Leech-Wilkinson, D., & Prior, H. M. (Eds.). (2017). Music and shape.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

7 

Shape as understood by performing musicians

Helen M. Prior

This chapter presents findings from a study of performing musicians and focuses
on some of their practices and beliefs related to musical shaping. Musical per-
formance has been studied in myriad ways, and with a wide range of aims
in mind (for a useful overview, see Gabrielsson 2003). Preparation for perfor-
mance (especially memorized performance) has been examined in considerable
detail, with researchers finding expert practice to be a highly structured activity
in which performers focus on three dimensions of a composition:  the basic
dimension, which includes all aspects of the music requiring attention simply
to play the notes of the piece, and which therefore includes technical decisions;
the interpretative dimension, involving decisions about phrasing, dynamics
and tempo; and the performance dimension, which involves every aspect of
the piece that requires attention during performance, including basic, interpre-
tative and expressive performance cues (Chaffin, Imreh and Crawford 2002;
Chaffin et al. 2010). Experts often work on small sections of a piece of music,
determined by the musical structure, before joining these chunks together to
create larger sections as the piece becomes more familiar (Chaffin et al. 2002).
Decisions involved in musical performance preparation have also been exam-
ined, with three main types of performance decision being identified: intuitive,
deliberate and procedural, procedural being previously deliberate decisions
that have become intuitive over time (Bangert, Fabian et  al. 2014). Bangert,
Schubert and Fabian (2014) propose a spiral model of musical decision-
making, in which a musician’s decisions switch from being intuitive to deliber-
ate and from there become procedural:  the proportion of intuitive decisions
thus increases with expertise. As a performer focuses on new musical features,
the cycle is repeated.
Many of the decisions made by performers concern expressive performance,
the teaching and nature of which has been examined extensively (Brenner and
216
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 217

Strand 2013; Davis 2009; Fabian, Timmers and Schubert 2014; Juslin 2003;
Juslin, Friberg and Bresin 2002; Juslin, Friberg and Schoonderwaldt 2004;
Juslin and Madison 1999; Karlsson and Juslin 2008). Particularly useful is the
GERMS model (Juslin 2003), which identifies five essential components of
musical expression. These are: Generative rules, which serve to clarify the musi-
cal structure through timing, dynamics and articulation; Emotional expression,
in which a range of parameters is used by a performer to convey an intended
emotional expression; Random variations, which are unavoidable and essential
for a performance to sound as though it is produced by a human being; Motion
principles, which incorporate the representation of intended and non-intended
biological motion in sound; and Stylistic unexpectedness, which involves the
creation of tension through the violation of expectations. Though these com-
ponents may not all be considered consciously by performers in their decision-
making, this division does provide some understanding of what performers are
doing in order to create an expressive performance.
Some studies examine the use of particular types of language, such as
metaphors, in relation to music performance preparation (Barten 1998;
Woody 2002), but few studies examine the use and meaning of only one word.
Usually, such an exercise would be rather futile, as much of the terminology
employed by musicians has a reasonably well-established definition. Shape,
or shaping, however, appears to have resisted formal definition in relation to
music, and yet seems to be a useful term for performers, as well as for other
musicians. A recent questionnaire study (Prior 2012c) revealed that perform-
ers use the notion of shaping when practising, in rehearsals, when teaching
and when playing music from a wide range of genres. The term was used in
relation to several ideas, from musical structure to musical expression, emo-
tion and tension; and in relation to specific musical features such as phrasing,
melodic line and dynamics. Overall, shape was found to be highly versatile
and multifaceted. This was an interesting finding in itself, but there was no
way in which an in-depth understanding of shaping could be gained through
these data, gathered as they were in an online questionnaire. A subsequent
interview study allowed greater interaction with a small number of partici-
pants and allowed the development of a model of the ways in which musical
shaping may be used by performers and understood by those studying them.
This study, and the model arising from those data, are presented and refined
within this chapter.

