The body is inexorably tied to music, if not just for the fact that instruments are played by bodies. Pianists play with their fingers; marimba players grip their mallets and play using careful wrist and elbow motion; brass players breathe with their lungs, buzz with their lips, and push their valves with their fingers.
An example of one of the many ways one can grip mallets
But I believe the body is still more involved than even that. It is often a way to keep time. Whenever I play in a wind ensemble I am always tapping my feet with the music. And both when I play euphonium in wind ensemble and when I play solo piano, my body often sways with the music, which I feel helps me internalize what I’m playing and make it more musical. The amount of times even in situations as a pianist I have been told to breathe with the music.
There are many modern classical pieces that even go as far as having choreography these days. Just a couple weeks ago I saw the Frost Chorale’s performance of El Grillo by Josquin des Prez.
El Grillo by the Frost Chorale
The piece is a short comedy about there being a cricket on stage while the performers are singing, and the Frost Chorale decided to include choreography of the performers pointing at the cricket, looking for it while they sang, and at the end it is made clear that the cricket has been found on one of the performer’s shoulders, who quickly brushes it off and stomps on it. This is very cool because the piece is in spanish, but even without me understanding the words I still was able to get the story of the piece through the ensemble’s acting, so the body can do more even than just help the performer, it can also help with the audience and their understanding of the piece as a whole.
As we have progressed from an era of classical music to new age music, one of the questions that can arise is how much of an influence the mind and the body has within a musical context. It is clear that people perceive music differently, some people respond positively when listening to Beethoven, whereas other people do not enjoy the experience. There is a clear difference between the bodies of the musicians and the listeners as they perceive the music, as different people will perceive it differently. Some music may activate the listener to dance, while the same music may have another person overstimulated and want to withdraw from a situation.
A question comes up: Is there a difference between the musicians’ bodies and the listeners’ minds and bodies? And to that I say: “Absolutely”. The musician sees the music that they are playing from a different perspective. The musician that is playing the music has worked through the music to figure out different intricacies, nuances, whereas an average listener would be listening just to enjoy the experience, or to experience a particular type of mood.
When one is dancing, the mind is absolutely involved, however, it is not necessarily a logical or emotional mind, it is a lot more than that. Dancing can connect a person to have an expression that is more powerful than words can express. Someone may be able to communicate a thought or a feeling in the form of a dance move, and be able to share this with others. Whether it is interpretative dance or a choregraphed dance, people can express themselves wholeheartedly through movement. The movement can sync with the music as well, and music can be a vechicle for this creative expression.
“Where words fail, music speaks” -Hans Christian Andersen
Any musical performance wouldn’t be the same without a visual aspect paired with it. Aside from radical modernist ideals in which the music is made purely for listening and nothing else, the visual aspect of music has the potential to add much more meaning and interest in the music that the audience enjoys. Many forms of music utilize forms of visual expression such as dancing to pair with the music, and in the case of electronic music, algorithmic visualizers add a visual stimulus, pulsing to the beat of the song, for the virtual audience to enjoy while getting lost in these new sounds. However, across all musical genres, there exists the visual medium of the artist or instrumentalist themselves acting as a conduit for the emotions and ideas portrayed by the music. Specifically, the performers of classical music tend to express facial cues and body language in reaction to the music they are playing. An example of this would be Yuja Wang’s performance of a variation of Mozart’s Turkish March.
As seen in the video, Wang’s performance of this piece takes a very minimalistic approach to expressing the music in body language; by holding her torso very still throughout the piece, except for in reaction to an especially forceful impact, she demonstrates her control and technique over her instrument. In spite of this, she also cycles through a variety of facial expressions in reaction to the sound of the music she is performing, with a grin being seen slowly growing on her expression into a wide smile as the piece progresses into a fast, jazzy song in contrast to the structured classical origin of the piece. This video largely reinforces the mind/body divide of popular music encompassing visual aspects such as dancing, and classical encompassing the mind and intellectualism, as her focus on maintaining her posture implies a stronger focus on the music itself than the movements performed by herself or the audience. In contrast to this, one can consider Lang Lang’s performance of the original Turkish March.
Lang Lang, in his performance, uses ample movements of his neck and torso in response to the music, and uses many facial expressions in response to the music to accentuate the joyous and fun quality of the piece. While the piece itself is played very quickly and with a lot of energy and dynamic variation, which itself would give the listener a fun and casually enjoyable experience that the performer intended, the sight of Lang Lang’s spontaneous wiggling and leaning back and forth in response to the song adds so much in entertainment value and overall enjoyment of the song. Despite this piece being unaltered with jazz scales and funky sounds, the performer, both through his technical mastery of his instrument and his almost excessive excitement in his physical response to his performance, entirely refutes the mind/body divide between classical and popular music, creating a classical sound that one see and feel a physical reaction to.
