PAUSES IN MUSIC PROFESSIONAL
MIDI: Pianists performed on identical Akai Professional MAX25 USB-powered keyboards. Neurally, we tested the hypothesis that dynamics of cortical beta oscillations (13 – 30 Hz) – typically associated with motor preparation and planning (Engel & Fries, 2010 Tzagarakis et al., 2010 Zaepffel et al., 2013) – reflect preparation and planning processes linked to resolution of unmeasured musical silences. This prediction follows from previous work indicating that partners try to reduce unpredictability by making their individual actions more predictable, namely by increasing action speed and reducing variability (Vesper et al., 2011, 2016).
Behaviorally, we tested the hypothesis that partners produce shorter and less variable silences relative to individuals as a means of facilitating coordination. Musicians performed this melody alone and simultaneously with a partner with whom they had to coordinate the duration of silences. Specifically, we measured trained musicians’ performances of a simple piano melody featuring unmeasured expressive silences, termed fermatas ( Fermata | Grove Music). Here we investigated this question in the context of musical interaction. How partners resolve unmeasured silence in social interaction is an open and important question for social cognitive neuroscience.
Such silences are typically unmeasured, and thus pose a challenge to coordination: partners must determine when to end silences without disrupting the flow of interaction. Silences often arise in social interactions such as conversation and joint music-making: conversation partners often pause between utterances musicians insert expressive silences between musical phrases.
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