Aim and method

The aim of the interview study was to understand how performing musicians
use the idea of musical shape or shaping.
218 Music and Shape

PARTICIPANTS

Ten professional musicians were interviewed; five were violinists and the other
five harpsichordists. The choice of instruments was carefully considered, in
terms of both the researcher’s background knowledge and experience as a
musician and the potential this gave for insight into the techniques discussed by
the musicians, and also in terms of the instruments’ different capabilities, which
seemed likely to prompt interesting variations in the musicians’ conceptions
of musical shaping. Specifically, the differences between the instruments’ abil-
ity to sustain a sound, to produce sounds with a varied dynamic range and to
play chords were noted. A further difference between the instrumentalists was
the violinists’ close knowledge of their own instrument, in contrast with the
harpsichordists’ unfamiliarity with the harpsichord used in the study, a double
manual by Michael Johnson.
Details of the participants can be seen in Table 7.1. They ranged from eigh-
teen to fifty-four years of age, and their experience playing their instrument
ranged from less than ten years to forty years. They were all resident in the
UK, though some participants were originally from Australia, South America,

TABLE 7.1 Participants in the interview study

Name Instrument Age Group Years Playing Birthplace Place(s) of Study

Tina* Violin 25–34 11–20 UK Manchester University

(undergraduate); RNCM
(postgraduate); Sheffield
University (PG)
Bridget* Violin 25–34 21–30 UK TCM (UG)
Elsie* Violin 25–34 21–30 Australia Sydney Conservatorium
of Music (UG); RCM (PG)
Victor* Violin 35–44 31–40 Uruguay Privately (UG); RAM (PG)
Darragh Morgan Violin 35–44 21–30 Ireland GSMD (UG); Hong Kong
Academy of Performing
Arts (PG)
Yoshi* Harpsichord 25–34 11–20 Japan Queensland
Conservatorium (UG,
PG); RAM (PG), TCM
(PG); University of York
(PG)
Katharine May Harpsichord 45–54 21–30 UK RCM (UG, PG)
Jane Chapman Harpsichord 45–54 31–40 UK RCM; Sweelinck
Conservatory,
Amsterdam
Julian Perkins Harpsichord 25–34 21–30 UK University of Cambridge
(UG); RAM (PG); Schola
Cantorum, Basel (PG)
Nathaniel Mander Harpsichord 18–24 10 UK RAM

Note: Names with an asterisk are pseudonyms; other participants wished to be named.

 Shape as understood by performing musicians 219

Ireland and Japan. Many of them had studied performance at universities and
conservatoires, often to postgraduate level. They were all established profes-
sional performers, the majority of their earnings coming from performance,
though some of them also taught or had research interests.

THE INTERVIEWER
The personal experiences and attributes of the researcher are acknowledged to
have an influence on all stages of the research process. For the sake of trans-
parency, specific details are provided here, similar in nature to those provided
above for the participants. The interviewer was female and (in terms of the clas-
sifications used with the participants) in the twenty-five to thirty-four age group
and the twenty-one to thirty years’ experience group. She had studied music at
a university as an undergraduate before studying music psychology as a post-
graduate, but had maintained involvement in practical music-making in vari-
ous spheres throughout this time. The researcher did not disclose her musical
experiences explicitly to the participants unless they asked specific questions.

PROCEDURE
The participants were asked to attend an interview at King’s College London,
and to bring some music with them that they knew well or had been working
on recently. Violinists were asked to bring their instrument. All participants
were given a consent form and a brief demographic questionnaire to complete
before the main interview began. The interview schedule had been developed
using the findings of a previous questionnaire study (Prior 2012c) but was also
designed to incorporate practical music-making. At the beginning of the inter-
views the participants were asked to play a brief musical extract selected for
its potential for musical shaping and its probable unfamiliarity.1 Participants
were asked to play the extract as they would normally approach a new piece
of music, and then to describe what they were thinking about as they were
playing, as they might to a student. After this discussion, they were told that
the study was about musical shape or shaping, and they were asked to play the
extract again, while thinking about the shape, or their shaping, of the music.
They were then asked to describe their thoughts once more. Some participants
were also asked to play an extract without musical shaping and to describe
their thoughts again. Although this procedure could not be expected to allow
direct access to participants’ thought processes (Ericsson 2006; Ericsson and
Simon 1993), it did elicit helpful, descriptive responses that had some degree of
ecological validity.
This task was used as a prompt for further discussion. Participants were
asked how this compared to their usual experiences of shaping music, what they
meant when they referred to musical shape, and about shaping pieces they had
220 Music and Shape

brought with them or knew well. The schedule contents and order were flexible
to ensure that the interviews felt natural and comfortable for the participants.
At the end of the interview, participants signed the consent form and were
compensated for their time. The interviews were recorded using a Panasonic
SD700 HD Camcorder and a Sony ICD-UX200 Digital Voice Recorder.

