Negotiating between individual and joint goals in ensemble musical performance

Jennifer MacRitchie, Steffen A. Herff, Andrea Procopio, Peter E. Keller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Successful joint action requires negotiation, especially in the event of goal incongruence. This paper addresses goal incongruence in joint musical performance by manipulating the congruence of score instructions (congruent/incongruent) regarding tempo (speed) and dynamics (sound intensity) given to piano duos. The aim is to investigate how co-performers negotiate incongruent instructions for tempo and dynamics by balancing the prioritisation of individual goals versus the joint outcome, and how this negotiation is modulated by musical expertise and personality (locus of control). Fourteen pairs of pianists, who were not informed of the congruence manipulation, were placed back-to-back and were directed to achieve a successful performance over four repeated performances without verbal communication. Interpersonal coordination generally improved from the first to final performance in the congruent and incongruent conditions for both the tempo and dynamics tasks. Furthermore, in incongruent conditions, results suggest that performers prioritise the joint performance in the tempo task, but prioritise their own performance in the dynamics task. Although individual performance appears to be modulated by musical expertise, the balance of individual/joint performance across the duo is not influenced by musical part (melody vs. accompaniment), expressive instruction, musical expertise or locus of control.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1535-1551
Number of pages17
JournalQuarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
Volume71
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Experimental Psychology Society 2017.

Keywords

  • locus of control
  • musical groups
  • negotiation
  • performance
  • social interaction
  • Shared representation
  • Coordination
  • Joint action
  • Goal incongruency
  • Music performance

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