Music is an experience unlike any other; It affects our brain and body in a very complex yet personal way. Different genres affect people in different ways, and to think about how it is all just specific frequencies and vibrations is very interesting to me. It is common to view classical music as something that is more focused on your mind, and dancing as something that more focused towards your body, but both have an impact on your mind and body. Personally, I think it is hard to draw the line between mind and body because of how personal of an experience music is. For some people, they might bob their head and move and try to feel the movement of the classical music, and for eithers they simply just listen or maybe analyze or have in the background. When I listened to a classical piece, I found myself doing small movements and dances that mimicked the rhythm or melody of the piece. This is where things change being a musician. Musicians listen to and interpret music differently from casual radio listeners. For example, I know when I hear a song, I subconsciously analyze each instrument and layer, kind of almost imagining how I would reproduce the song. Another thing is a musician actively playing. A musician who has practiced a piece hundreds of times will move with the piece and almost have a routine of body language throughout. This is very important during live performance. An audience’s reaction is heavily influenced by the body language and mannerisms of the performer. Attending an orchestra is not just about the music; the performance is visual; conductors and players alike have an influence on the audience with their own movement. Yet, a still or non-moving audience is still involved with the music, a string solo section or breakdown in the performance, can be represented and acted out by the still audience. Importance of a performers visual goes for any genre, but especially DJ’s. A DJ that brings energy and visible movements/dancing will gain much more attention and a better reaction from the audience. Two DJs could play the same song or do the same transition, and the one who showed more energy with their body language will receive a better reaction from the audience, same goes for two instrumentalists throughout a solo. To me this kind of shoes the importance of visual performance for the audience. When it comes to dancing, it is both a mind and body experience. Your brain analyzes the music you hear, and your body carries out the action that fits the rhythm and beat. It very hard to find a specific and hard cut line to make the divide between body and mind; this is because of how people interpret music differently, but overall, I believe music and dancing no matter what genre, is always both a mind and body experience. The piece I included I found especially a cool experience for the body. There are many sections where tension is built with both the melody and rhythm, and when listening to these parts, I could feel my body tense up anticipating something, maybe even an increase in heart rate.
Performer showing emotion which in turns has an impact on the audience.
I personally believe that the mind/body divide is not accurate. Furthermore, I believe that Western society and culture would benefit greatly from the removal of this divide, or at least the diminishment of it.
To answer the question of whether there is a difference between the musicians’ bodies and the listeners’ bodies: there absolutely is a difference, both when it comes to qualitative, concrete observations of performers, and when it comes to observations of standard classical music listeners’ decorum. Allow me to explain myself by using bassist and composer Xavier Foley as a case study example. Here is an excerpt of Foley’s composition entitled “For Justice and Peace”, performed by The Sphinx Virtuosi chamber orchestra with violinist Rubén Rengel and Foley himself.
Xavier Foley performing his composition “For Justice and Peace” with The Sphinx Virtuosi chamber orchestra with violinist Rubén Rengel at Carnegie Hall
First off, I want to acknowledge how exceedingly happy I was to see Xavier Foley’s work highlighted on the blog post #3 instructions document. I’ve been aware of Xavier for many years (as a fellow bass player myself), I have always been in awe of him, and I am ecstatic to see him performing in Carnegie Hall and having his work showcased in a college classical music course. Moving on to the visual analysis of the excerpt, the sheer amount of body movement among members of the ensemble, particularly Foley, is striking. The obvious explanation for the physical aspect of this music would be to look to the arm and wrist movement required to execute the musical parts. This proves the body aspect of performing classical music. However, I think that by observing Foley’s movement, we can see how the bodily side of performing classical music runs much deeper than the minimum of what is required to make the music happen. Throughout the different sections of the excerpt, Xavier moves side to side, up and down, turns his head one way, turns his head the other way, etc. This all suggests that Foley feels sincere emotional and mental attachment to the different sections of the piece, that his mental conception of the piece affects the changes in his physical stance. As if the music is compelling him to move his body in certain ways. This is an example of a direct link between the mind and the body, demonstrating how the mind/body divide is not accurate.
