Mastery through Imitation

What do Musicians Learn by Imitating Master Interpretations?

Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (2001-03)

Mastery through Imitation investigated the musical and educational implications of imitative learning strategies. 

In the first of two studies, advanced student violinists were divided into experimental (n=3) and control groups (n=2). All were asked to prepare and perform the Adagio from JS Bach’s Sonata for Solo Violin in G minor. Those in the experimental group were then asked to study a target recording of the piece by Jascha Heifetz and to perform a 'perceptually indistinguishable copy' of the recording. This was followed by interviews and a final, non-imitated performance approximately one month later. The results reveal that the participants were able to imitate expressive features of the target recording and that the imitation process directly influenced their conceptions of how the piece could be interpreted, as observed in their final non-imitated performances. However, the extent of influence was highly individual-specific.

In a second study, listeners (n=30) were presented with recordings of all three performances given by the violinists in the experimental group and with the target recording; they were asked to rate the overall quality of each performance and their similarity to the target on 7-point scales. The results show that the imitation process did produce perceptually salient changes in the violinists’ performances, but the direction of change in terms of overall quality (positive or negative) was idiosyncratic. 

People

Hubert Eiholzer, Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana
Tânia Lisboa, RCM *
Aaron Williamon, RCM
Massimo Zicari, Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana

* Project contact tlisboa@rcm.ac.uk 

Outputs

Lisboa T, Williamon A, Zicari M, & Eiholzer H (2002), An alternative to midi data: Analysing timing and dynamics of string performances, in C Stevens, D Burnham, G McPherson, E Schubert, & J Renwick (eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition (pp. 624-626), Causal Productions.

Lisboa T, Williamon A, Zicari M, & Eiholzer H (2002), Mastery through imitation, a paper presented at the Tenth Anniversary Conference of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music, Liège, Belgium. 

Lisboa T, Williamon A, Zicari M, & Eiholzer H (2005), Mastery through imitation: A preliminary study, Musicae Scientiae, 9, 75-110.