Empathic Interaction: A Study of Jazz Ensemble Performance

Bain, Andrew (2022) Empathic Interaction: A Study of Jazz Ensemble Performance. Doctoral thesis, Birmingham City University.

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Abstract

This thesis explores empathic interaction in three contrasting improvised jazz case studies in which I perform alongside expert improvisers. Following on from Roslyn Arnold’s Empathic Intelligence (2005) and Frederick Seddon’s The Modes of Communication during Improvisation (2005), this research uses a methodology that focuses on interrogating group attunement communicated by aural instruction within the performance process. Case Study One (Player Piano, 2015) was a one-off performance that used pre-existing repertoire and relied on limited rehearsal time. Case Study Two (Embodied Hope, 2016) was a fourteen-day tour with a quartet that focused on developing a self-composed suite of music. Finally, Case Study Three ((no)boundaries, 2017) was a set of freely improvised performances that explored a lack of predetermined structure. This thesis accompanies two live performances and two albums (Whirlwind Recordings, 2017 & 2020).

Exploring the existent embodied knowledge specific to each case study and its enactment by aural instruction in live performance, this thesis demonstrates how an empathically creative approach to musical interaction consistently pushed the members of each group beyond our usual boundaries in order to influence the actions of one another.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Dates:
DateEvent
30 September 2021Submitted
18 January 2022Accepted
Uncontrolled Keywords: Empathic Interaction; Empathic Attunement; Empathic Creativity; Empathic Speculation; Group Attunement; Aural Instruction; Aural Cooperation; Aural Collaboration; Jazz; Improvisation; Creativity.
Subjects: CAH25 - design, and creative and performing arts > CAH25-02 - performing arts > CAH25-02-02 - music
Divisions: Doctoral Research College > Doctoral Theses Collection
Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Depositing User: Jaycie Carter
Date Deposited: 03 Jan 2023 15:28
Last Modified: 03 Jan 2023 15:28
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14052

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