The Impact of Instrument Knowledge on Musical Performance

Year 2024, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 455 - 477, 23.09.2024

Hasan Mert , Yunus Utkan Özdemir

https://doi.org/10.51576/ymd.1538712

Abstract

ABSTRACT
This study aims to examine the role of instrumental knowledge in musical performance in depth. Musical performance is a complex process that brings together a musician's technical skills, musical understanding, and expressive abilities. However, another critical factor that determines the quality and originality of a performance is the level of knowledge a musician has about their instrument. This research explores the relationship between instrumental knowledge and performance across different instrument groups (string, wind, keyboard, and percussion) from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Case studies of performances by renowned musicians are used to illustrate how this knowledge translates into stage performance.
The findings of the study reveal that possessing instrumental knowledge not only enhances technical accuracy but also significantly deepens and enriches musical expression and creativity. These results offer valuable insights for music education and performance practice, providing recommendations on how musicians can more effectively utilize their instrumental knowledge to improve their performances.

Keywords

Musical Performance, Instrumental knowledge, Technical Skills, Music Education, Creative Expression

Enstrüman Bilgisinin Müzikal Performansa Etkisi

Abstract

ÖZ
Bu çalışma, enstrüman bilgisinin müzikal performans üzerindeki rolünü derinlemesine incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Müzikal performans, bir müzisyenin teknik becerileri, müzikal anlayışı ve ifade yeteneği gibi birçok unsuru bir araya getiren karmaşık bir süreçtir. Ancak, performansın kalitesini ve özgünlüğünü belirleyen bir diğer kritik unsur da müzisyenin enstrümanına dair sahip olduğu bilgi düzeyidir. Bu araştırma, farklı enstrüman gruplarında (yaylı, nefesli, tuşlu ve perküsyon çalgılar) enstrüman bilgisi ile performans arasındaki ilişkiyi hem teorik hem de pratik açıdan ele almaktadır. Ünlü müzisyenlerin performansları üzerinden yapılan örnek olay incelemeleri, bu bilgilerin sahne performansına nasıl yansıdığını somutlaştırmaktadır.
Çalışmanın bulguları, enstrüman bilgisine sahip olmanın yalnızca teknik doğruluğu artırmakla kalmayıp, aynı zamanda müzikal ifadenin derinliğini ve yaratıcılığını da önemli ölçüde geliştirdiğini göstermektedir. Bu sonuçlar, müzik eğitimi ve performans pratiği için değerli çıkarımlar sunmakta ve müzisyenlerin performanslarını iyileştirmek için enstrüman bilgilerini nasıl daha etkin kullanabileceklerine dair öneriler getirmektedir.

Keywords

Müzikal Performans, Enstrüman Bilgisi, Teknik Beceriler, Müzik Eğitimi, Yaratıcı İfade