DATA ANALYSIS

The interviews generated verbal, musical and gestural data, all of which were
analysed to some extent (Prior 2012a). This chapter focuses mainly on the ver-
bal data, with reference to some of the musical data. The verbal data were ana-
lysed with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This approach has
been widely used in health psychology, but has also been found to work well in
research in music psychology (McPherson, Davidson and Faulkner 2012: 92) as
it allows participants’ thoughts and experiences to be examined idiographi-
cally and in detail. In particular, IPA is appropriate for situations in which
researchers are conducting exploratory studies investigating how individuals
are making sense of their personal and social world and the processes within
that world (Smith and Osborn 2003). The use of IPA was particularly appro-
priate here because of the complex and potentially idiosyncratic ways in which
expert musicians perceive and understand their work, as well as the potential
for emotional involvement in their practices. What constitutes a ‘good’ musical
performance is, in part, socially constructed, determined not only by techni-
cal expertise but by the tastes of both the individual and the period in which
they are performing (Leech-Wilkinson 2009). It therefore seems appropriate to
examine the processes of musical shaping with a method such as IPA that was
developed within the framework of social constructionism.
Data analysis proceeded according to the guidelines for IPA provided by its
pioneers (Smith, Flowers and Larkin 2009; Smith and Osborn 2003). Following
each interview, the recording was listened to in its entirety and initial notes
were made. The data were then transcribed verbatim, but the recording was
used alongside the text throughout the coding process. Initial coding focused
on a phenomenological approach to the data, identifying the main concerns of
each participant and the meaning these concerns had for them. A second stage
of coding followed with an interpretative approach which attempted to iden-
tify how and why the participant had those concerns and to link the phenom-
enological codes to more abstract ideas. The coding was validated by another
member of the research team. Themes were generated from the coded data,
and a summary was written for each participant in relation to each theme. A
summary diagram was also created for each participant. Each interview was
analysed completely before moving on to the next participant’s data.
During the interviews, participants frequently demonstrated their thoughts
about musical shaping on their instrument or by singing. These data were seen
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 221

as of equal importance to their verbal descriptions; indeed, some musicians

seemed to feel that they could communicate more effectively through musi-
cal demonstrations than through verbal description. Moreover, these musical
demonstrations can be seen to circumvent, to some extent, the limitations of
the representational validity of language (Willig 2001). Where these musical
examples were seen to shed light on a particular discussion, they were analysed
using Sonic Visualiser (Cannam, Landone and Sandler 2010). Musical demon-
strations were never considered in isolation; rather, multiple examples from one
or more participants were compared in conjunction with the verbal descrip-
tions participants provided. In this way, the musical demonstrations informed
the analysis of the verbal data and the verbal data provided explanations for
particular features of musical shaping that were demonstrated.
During their verbal explanations and musical demonstrations, participants
often used gestures. These gestures are currently the subject of further analysis
and are not considered fully here.

Results and a proposed model

Although the data gathered provided scope for the consideration of musi-
cal shaping in considerable detail, within this chapter a broad view is taken,
with the aim of creating a data-led model of the use of musical shaping by
musicians. The model (which also acts as a summary of the data) is shown
in Figure 7.1 and is available as well on the companion website , complete
with tables showing examples of each component. On the far left of the model
is the concept or idea of a musical level that can be controlled (or for some
participants, ‘shaped’). Next to this is a column of musical triggers for shap-
ing: features of the music that participants identified as influencing their
shaping decisions. On the far right of the model is the change in sound that
results from the musical levels being controlled or shaped in performance.
These three columns are arranged in approximate size order, with the larg-
est features at the top and the smallest at the bottom. One of the remaining
two columns in the model outlines the technical modifications that are used
to create this changed or shaped sound on the two instruments studied. The
separation of the two instruments within this column allows for the fact that
each instrument has limitations that restrict a performer’s ability to control the
changes in sound represented in the final column. Although these technical
approaches could be the participants’ main focus of attention, many partici-
pants appeared to ‘skip over’ these detailed decision-making processes, using
more or less metaphorical ideas like shape heuristically to help them to create
a musically expressive performance, a notion that is represented by the central
column in the model. Because many of the heuristics seemed to be applicable
at multiple levels, they are arranged not in size order, but alphabetically. Each
222 Music and Shape

