Abstract
People often spontaneously start moving when they listen to music. It feels natural to tap the fingers or nod the head to the beat - so natural, that sometimes it seems to be happening automatically. But is this behaviour indeed automatic? Are we able to decide whether to move or not to move? Or, in other words: do we move to music, or does music move us? The research presented in this dissertation shows that movement to music can be difficult to resist, even when we try. However, it depends on several factors, some of which make people more likely to move when they hear music. I aimed to study and systematise the impact of different characteristics of music, listener, and context of the music experience. Using motion capture technology, it was possible to measure body movement at a very small scale, sometimes unnoticeable to the human eye. Motion data from several experiments, accompanied by questionnaires, allowed for examining a large number of research questions and filling in the picture of why, how, and when music moves us. In sum, this research aids the understanding of how we perceive and interact with music. At the same time, it helps to build knowledge about human cognition at large, and illustrate the role that the body plays in shaping our relationship with the world around us.
Recording of trial lecture
Given topic: "What is musical entrainment?"
Recording of introduction
The project has been carried out as part of the project MICRO - Human Bodily Micromotion in Music Perception and Interaction at RITMO Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Rhythm, Time and Motion.
Programme
- 10:15-11:00: Trial lecture
- 11:15-14:30 (approximately): Disputation
- 15:00-16:00: Reception
Committee
- Professor Marc Leman, Department of Art, music and theatre sciences, Ghent University
- Dr Maria A. G. Witek, Department of Music, University of Birmingham
- Professor Rolf Inge God?y, Department of Musicology, RITMO, Universitetet i Oslo (administrator)
Chair
- Peter Edwards, Head of the Department of Musicology
Supervisors
- Professor Alexander Refsum Jensenius, University of Oslo
- Professor Bruno Laeng, University of Oslo
- Associate Professor Jonna Katariina Vuoskoski, University of Oslo