Togetherness in musical interaction

Abstract

Playing music as part of a group is challenging, but also rewarding. What factors come together to maximize rewarding group playing experiences? How do feelings of enjoyment, frustration, and social (dis)connection shape group performance as it unfolds? This paper addresses these questions with a discussion of the conditions and processes that underlie rewarding experiences in musical interaction. The concept of musical togetherness is introduced, and defined as the feelings of social connection and pleasure that result from being and acting as part of a group during musical interaction. It is argued that three conditions must be fulfilled for togetherness experiences to occur. First, participants in an interactive setting must be aware of one another as intentional co-performers capable of exchanging expressive ideas. Second, interaction must unfold reliably in real-time, allowing for a mutual perception of liveness. Third, participants must adapt and build off of one another in a way that allows for mutual perception of responsivity. Whether these conditions are met is codetermined by the constraints of the environment in which the interaction takes place and the skills and communication techniques that interaction participants are able to deploy. Togetherness experiences are further supported by alignment between group members in body rhythms and a sense of we-agency, or the feeling of shared contribution to the collective musical output. The social and emotional rewards that are associated with musical togetherness are strengthened through a shared positive emotional response to successful interaction. Musical togetherness is hypothesized to contribute to shaping group performance in real-time by motivating group members to interact in ways that lead them to feel more together. This framework provides structure for a construct that has been used casually in the music psychology literature, has implications for how the performance behaviour of ensemble musicians is understood.