Swinging the Score? Swing Phrasing Cannot Be Communicated via Explicit Notation Instructions Alone

Christopher Corcoran*, Jan Stupacher, Peter Vuust

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
135 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

JAZZ MUSICIANS USUALLY LEARN TO PLAY WITH ''swing'' phrasing by playing by ear. Classical musicians-who play more from musical scores than by ear-are reported to struggle with producing swing. We explored whether classical musicians play with more swing when performing from more detailed swing notation. Thereby we investigated whether a culturally specific improvisational social procedure can be scripted in detailed music notation for musicians from a different performance background. Twenty classical musicians sight-read jazz tunes from three styles of notation, each with a different level of notational complexity. Experienced jazz listeners evaluated the performances. Results showed that more score-independent classical musicians with strong aural abilities played with equally strong swing regardless of notation; more score-dependent musicians swung most with the medium-complexity classical notation. The data suggest that some higher-level swing features, such as appropriate articulation, event durations, and deviations from a beat sequence can be communicated to a limited extent using written instructions. However, their successful implementation in performance depends on matching instructional complexity to a musician's skill at decoding and interpreting unfamiliar information. This link between decoding skills and cross-cultural performance makes our findings relevant to ethnological and musicological studies of musical communication processes and perception-action coupling.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMusic Perception
Volume39
Issue4
Pages (from-to)386-400
Number of pages15
ISSN0730-7829
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2022

Keywords

  • jazz
  • music notation
  • playing by ear
  • score-dependency
  • swing phrasing

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