What is it about?
This study begins by summarizing the various ways music conducting has been measured in research, and then uses a mix of measures to examine conducting from multiple perspectives--the conductor's, ensemble members, an objective expert, and the sound produced. All measures were designed around a model of six conducting functions: Mechanical Precision using traditional beat-oriented gestures, Expressive music-related gestures, Motivational to sharpen musicians' mental focus, Psychosocial to adapt gestures to better suit musicians' understanding and response, Physical Technique to guide musicians' music making actions, and Unrestrained Tone to offset tension and anxiety in musicians' tone production. The study focused chiefly on testing whether these concurrent measures were viable for use in future larger-scale studies, though results suggest that the conductor and ensemble versions of the Conducting Priorities Survey, which takes 10-15 minutes to complete, measures functions comparably to time-intensive video-observation and interview-description analyses of conducting. However, the value of mixed-measures analyses was shown by the ability to explain dynamic changes in the loudness, spaciousness, width, and noisiness of ensemble sound by observed and described changes in conducting functions. Overall, then, the validity of the survey and model of six conducting functions was supported in this study.
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Why is it important?
The present study demonstrates the capability and value of measuring conducting in multiple ways--in relation to six functions, using mixed measurement methods, and from multiple perspectives. The 10-15 minute Conducting Functions Survey was shown to be a valid and efficient tool for use in music education and research.
Perspectives
In spite of decades of research, we still cannot say for sure how a conductor may influence a group of musicians and the sound they perform. Why a conductor is needed at all is a common question asked by even the most prominent of news sources such as BBC, The Guardian, NPR, LA TImes, and NY Times. For a start, the Conducting Priorities Survey explains how conductors function to control musical precision and musician motivation and physical technique, and release expression, psychosocial co-influence, and freedom of tone production. However, these functions are more like intentions or aims, with their function to "cause" change only implied. Research has yet to get beyond facts that show conducting "relates" or "coincides" with characteristics of musicians and performance sound. The mixed-methods, multi-perspective research design tested in the present study is poised to evidence in future large-scale research how conducting predicts, causes, and influences musicians and the sound they produce.
Alan Gumm
Central Michigan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Music conducting functions: A mixed-methods evaluation of theory and survey validity., Psychomusicology Music Mind and Brain, October 2018, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/pmu0000218.
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