Musical level Trigger Heuristic Technical Change in sound

modification
View of the score Audience Instrumentation
Concert Violin
Breathing Bow pressure,
Musical structure speed, angle, Programme
Composer contact
Whole piece Words on the Direction
LH contact, Tempo
score
position,
Emotions
movement
Harmony
Gesture Ornamentation
Movement
Polyphony Imagery
Harpsichord Timbre
Importance
Melodic contour Registration
Section Instrument
Attack speed/ Timing
Rhythm
Line weight
Patterns Attack/release Dynamics
Natural
Phrase synchrony -
Dynamic Shape spreading/
markings over-holding Vibrato
Singing
Articulation or Release speed
Note phrase markings Style Articulation

FIGURE 7.1 Model of musical shaping. In the online version, each component is numbered, and
numbered examples of each component are presented in linked tables. See the companion website:

column and component of the model may be active independently or in com-

bination with any of the other components at any point in time; components
are not tied to other components of the model, be they similar or different in
nature or scale. Each component of the model is explored here before quota-
tions are used to highlight the ways in which multiple dimensions of the model
may interact.

MULTIPLE LEVELS OF SHAPING

The first column of the model focuses on the musical levels discussed by par-
ticipants in relation to musical shaping. It became apparent through the inter-
views that shape was a very flexible term in many ways, not least in the scale at
which it could be applied. Table 7.2 shows the participants who discussed using
shaping at each level. Examples from all participants may be found on the com-
panion website, and some of these are discussed later in the chapter; here, the
focus remains on a few specific quotations from participants discussing shape
at multiple scales.
Several participants discussed the use of the term ‘shape’ at more than one
level. Elsie commented that ‘Every note should have some kind of shape. And
every phrase needs to have a shape’,2 and she also explained that her understand-
ing of the large-scale shape of the music affected the ways in which she shaped at
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 223

TABLE 7.2 Participants who discussed each musical level (see Table 7.1 for their names, repre-
sented here by initials)

Musical Level Violinists Harpsichordists Grand Total

B D E T V Total Ja Ju K N Y Total

Concert 0 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 3
Whole piece ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 7
Movement ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 8
Section ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 8
Phrase ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 10
Note ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 8

smaller levels.3 Victor, too, saw ‘shaping’ as a flexible term that could apply to
several levels of the music. When asked to define shape, Victor used metaphors
of language and narrative:

RESEARCHER: So if I asked you to sum up ‘shaping’, what is it, in a

nutshell?
VICTOR: I think it’s making sense, saying a sentence that makes sense.
And it has a starting point, and a development and a climax, and a
resolution, and a stop.
RESEARCHER: OK. And is that on a large scale, or a small scale, or both?
VICTOR: I think both.4

In contrast, Julian used more technical language to describe the slight variation
in meaning that he felt occurred with the use of shape in different contexts:
JULIAN: I suppose if someone said to me . . . ‘What shape does the
music have to you?’ I’d think instinctively they were talking about the
structure. . . So structure and shape sort of overlap in that capacity. If
you’re talking about a phrase, and you said the shape, I’d be thinking
about, as a player, the sort of technical way you might play it, in
terms of grouping of notes, and the articulations . . . what degrees of
staccato or legato do we want . . . in a particular given phrase. But . . .
with baroque music, one note can have shape, a messa di voce, so you
can just, you know, if you were talking to a violinist or particularly
a singer, and you said ‘What shape does that note have?’ you might
immediately think of the swelling and diminuendo of one note.’5

For Darragh, however, the term ‘shape’ applied specifically to the phrasing
level, with other words being more appropriate for larger or smaller levels of
shaping that were discussed by other participants:

