Music performance

Abstract

Music performance provides a rich domain for study of both cognitive and motor skills. Empirical research in music performance is summarized, with particular emphasis on factors that contribute to the formation of conceptual interpretations, retrieval from memory of musical structures, and transformation into appropriate motor actions. For example, structural and emotional factors that contribute to performers' conceptual interpretations are considered. Research on the planning of musical sequences for production is reviewed, including hierarchical and associative retrieval influences, style-specific syntactic influences, and constraints on the range of planning. The fine motor control evidenced in music performance is discussed in terms of internal timekeeper models, motor programs, and kinematic models. The perceptual consequences of music performance are highlighted, including the successful communication of interpretations, resolution of structural ambiguities, and concordance with listeners' expectations. Parallels with other domains support the conclusion that music performance is not unique in its underlying cognitive mechanisms.