The effect of body movement on listeners’ perceptions of musicality in trombone quartet performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what effect body movement would have on listeners’ ( N = 90) perceptions of a professional chamber ensemble performance. Specifically, an audio/video recording of a trombone quartet performance was used for the music stimulus. Listeners were asked to rate each performance on the basis of perceived appropriateness of style and perceived ensemble expressivity. While the video portion of the stimulus changed to reflect each of three movement conditions: (1) deadpan – no extraneous movement, (2) head/face movement only, (3) full body movement, the audio portion of the stimulus remained the same. Results indicated that body movement condition did significantly affect listeners’ ratings of perceived style and expressivity. Increased movement in performance corresponded to higher ratings. Differences were also found on the basis of major (although the effect size was small) and presentation order. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.