How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies

Nádia Moura; João Paulo Vilas-Boas; Sofia Serra

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-09659-4_47

How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies

Nádia Moura^*, João Paulo Vilas-Boas^*, Sofia Serra^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Bodily movement is at the heart of high-quality performance and deserves proper attention in instrumental education curricula. This study presents an analysis of the bodily behavior of professional and university-level saxophone players (N = 20) conducted with the aim of developing pedagogical cues on embodied communication and expression during music performance. Participants performed five excerpts of the classical saxophone standard repertoire while motion capture, audio, and video data were recorded. A systematic observational procedure was carried out to analyze the relationship between movement and music, including gesture codification and score annotation of each of the 100 performance recordings, and further comparison between participants was made. Five gestural trends were extracted, related to expressive communication, pitch contour influence, rhythm and pulse influence, technique facilitation strategies, and full-body behaviors. Findings suggest saxophone players use gestures and postures as a resource for expressing significant musical locations, aiding perception of musical elements, and facilitating technical challenges. These insights contribute to the development of an embodied approach to instrumental teaching and learning, promoting body awareness, communicative and facilitative skills through movement education.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Advances in design, music and arts II
Editors	Daniel Raposo, João Neves, Ricardo Silva, Luísa Correia Castilho, Rui Dias
Publisher	Springer Nature
Pages	655-673
Number of pages	19
Volume	25
ISBN (Electronic)	9783031096594
ISBN (Print)	9783031096587
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09659-4_47
Publication status	Published - 2023
Event	8th International Meeting of Research in Music, Arts and Design - Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal Duration: 7 Jul 2022 → 9 Jul 2022 Conference number: 8

Publication series

Name	Springer Series in Design and Innovation
Volume	25
ISSN (Print)	2661-8184
ISSN (Electronic)	2661-8192

Conference

Conference	8th International Meeting of Research in Music, Arts and Design
Abbreviated title	EIMAD
Country/Territory	Portugal
City	Castelo Branco
Period	7/07/22 → 9/07/22

Keywords

Embodied pedagogy
Gestural communication
Music education
Saxophone performance

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-09659-4_47

45255811Accepted author manuscript, 755 KBLicence: Unspecified

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/38453Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

Moura, N., Vilas-Boas, J. P., & Serra, S. (2023). How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies. In D. Raposo, J. Neves, R. Silva, L. C. Castilho, & R. Dias (Eds.), Advances in design, music and arts II (Vol. 25, pp. 655-673). (Springer Series in Design and Innovation; Vol. 25). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09659-4_47

Moura, Nádia ; Vilas-Boas, João Paulo ; Serra, Sofia. / How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies. Advances in design, music and arts II . editor / Daniel Raposo ; João Neves ; Ricardo Silva ; Luísa Correia Castilho ; Rui Dias. Vol. 25 Springer Nature, 2023. pp. 655-673 (Springer Series in Design and Innovation).

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title = "How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies",

abstract = "Bodily movement is at the heart of high-quality performance and deserves proper attention in instrumental education curricula. This study presents an analysis of the bodily behavior of professional and university-level saxophone players (N = 20) conducted with the aim of developing pedagogical cues on embodied communication and expression during music performance. Participants performed five excerpts of the classical saxophone standard repertoire while motion capture, audio, and video data were recorded. A systematic observational procedure was carried out to analyze the relationship between movement and music, including gesture codification and score annotation of each of the 100 performance recordings, and further comparison between participants was made. Five gestural trends were extracted, related to expressive communication, pitch contour influence, rhythm and pulse influence, technique facilitation strategies, and full-body behaviors. Findings suggest saxophone players use gestures and postures as a resource for expressing significant musical locations, aiding perception of musical elements, and facilitating technical challenges. These insights contribute to the development of an embodied approach to instrumental teaching and learning, promoting body awareness, communicative and facilitative skills through movement education.",

keywords = "Embodied pedagogy, Gestural communication, Music education, Saxophone performance",

author = "N{\'a}dia Moura and Vilas-Boas, {Jo{\~a}o Paulo} and Sofia Serra",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments. Research conducted under the individual grant reference SFRH/BD/05257/2020, funded by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, and co-funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Direction and Staff of LABIOMEP – Porto Biomechanics Laboratory for providing access to the used software and mentorship in movement analysis, as well as to the performers for their collaboration. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.; 8th International Meeting of Research in Music, Arts and Design, EIMAD ; Conference date: 07-07-2022 Through 09-07-2022",

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Moura, N, Vilas-Boas, JP & Serra, S 2023, How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies. in D Raposo, J Neves, R Silva, LC Castilho & R Dias (eds), Advances in design, music and arts II . vol. 25, Springer Series in Design and Innovation, vol. 25, Springer Nature, pp. 655-673, 8th International Meeting of Research in Music, Arts and Design, Castelo Branco, Portugal, 7/07/22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09659-4_47

How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies. / Moura, Nádia; Vilas-Boas, João Paulo; Serra, Sofia.
Advances in design, music and arts II . ed. / Daniel Raposo; João Neves; Ricardo Silva; Luísa Correia Castilho; Rui Dias. Vol. 25 Springer Nature, 2023. p. 655-673 (Springer Series in Design and Innovation; Vol. 25).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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T1 - How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies

AU - Moura, Nádia

AU - Vilas-Boas, João Paulo

AU - Serra, Sofia

N1 - Conference code: 8

PY - 2023

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N2 - Bodily movement is at the heart of high-quality performance and deserves proper attention in instrumental education curricula. This study presents an analysis of the bodily behavior of professional and university-level saxophone players (N = 20) conducted with the aim of developing pedagogical cues on embodied communication and expression during music performance. Participants performed five excerpts of the classical saxophone standard repertoire while motion capture, audio, and video data were recorded. A systematic observational procedure was carried out to analyze the relationship between movement and music, including gesture codification and score annotation of each of the 100 performance recordings, and further comparison between participants was made. Five gestural trends were extracted, related to expressive communication, pitch contour influence, rhythm and pulse influence, technique facilitation strategies, and full-body behaviors. Findings suggest saxophone players use gestures and postures as a resource for expressing significant musical locations, aiding perception of musical elements, and facilitating technical challenges. These insights contribute to the development of an embodied approach to instrumental teaching and learning, promoting body awareness, communicative and facilitative skills through movement education.

AB - Bodily movement is at the heart of high-quality performance and deserves proper attention in instrumental education curricula. This study presents an analysis of the bodily behavior of professional and university-level saxophone players (N = 20) conducted with the aim of developing pedagogical cues on embodied communication and expression during music performance. Participants performed five excerpts of the classical saxophone standard repertoire while motion capture, audio, and video data were recorded. A systematic observational procedure was carried out to analyze the relationship between movement and music, including gesture codification and score annotation of each of the 100 performance recordings, and further comparison between participants was made. Five gestural trends were extracted, related to expressive communication, pitch contour influence, rhythm and pulse influence, technique facilitation strategies, and full-body behaviors. Findings suggest saxophone players use gestures and postures as a resource for expressing significant musical locations, aiding perception of musical elements, and facilitating technical challenges. These insights contribute to the development of an embodied approach to instrumental teaching and learning, promoting body awareness, communicative and facilitative skills through movement education.

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BT - Advances in design, music and arts II

A2 - Raposo, Daniel

A2 - Neves, João

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PB - Springer Nature

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Y2 - 7 July 2022 through 9 July 2022

ER -

How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

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CITAR: Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts

Cite this

How do saxophonists communicate through bodily behavior? A contribution to embodied performance pedagogies

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

CITAR: Research Center for Science and Technology of the Arts

Cite this