References

• Alekseev, A. (2017-2018). Piyano Sanatının Tarihi I, II & III - Istoriia fortepiannogo iskusstva 1,2 & 3. Planeta Muzyki.
• Bailey, D. (1992). Improvisation: Its nature and practice in music. Da Capo Press.
• Baillot, P. (1991). The art of the violin. Northwestern University Press.
• Benade, A. H. (1990). Fundamentals of musical acoustics. Courier Corporation.
• Berliner, P. (1994). Thinking in jazz: the infinite art of improvisation.
• Berliner, P. F. (2009). Thinking in jazz: The infinite art of improvisation. University of Chicago Press.
• Blades, J. (1992). Percussion instruments and their history. Bold Strummer.
• Bolla, P. d. (2006). Sanat ve estetik. İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayıncılık.
• Bunting, R. (1992). Instrumental teaching for the curriculum. A survey of developments in Wolverhampton. British Journal of Music Education, 9(3), 181-186.
• Burwell, K. (2013). Apprenticeship in music: A contextual study for instrumental teaching and learning. International Journal of Music Education, 31(3), 276-291.
• Butt, J. (2002). Playing with history: the historical approach to musical performance. Cambridge University Press.
• Campbell, M., & Greated, C. (1994). The musician's guide to acoustics. OUP Oxford.
• Chaffin, R., Imreh, G., & Crawford, M. (2005). Practicing perfection: Memory and piano performance. Psychology Press.
• Cook, G. D. (2006). Teaching percussion (3rd ed.). Schirmer/Thomson Learning.
• Cope, P., & Smith, H. (1997). Cultural context in musical instrument learning. British Journal of Music Education, 14(3), 283-289.
• Costa-Giomi, E. (1997). The McGill Piano Project: Effects of piano instruction on children’s cognitive abilities. In Proceedings of the Third Triennial ESCOM Conference (pp. 446-450).
• Çokamay, B., & Öz, B. (Eds.). (2023). Müzik sanatı ve eğitiminde çağdaş yaklaşımlar VI. Eğitim Yayınevi. https://doi.org/10.1234/abcd5678
• Davidson, J. W. (1997). The social in musical performance. The social psychology of music, 209-228.
• Davidson, J. W. (2002). Understanding the performance of music. In R. Parncutt & G. E. McPherson (Eds.), The science and psychology of music performance: Creative strategies for teaching and learning (pp. 93-105). Oxford University Press.
• Davidson, J. W. (2009). Movement and collaboration in musical performance. The Oxford handbook of music psychology, 364-376.
• Davidson, J. W., & Correia, J. S. (2002). Body movement. The science and psychology of music performance: Creative strategies for teaching and learning, 237-250.
• Davidson, J., & Scutt, S. (1999). Instrumental learning with exams in mind: a case study investigating teacher, student and parent interactions before, during and after a music examination. British Journal of Music Education, 16(1), 79-95.
• Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological review, 100(3), 363.
• Fletcher, N. H., & Rossing, T. D. (2012). The physics of musical instruments. Springer Science & Business Media.
• Gabrielsson, A. (2003). Music performance research at the millennium. Psychology of music, 31(3), 221-272.
• Hallam, S. (1995). Professional musicians' approaches to the learning and interpretation of music. Psychology of music, 23(2), 111-128.
• Hallam, S. (1998). Instrumental teaching: A practical guide to better teaching and learning. Heinemann Educational.
• Hallam, S. (1998). The predictors of achievement and drop out in instrumental tuition. Psychology of Music, 26(2), 116-132.
• Hallam, S. (2006). Music psychology in education. University of London, Institute of Education.
• Hewitt, M. P. (2000). The effects of self-evaluation, self-listening, and modeling on junior high instrumentalists’ music performance and practice attitude. The University of Arizona.
• Juslin, P. N., & Laukka, P. (2004). Expression, perception, and induction of musical emotions: A review and a questionnaire study of everyday listening. Journal of new music research, 33(3), 217-238.
• Juslin, P. N., & Timmers, R. (2010). Expression and communication of emotion in music performance. Handbook of music and emotion: Theory, research, applications, 453-489.
• Kendall, R. A., & Carterette, E. C. (1990). The communication of musical expression. Music perception, 8(2), 129-163.
• Lehmann, A. C., Sloboda, J. A., & Woody, R. H. (2007). Psychology for musicians: Understanding and acquiring the skills. Oxford University Press.
• Libbey, T. (2006). The NPR listener's encyclopedia of classical music. Workman Publishing.
• McPherson, G. E., & Gabrielsson, A. (2002). From sound to sign. In P. R. Webster (Ed.), The science and psychology of music performance: Creative strategies for teaching and learning (pp. 99-116). Oxford University Press.
• Ohlsson, S. (1996). Learning to do and learning to understand: A lesson and a challenge for cognitive modeling. Learning in humans and machines towards an interdisciplinary learning science, 37-62.
• Palmer, C. (1997). Music performance. Annual review of psychology, 48(1), 115-138.
• Parncutt, R., & McPherson, G. (Eds.). (2002). The science and psychology of music performance: Creative strategies for teaching and learning. Oxford University Press.
• Perlman, I. (2008). Itzhak Perlman: The art of the violin [DVD]. EMI Classics / Perlman, I. (2008). Itzhak Perlman: The art of the violin [CD]. EMI Classics.
• Prouty, K. (2011). Knowing jazz: Community, pedagogy, and canon in the information age. Univ. Press of Mississippi.
• Reybrouck, M., & Schiavio, A. (2024). Music performance as knowledge acquisition: A review and preliminary conceptual framework. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1331806.
• Rink, J. (Ed.). (2002). Musical performance: A guide to understanding. Cambridge University Press.
• Rossing, T. D. (1990). The science of sound (2nd ed.). Addison-Wesley.
• Sándor, G. (1981). On piano playing: Motion, sound, and expression. Schirmer Books.
• Schick, S. (2006). The percussionist's art: same bed, different dreams. Univ of Rochester Pr.
• Sloboda, J. A. (2014). The acquisition of musical performance expertise: Deconstructing the “talent” account of individual differences in musical expressivity. In The road to excellence (pp. 107-126). Psychology Press.
• Stowell, R. (Ed.). (1992). The Cambridge companion to the violin. Cambridge University Press.
• Szigeti, J. (1969). Szigeti on the violin. Dover Publications.
• Taruskin, R. (1995). Text and act: Essays on music and performance. Oxford University Press, USA.
• Thompson, W. F. (2015). Music, thought, and feeling: Understanding the psychology of music. Oxford university press.
• Walker, A. (1987). Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847 (Vol. 1). Cornell University Press.
• Welch, G., Hallam, S., Lamont, A., Swanwick, K., Green, L., Hennessy, S., ... & Farrell, G. (2004). Mapping music education research in the UK. Psychology of Music, 32(3), 239-290.
• Williamon, A. (Ed.). (2004). Musical excellence: Strategies and techniques to enhance performance. Oxford University Press.
• Woody, R. H. (2006). The effect of various instructional conditions on expressive music performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(1), 21-36.