Erica Frost
When it comes to the sensory stimulation of music, it is quite difficult to imagine a complete divide between the body and mind. While I think a person’s role and perspective play a key role in their response to these stimuli, scientific evidence supports natural reactions to auditory cues due to the motor system’s ability to couple with the auditory system.
Perspective is important to focus on in this discussion. When thinking of a classical music concert, it may be common to think that this would fall on the mind side as the atmosphere feels more sophisticated. While it is true that typically there is an audience with the expectation to sit in silence while the musicians play, eliminating the body from the equation is not really an option. Of course, the performers demonstrate this connection, as they naturally move their bodies to the music. Whether that be tapping their foot, swaying, moving their hands, arms, and feet to actually play the instrument, or are the conductor keeping time, movement is a part of the experience. A misconception may be that audiences oppose this as still observers, but I don’t think their experience is that different from that of the performers. A person may or may not realize this, but they could be tapping their foot or fingers along to the beat, or nodding their head. Maybe their body tenses up when it craves release from a dissonant harmony, and then relaxes when the resolution arrives. This happens because spinal cord circuits respond to incoming sensory input, and help connect it to motor neurons, which enable movement. These circuits are capable of doing this unconsciously. This is known as auditory-motor coupling. The image below shows how closely the auditory cortex and motor cortex are located, and how the sensory input of music influences the body. Think about when you are walking at a certain speed, then music with a strong and steady beat comes on. It is only natural to adjust your walking speed to match what you are hearing, it’s as if we can’t help ourselves, because we can’t.
In the classical music setting, I think there can be pressure to be very professional and still. I believe that comes from societal normalizations rather than what the music itself is eliciting. For example, in a Ballet such as The Nutcracker or The Rite of Spring, you don’t see the audience jumping up to dance along. Although people may be having more minimal bodily reactions, they are most likely intending to be as quiet and still as possible to not disrupt the performance. But the purpose of pieces like this was to be accompanied by dance and movement, so shouldn’t the music make everyone spontaneously become a ballerina? No, of course not. Societal norms have provided expectations for how we are meant to behave in certain situations, and when attending a classical music concert as an audience member you follow the typical response. That does not mean the mind and body are completely divided, but rather are influenced by other external stimuli.
Q Classical Explosion 