RESEARCHER: Some people sometimes use shape and structure

interchangeably; would you agree with that, or do you think shape
is different?
224 Music and Shape

DARRAGH: I think shape is to do with, again, this thing of tessitura, of

line, of actual line, whereas the structure, yeah of course, you know,
a bigger question, a bigger picture. . . Point A to point B, to point C,
whatever you want to call it . . . but it’s from there, to there, to there,
to there. And that’s the piece of music.
RESEARCHER: OK. So your shaping is on a relatively small scale?
DARRAGH: Exactly . . . it’s more under a micro-magnifying glass,
whereas the other is looking at the big picture, isn’t it, probably.
RESEARCHER: OK. . . Are you thinking about shape when you’re playing
a single note, on its own?
DARRAGH: N-no. You’re thinking possibly about colour, about quality
of sound, about length, because of the bow.6

These ideas could be seen to operate on a spectrum of specificity and scale, with
Elsie and Victor at one extreme, using the term ‘shaping’ flexibly at all levels,
Julian in a more central position acknowledging the slight variation of mean-
ing in the word between small and large scales, and Darragh at the opposite
extreme, reserving the idea for the phrasing level and using other terminology
for variations in sound at other levels. Specific examples of shaping at each level
are discussed later in the chapter.

TRIGGERS FOR MUSICAL SHAPING

The second column within the model shows the score-based triggers identified
by participants as influencing their shape-related decision-making. Table 7.3
shows the participants who reported using each idea. In the model and in the
table, the triggers are shown in the order that relates approximately to musi-
cal scale, with large-scale ideas at the top and small-scale ideas at the bottom.
Some of the titles of these ideas may seem self-explanatory; however, others
are more complicated, and therefore the categories are discussed briefly and in
order, with a few examples. Full examples are provided online.

View of the score
This particular musical trigger was usually an overarching philosophical stance
adopted by the musicians relating to how they felt they should use the informa-
tion provided on the score by the composer or the editor. Participants discussed
the idea of ‘shaping as being anything that you’re doing to get the music off the
page, and to the listener’,7 with the score providing clues as to how this might be
achieved.8 Other participants discussed the score as their only tangible connec-
tion with a composer and that composer’s intentions, with Elsie commenting,
‘it’s just you and the composer again’,9 and Victor describing the score as a code
that he has to interpret.10
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 225

TABLE 7.3 Participants who discussed each trigger

Musical Trigger Violinists Harpsichordists Grand Total

B D E T V Total Ja Ju K N Y Total

View of the ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 ✓ ✓ 2 6
score
Musical ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 7
structure
Words on the ✓ ✓ 2 ✓ 1 3
score
Harmony ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 10
Polyphony ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 8
Melodic ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 10
contour
Rhythm ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 8
Patterns ✓ 1 ✓ ✓ 2 3
Dynamic ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 0 3
markings
Articulation ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 7
or phrase
markings

Musical structure
Some of the interviewees discussed musical structure as something that had an
influence on their musical shaping, with Elsie commenting that she is always
aware of her position within the musical structure as she plays11 and confirm-
ing that this influences her shaping on a smaller scale.12 Others described the
ways they would highlight structural boundaries13 or create a sense of structure
through their playing.14 Darragh discussed structure as something his fellow per-
formers frequently liked to be aware of before making interpretative decisions.15

Words on the score
Performance directions,16 words provided by the composer to convey a pro-
gramme or appropriate imagery for a piece,17 and the lyrics of a vocal piece18
were all reported to have a direct bearing on the musical shaping used by the
performers.

