Evaluation of Tone Quality in Piano Performance by Sight and Sound: A Performer's Perspective
Julijana Sarac · Music & Science · 2024
In the present study, a classically trained pianist aimed to investigate whether the visual cues in her performance influenced observers’ evaluation of her singing tone quality. The research experiment consisted of audiovisual stimuli in which some performances were mimicked to a preexisting track while others contained matching or mismatching musical material and body movements. Thirty-seven music students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade observed these audiovisual stimuli and rated the quality of a singing tone on a scale of 1 (poor) to 7 (excellent). Analysis of variance with one repeated factor of hand movement (minimal, medium, and large) was used to test the effects of movement type on the rating of singing-quality tone production in the mimicking part of the experiment, while a two-factorial, repeated-measure analysis of variance was used for the mismatching part of the experiment. The results for the mimicking part revealed no significant differences in ratings. Conversely, the results of the mismatching part of the experiment revealed that the effect of hand movement was significant, while the effect of sound and the interaction between hand movement and sound were not significant. Altogether, the results indicate that perception of tone quality is a complex phenomenon in which the visual aspect of a pianist's movements could play a vital role, as suggested by prior research. Further studies are needed to investigate other factors influencing the perception of tone quality, such as the possible connection between performers’ somatic senses and audience recognition of them.