): 69–83. https://doi.org/10.1162/014892603322730514 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Jö;rg Langner, Werner Goebl; Visualizing Expressive Performance in Tempo—Loudness Space. Computer Music Journal 2003; 27 (4): 69–83. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/014892603322730514 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsComputer Music Journal Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2003 Massachusetts Institute of Technology2003 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Articulation Strategies in Expressive Piano Performance Analysis of Legato, Staccato, and Repeated Notes in Performances of the Andante Movement of Mozart’s Sonata in G Major (K 545)

Articulation strategies applied by pianists in expressive performances of the same score are analysed. Measurements of key overlap time and its relation to the inter-onset-interval are collected for notes marked legato and staccato in the first sixteen bars of the Andante movement of W. A. Mozart’s Piano Sonata in G major, K 545. Five pianists played the piece nine times. First, they played in a way that they considered (optimal). In the remaining eight performances they were asked to represent different expressive characters, as specified in terms of different adjectives. Legato, staccato, and repeated notes articulation applied by the right hand were examined by means of statistical analysis. Although the results varied considerably between pianists, some trends could be observed. The pianists generally used similar strategies in the renderings intended to represent different expressive characters. Legato was played with a key overlap ratio that depended on the inter-onset-interval (IOI). Staccato tones had approximate duration of 40% of the IOI. Repeated notes were played with a duration of about 60% of the IOI. The results seem useful as a basis for articulation rules in grammars for automatic piano performance.

Effects of Auditory Feedback Deprivation on Expressive Piano Performance

Previous studies have suggested that elimination of auditory feedback has no significant effect on the accuracy of keyboard performance. In the present study, this issue was investigated further by focusing specifically on parameters of expression in piano performance: horizontal and vertical timing, horizontal and vertical dynamics, and pedaling. Six pianists performed a short musical excerpt (bars 1-5 of Chopin's Etude in E Major, op. 10, no. 3) 10 times on a digital piano in each of four conditions: expressive with and without feedback, and metronomic with and without feedback. The data analyses revealed significant effects of feedback deprivation on all expressive parameters in both expressive and metronomic performance. However, these effects were very small, except for some substantial changes in pedaling by some pianists. To determine the perceptual and aesthetic significance of these effects, a group of pianist listeners was presented with a forced- choice test in which expressive performances produced with and without feedback were paired with each other. The listeners correctly identified the performance played without feedback on only 63.5% of the trials, which confirms the relative subtlety of the effects of feedback deprivation. Although expression seems to be controlled primarily by an internal representation of the music, auditory feedback may be important in fine-tuning a performance and in the control of pedaling. However, it is also possible that the effects of auditory feedback deprivation merely reflect a lack of motivation to play expressively in the absence of sound.

Variability of timing in expressive piano performance increases with interval duration

In simple motor tasks such as finger tapping at different constant rates, within-trial variability of response interonset intervals (IOIs) increases with IOI duration (which varies between trials). In expressive piano performance, the rate of key depressions is not constant, in part due to compositional structure and in part due to expressive timing, so that IOIs of many different durations occur within a single “trial.” Nevertheless, across repeated performances of the same music (Schumann’s “Traumerei” and Debussy’s “La fille aux cheveux de lin”) at the same intended tempo, the standard deviations of individual IOIs tend to increase linearly with their average duration. This is also true when the variation is due to expressive timing alone and when unintended differences in basic tempo between performances are taken into account. In the music studied here, at least, there was no evidence of compensatory timing. The results suggest that the pianists employed a continuously variable tempo governed by a flexible internal timekeeper whose variability follows a generalized Weber’s law (for IOIs longer than about 300 msec).

Patterns of note onset asynchronies in expressive piano performance.

This paper presents an analysis of the asynchronies among nominally simultaneous notes in ten graduate student pianists' performances of three compositions (Schumann's "Träumerei," Debussy's "La fille aux cheveux de lin," and Chopin's Prelude in D-flat major), each repeated twice and recorded in MIDI format on a Yamaha Disklavier. Note onset times were sensed from hammer motion shortly before hammer-string contact. A pervasive tendency was found for the highest-pitched notes (usually the principal melody) to lead lower-pitched notes, especially those played with the same hand. Inner notes of within-hand chords tended to lag behind outer notes. Strong correlations between average MIDI velocity difference and average lead time were found within each hand, as well as between hands for some of the pianists. Other pianists had a tendency to lead with the left hand, independent of MIDI velocity. These individual differences in between-hand coordination were stable across the three compositions and did not reflect handedness. The results suggest that within-hand asynchronies and melody leads are largely a consequence of dynamic differentiation of voices (i.e., an artifact of hammer travel time), whereas left-hand leads are an individual characteristic and, in part, a deliberate expressive strategy exhibited by some pianists.

Pedal Timing and Tempo in Expressive Piano Performance: A Preliminary Investigation

The timing of pedal depressions and releases was measured relative to key depressions and releases in two pianists' performances of Robert Schumann's Tr-dutnerei on an electronic instrument. Each pianist provided nine complete performances, three at each of three tempi, which were analysed by examining in detail those positions in the music in which the pedal was used consistently. The principal questions were whether and how pedal timing adjusts to changes in global tempo (across performances) and in local tempo (within performnances): Do pedal-release times, onset times, or change (onset minus release) times exhibit absolute orrelative invariance across either or both of these tempo changes? The results do not suggest any simple answer, since neither type of invariance was observed consistently. Pedal timing emerges as having a complex pattern that is sensitive to local and global tempo changes in varying degrees, yet exhibits consistency across repeated performances by the same pianist. There were striking differences in pedal timing between the two pianists, who differed in level of skill.