Although the excerpt shows no footage of the audience of the performance, we can safely assume that they are all sitting still in chairs, listening to the music intently without motion, a mental endeavor. This is how classical music audiences behave today. It is not the music itself that compels concertgoers to stay still, rather, it is centuries old precedent that keeps audiences immobile. This precedent dates all the way back to the Romantic period, a time where music was considered to be a refined, cathartic but controlled experience. Music was to be focused on with seriousness, and to be spectated in classy elegant spaces. A primary purveyor of this romantic school of thought was Clara Schumann, a German pianist and composer.
Clara Schumann, Washington Classical Review
Now, to the question of “can the body of an audience member be involved when it’s still (or mostly still): yes, the body of an audience member can absolutely be physically involved in the music when it’s mostly still! I believe that the most poignant example of this would be the example of when audience members feet tap to the beat of music. The audience members body on the whole is relatively still, but their feet (or foot) are a flurry of action! In fact, I found my own foot tapping while listening to the grooving 7/4 time signature section of Xavier Foley’s aforementioned excerpt! So yes, the body of an audience member can always remain involved, no matter the circumstances, no matter how small the movement.
And finally, to the question of “is the mind involved when one is dancing?” I believe that the mind is absolutely involved when one is dancing, although perhaps to a lesser extent than when someone isn’t dancing. In other words, yes, the mind is involved, but less than it is when one is sitting still and calmly observing a classical music piece, for example. The mind still has to perform basic functions when one is dancing, and even has to perform challenging, intensive functions when one is say, learning and internalizing a specific dance. However, during the actual act of dancing, one slips into the realm of the subconscious, where the body takes precedent and the mind takes a backseat.
The mind and body have a reputation as two separate entities in society. It is customary for certain actions and areas of work to be associated with only one. In the realm of music, this perception is still the case. Classical music usually only pertains to an intellectual setting, such as academic analysis or historical research. I challenge this public opinion with my own experiences.
Studying with classical music is a popular method that is currently used by many students or readers. However, there is a particular community (while it may be small) that finds pleasure in executing fitness while listening to classical music. Crazy right? Feel free to listen through to a few pieces of this youtube Classical workout video…
Popular Classical Music for Fitness
The motivation that accompanies powerful classical music can influence the listener to bring out physical affect. There are also many uses of classical music in the world of dancing. For example, traditional ballroom dancing uses the Viennese waltz, as well as ballet, which uses music from famous symphonies. They both are heavily influenced by classical music and are still popular to this day.
The 2018 Viennese Waltz
As these performers dance, they are both using their minds as well as their bodies to create art; the two are interconnected. When a musician plays their music, their body, and energy transfer to their instrument, and eventually through the body of the listener; this will still apply in a classical context. Even an audience member of a classical concert who is not actively moving can feel goosebumps throughout their body as they listen to the immense beauty that surrounds them. I know in my personal experience that I will tap my foot or move my head while listening to most classical music. Separating the body and the mind in the world of classical music or music as a whole is a narrow lens to look through. So please give classical music a try with next workout!
· Engagement of the body and mind are two very different concepts that need to be defined when analyzing performance. First of all, I need to clarify that everyone experiences music differently in their mind and body. As a musician and consumer of music, I subconsciously attach meaning to every piece of music I hear. I experience different kinds of music in a certain way due to my life experiences and surroundings.
Study of how music affects your brain
After participating in performances and being an audience member several times in my life, I have appreciated the difference between these two roles. Although these two roles look different in various genres, they are equally important. The listener’s job is to observe the music, and the performer’s job is to convey the music’s messages effectively. Naturally, the role of the performer and audience causes a divide of emotions and responses in the body. The performers are experiencing emotions in their bodies that they have tied to the piece.
In contrast with the performer, the audience hears the music for the first time, which triggers a genuine and vulnerable reaction. To fully experience music, a listener must feel comfortable letting down their guard. Since the listener is experiencing the music for the first time, it is more likely that they will use the music to relate to different aspects of their lives. It is not socially acceptable to fully engage at the moment when listening to a performance of classical music. Because of this and these rules of classical music set during the romantic period, people engage intellectually rather than physically with classical music.
This is an unspoken rule stemming from presidents set in during the Romantic Period. Before this time face, people could move freely throughout classical music concerts. The prestige centered around how an audience member should engage with classical music puts up barriers that make it hard for me to engage with the music fully. I am not saying that engagement in classical music is not accessible to me, but it takes more brainpower to appreciate the music entirely; I find myself engaging less physically. I have a hard time connecting with many parts of classical music after listening to it for the first time. Classical music is an intellectual experience because I am pushed to find deeper meaning. Pop is more accessible to engage with, in my opinion, because it is structured around a participatory performance. The performer feeds off of the audience’s energy and vice versa. I think this is because there are no preconceived notions of how audience members should act; everyone is free to experience the music in the way that best suits them.