Harmony
Harmony was one of only two triggers to be discussed by all participants,
though not all of them felt comfortable in using this trigger themselves, with
Bridget suggesting that she found other methods more intuitive.19 All four of
the other violinists, however, described how harmony could influence their
shaping decisions, with Victor arguing that much of the expressiveness of a
226 Music and Shape

performance can be lost if a performer is unaware of the harmony underly-

ing the melody they are playing.20 Elsie felt that harmony was central to her
shaping of the music,21 and she, Tina, Victor and Darragh provided numer-
ous examples of how this could occur. The harpsichordists, too, were focused
on harmony for many of their shaping and expressive decisions, with Julian
describing it as one of the first things he looked at in the score;22 and all five
harpsichordists discussed harmonic features of the music in relation to their
shaping decisions.23

Polyphony
Participants discussed musical parts played by others in ensembles influencing
their musical shaping,24 as well as their awareness of ‘voices’ within their own
parts, and of the shaping decisions they made to try to highlight those voices
for their listeners.25

Melodic contour
Like harmony, melodic contour was discussed by all participants. Many dis-
cussed mirroring melodic contours with dynamics26 or highlighting the top of a
phrase through timing.27 Others discussed descending melodic lines or tessitura
more generally.28

Rhythm
Participants discussed the ‘shape of the rhythm’,29 the hierarchical relationships
between beats in a bar,30 and the link between those relationships and bowing
patterns.31 Others discussed the appropriate grouping of particular rhythmic pat-
terns32 and how the shaping of a phrase related to its rhythmic (and other) constit-
uents.33 Tina discussed decisions relating to the musical shaping of syncopation.34

Patterns
Victor, Jane and Katharine all discussed patterns (such as harmonic sequences)
in the music that influenced their shaping decisions.35

Dynamic markings
None of the harpsichordists discussed dynamic markings, probably because
there were none present in their scores. Bridget, Tina and Victor discussed
dynamic markings as a trigger for their musical shaping, though Victor sug-
gested that he did not feel he needed to think consciously about applying them.
Rather, he suggested, ‘I think dynamics fall into place’.36

Articulation or phrase markings

Four violinists and two harpsichordists discussed articulation (or bowing)
markings and how these influenced their musical shaping decisions. Nathaniel
discussed the influence of phrase markings on his musical shaping in some
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 227

detail, specifically noting the phrasing indicated by the composer and what this
meant for him as a performer.37

Summary of musical triggers

Overall, a range of musical triggers seemed to prompt the participants in their
shaping decisions. These were rarely used in isolation; instead, they were used
in combination with others in specific ways that were appropriate for the piece
of music being discussed and the instrument on which it was to be performed.
Participants appeared to have preferences for particular triggers, with some
particularly favouring harmonic features and others focusing more on details
such as dynamic or articulation markings or rhythmic features. The next two
sections focus on the means by which participants used these triggers to modify
the sound they produced, namely through technical modifications and through
heuristics for musical expression. These are deliberately discussed in the oppo-
site order to that in which they are presented in the model, so that the most
tangible and concrete concepts are raised before less specific ideas that may, on
occasion, replace them in conscious thought.

TECHNICAL MODIFICATIONS
As shown in Table 7.4, participants discussed a range of instrument-specific
technical modifications that they could apply in relation to musical shaping.
The categories shown in the table reflect the comments made by partici-
pants in relation to the intertwined nature of the technical modifications they
were able to make. When a participant discussed a change in bow pressure,
for example, they frequently mentioned other changes, such as a modification
in bow speed. Although they also would couple these with changes in the left
hand, such as movements required for clean shifting or for vibrato, these were
sometimes considered separately from bowing considerations, and even if not,

TABLE 7.4 Participants who discussed each technical modification

Violinists Harpsichordists

Technical B D E T V Total Technical Ja Ju K N Y Total

modification modification
Bow pressure, ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 Registration ✓ ✓ ✓ 3
speed, angle, Attack speed / ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5
contact weight
Left-hand ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 Attack/release ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5
contact, synchrony
position, (spreading /
movement over-holding)
Release speed ✓ ✓ 2
228 Music and Shape

can be separated conceptually simply because of the physical independence of

the two hands. All violinists offered features within these two categories.38
The harpsichordists were slightly more varied in their discussions, with only
some of them mentioning registration. There is no doubt that this is something
carefully considered by all harpsichordists in relation to a performance, but in
the interviews with Julian, Katharine and Nathaniel, it was raised in relation
to musical shaping, and clear indications were made that the registration had
an effect on both the overall shaping of a suite or other set of pieces39 and that
the registration had implications for the shaping of phrases and notes.40 All the
harpsichordists talked about the ways in which they varied the attack speed and
weight of a note, and the synchrony of attack and release (i.e. the spreading
of chords).41 Only two participants discussed the speed at which they would
release the keys.42
Specific examples of technical modifications described and executed by par-
ticipants are discussed later in the chapter.

