Alpha oscillations related to self-other integration and distinction during live orchestral performance: A naturalistic case study

Abstract

Ensemble music performance requires musicians to achieve precise interpersonal coordination while maintaining autonomous control over their own actions. To do so, musicians dynamically shift between integrating other performers' actions into their own action plans and maintaining a distinction between their own and others' actions. Research in laboratory settings has shown that this dynamic process of self-other integration and distinction is indexed by sensorimotor alpha oscillations. The purpose of the current descriptive case study was to examine oscillations related to self-other integration and distinction in a naturalistic performance context. We measured alpha activity from four violinists during a concert hall performance of a 60-musician orchestra. We selected a musical piece from the orchestra's repertoire and, before analyzing alpha activity, performed a score analysis to divide the piece into sections that were expected to strongly promote self-other integration and distinction. In line with previous laboratory findings, performers showed suppressed and enhanced alpha activity during musical sections that promoted self-other integration and distinction, respectively. The current study thus provides preliminary evidence that findings from carefully controlled laboratory experiments generalize to complex real-world performance. Its findings also suggest directions for future research and potential applications of interest to musicians, music educators, and music therapists.

Keywords: EEG; alpha oscillations; ensemble music performance; joint action; naturalistic case study; self-other integration and distinction.

Figure 1.

Examples of the unison (a), polyphonic (b), canon (c; arrows indicate a passing back and forth of the melody and accompaniment between the first and second violins), homo-divisi (d), and slow homorhythmic (e) section types. Score examples used by permission of © 2016 Derek Charke—www.charke.com.

Figure 2.

Normalized alpha power for each performer in the first and second violin sections in the unison (a), polyphonic (b), and canon (c) sections. Solid circles indicate the mean normalized alpha power (±SD) across performers.

Figure 3.

Normalized alpha power for each performer in the first and second violin sections in the homo-divisi (a) and slow homorhythmic (b) section types.