Multiscale synchronisation dynamics reveals the impact of an improvisatory approach to performance on music experience
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Experiences of collective creative activities play an essential role in human societies, yet these experiences are particularly hard to capture, making their scientific study challenging. In a classical music concert-experiment performed by a string quartet, we contrast a Let-go performance mode, characterised by a more creative and improvisatory approach that encourages risk-taking and spontaneous expression, with a more Strict mode which requires adhering closely to the score, common in many Western classical music performance environments. We investigate the experience of audience members by analysing their subjective reports and movement patterns. Our results show that during performances in Let-go mode, movement synchronization was reduced between performers and audience members in shorter timescales, while the synchronization and its temporal variability were enhanced in longer timescales. Furthermore, these differences in the synchronization dynamics are predictive of changes in the audience’s perception of music. These results provide a first step towards the quantification of some of the fundamental aspects of collective music experiences. Specifically, the reported findings demonstrate the relevance of the often-neglected multiscale coordination between audiences and performers, and explain how this rich tapestry of physical behaviour is connected with the quality of the collective music experience.
Date Issued
2025-03-24
Date Acceptance
2025-02-11
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2025, 15
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
15
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1038/s41598-025-90271-1
Subjects
Multiscale coordination
Movement synchrony
Collective experience
Music performance
Classical improvisation
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
10097
Date Publish Online
2025-03-24