Video discussing classical music etiquette
The genre of the music is a critical factor in determining the behavior at a classical music concert. If the music is more innovative and if the performer is engaged, then it will pull the audience in. Although the type of music that is being performed influences the audience’s behavior, the weight lies on the performer. If a performer is actively working to draw the audience in, it will reflect in their behavior. Generally, there is an unspoken word of an edict in classical music concerts. At most classical music concerts, it is the norm to be silent end have minimal movement. Classical music is profoundly intellectual and requires the listener to want to be part of the audience and think deeply.
In contrast, popular music serves as more of participatory performance. At a famous music concert, everyone is expected to move and feel the music in their whole body. In Alicia Keys’ performance for “Falling,” she feeds off the audience’s energy and vice versa. In popular music, it is up to the audience to set the performance’s mood. The connection between the performer and audience in Classical music forms an emotional bond that helps the audience relate to the music. In Classical music, the audience observes the performance but does not participate.
In many social spheres of music, it is accepted that a divide lies between classical and popular music wherein classical is more existent in association with your mind and popular is so with your body. However, I personally believe that both sides can be part of both the mind and the body.
This diagram shows the connections that music makes with the mind and the body via the brain.
The mind and body, in my opinion, work in tandem. Music is one of the few activities that stimulates both sides of the brain, meaning it causes your body to have both an analytical and creative approach If you are the one playing, it gives you the motor skills necessary to allow you to play. The body, of course, is what controls the playing, and part of performing can be how you move with the sounds you make. Just from a biological standpoint, you need the mind to activate the body’s functions. Lots of performers (and their audience members), like Yuja Wang and Alicia Keys, move their bodies to express themselves in combination with the sounds produced. It may their emotional response; it may be just passion for the performance. Regardless, both their minds and bodies are involved.
The song “Joe” by AJR samples Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 16. Listen and see how your body reacts as popular and classical music worlds collide.
Listening to all the attached pieces and judging my movements in reaction to them afterwards, I think it isn’t necessarily what the style of the music is, but rather the energy and rhythmic structure it possesses. Songs that have a fixed rhythmic structure/time signature are easy to move to, and songs that are particularly upbeat or busy are also easier to move to (not objectively, but just as my observation). I think the reason people don’t typically listen participatorily at classical concerts is because our modern society has given classical music an academic/traditional label that people are scared to break or change. Not all popular music is meant for dancing, right? A type of music is not meant to classify it as a monolith in which only the mind or body participates. If a song makes me want to move, then I will feel inclined to move, no matter the genre. I propose that there is no divide, but a harmony in which mind and body function together.
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.
Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation for Gait Training
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.
Rhythmic and Auditory Stimulation Drives Movement
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.
It’s almost impossible to imagine a world where music and dancing don’t go hand in hand. Even as children, people innately recognize rhythms and beats without even realizing it. From personal experience of working with 3-5 year olds in a music class type setting, it is crazy how naturally moving to a beat comes to us. It’s almost second nature for humans to sway, clap, or tap to a beat. With this in mind, it is unsurprising that for centuries people have been putting dance to song. Whether it be a tribal dance, a religious tradition, or a combination to a hip hop song, people have always heard music and for some reason connected it to physical movement.
The video I linked below gives an insight to why, biologically, people tend to move to music. Other than music just sounding and feeling nice to our brains, it (maybe more importantly) creates a communal feeling. Think about a concert; if the musicians are standing on stage barely moving, the audience is more likely to do the same. However, if the band is running around and creating a feeling of excitement, chaos, etc., typically it will influence the people watching to join along. Similarly, if people around you are dancing it can sometimes feel almost necessary to dance as well. This group cohesion when it comes to dancing shows that dancing along with others can help us to create social bonds.
When people think of classical music, they usually think of the canon. This is likely why many people couldn’t imagine dancing to this type of music. In my opinion, however, “dancing” does not have to mean jumping around or moving in a way that feels like dancing to a common person. In this situation, dancing can simply mean feeling the emotion of the music throughout your body. Considering this, moving to music could even mean something as small as closing your eyes and allowing yourself to experience the piece fully without distractions. I believe that as long as you feel a connection to a piece of music, your mind will send signals to your body to move in some way that feels suitable.
Q Classical Explosion 