Browsing by Author "Pousi, Saara"

Objectives. Improvisation has so far been studied mainly from the perspective of the musicians and less is known about how improvisation affects the audience. The main objective of the present study is to find out how using an improvisatory approach in classical music performance affects 1) the subjective ratings for the music given by the audience, and 2) neural frontal theta activity of the audience, this activity being previously linked to attention, processing of surprising stimuli, and pleasant and strong emotional processes. We are also interested in how expertise in music affects the above mentioned reactions. Methods. Twelve participants, all of whom had received a considerable amount of musical training, took part in the study. A professional chamber music trio performed two versions of the same baroque music piece: once in a standard way without improvisation, and once with an improvisatory approach. The audience was familiar with the original piece in advance. The audience rated the pieces by their musical features (improvisatory, innovative, emotional, musical, brave and interesting). The participants’ EEG activation was measured during music, and theta band power was analyzed from the frontal midline electrodes of each participant. Results and conclusions. In line with hypothesis, the improvisatory piece was rated as more improvisatory and innovative, compared to the standard piece. In contrast, the standard piece was rated as more musical, this finding approaching statistical significance. Supporting the original hypothesis, the frontal theta power was stronger during the improvisatory piece almost statistically significantly across all members of the audience and significantly among the musicians (N=8). Stronger frontal theta power may reflect more focused attention as well as stronger and more pleasant emotional reactions among the listeners during improvisation. According to the present study, using an improvisatory approach in classical music performance seems to have a somewhat unique effect on the live audience, compared to a score-based performance. It seems that professional musicians may react to improvisatory music even more sensitively than the regular audience.