Abstract
An effective and expressive musical performance is the result of the performer’s presentation of the music to the listener. Research has found listeners often use both musical and non-musical factors to assess these performances. Rating scales which focus on individual musical elements, such as phrasing, dynamics, and rubato, have been found to be a reliable source in evaluating musical performances. Non-musical factors, which include race, gender, age, and physical appearance, have also been found to affect evaluations of performance. However, due to the subjective nature of non-musical factors, it is often difficult to determine if and to what degree these aspects influence performance ratings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of physical movement on the listeners’ perception of musical performance. Furthermore, relationships between movement types of head and facial, full body, and no movement, by the musical elements of phrasing, dynamics, rubato, and overall performance were also investigated. Results found the pianist’s physical movements significantly increased participants’ ratings of the performances. Additionally, as the pianist’s physical movements increased so did the participants ratings of phrasing, dynamics, rubato, and overall musical performance. No significant differences were found for the same categories, however, when participants were divided by year in school, gender, and year in school by gender.
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