HEURISTICS FOR MUSICAL EXPRESSION

Although the technical approaches discussed above could be the participants’
main focus of attention, many participants appeared to ‘skip over’ these
detailed decision-making processes, using more or less metaphorical ideas,
like shape or shaping, to help them create a musically expressive performance.
Participants would sometimes find it hard to discuss some of the technical
approaches mentioned above,43 and would prefer to use terms that were less
specific but perhaps more useful. It seemed that participants were using words
like ‘shape’ or ‘direction’, or ideas about ‘where the music was going’ as heu-
ristics, or ‘short-cuts based on experience that solve problems too complex to
resolve quickly enough using analytical thought’ (Leech-Wilkinson and Prior
2014: 36). These heuristics were often metaphorical, and participants seemed
to use them to consider ways of playing the music expressively without having
to focus on specific technical aspects of their playing. Yoshi commented, ‘I
think there’s a lot of things I do, sort of, naturally, that I don’t . . . consciously
think about.’44 A particularly helpful example of this was provided by Victor:

RESEARCHER: I noticed as well, here, . . . because you were ‘heading for

the top’, you were moving up towards the heel of the bow, and
lengthening your bow stroke. Is that a conscious thing that you’re
thinking about, or is it more that you’re just thinking that you’re
heading to the top, and that’s . . . shorthand for all the technical
things that are going on?
VICTOR: Absolutely. No, I didn’t think about that at all. Um, it probably
just happened because it’s integrated. Now maybe subconsciously.45
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 229

Some of the metaphorical ideas concerning the music and the appropriate
musical shaping seemed to be expressed through gesture, exposing participants’
multimodal understanding of musical shaping. Participants often discussed
ideas of direction, movement and gesture when talking about their musical
shaping; and, while they did so, they often used gestures in conjunction with
their descriptions or demonstrations of the music. Participants used height to
represent pitch, and vertical gestures to indicate rhythmic features. Arch-shapes
were used to indicate the shape of a phrase, and larger arches, wave patterns or
circular gestures to indicate the shape of an overall piece (Prior 2012a, 2012b).
Further analysis is intended to investigate whether or not there are specific dif-
ferences between the gestures used by violinists and harpsichordists, as well
as correspondences between the gestures used by participants, their verbal
descriptions and their musical demonstrations.
Specific examples of heuristics used by participants are discussed in more
detail later in the chapter; however, Table 7.5 shows the use of a range of heuris-
tic terms in the interviews and their distribution among participants. Because of
their holistic and nonspecific nature, the terms are not listed in order of size, as
other components of the model have been. Instead, they are listed alphabetically.

CHANGES IN SOUND
Participants discussed a range of changes in sound that correspond to those
used in expressive performance, namely vibrato, dynamics, timing fluctuations,
timbre, ornamentation and tempo. In addition, participants also discussed the

TABLE 7.5 Participants who discussed each heuristic

Heuristic Violinists Harpsichordists Grand Total

B D E T V Total Ja Ju K N Y Total

Audience ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 8
Breathing ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 6
Composer ✓ ✓ 2 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 5
Direction ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 10
Emotions ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 7
Gesture ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 7
Imagery ✓ ✓ 1 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 4
Importance ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 7
Instrument ✓ 1 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 6
Line ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 5
Natural ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 4 8
Shape ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 10
Singing ✓ ✓ 2 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 5
Style ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 5 ✓ ✓ ✓ 3 8
230 Music and Shape

programme of a concert and instrumentation. Examples of these are high-

lighted later in the chapter. Before this, selected overall situational factors that
may influence the working of the model are briefly discussed.

OVERALL SITUATIONAL FACTORS

Each column of this model is affected by some overall situational factors, such
as whether the performance decisions are made in private practice, in rehearsal
or in performance; or whether the music involves other performers who influ-
ence the shaping decisions made. Several participants noted the value of per-
formance for generating ideas about musical shaping, an idea supported by
some existing research (Doğantan-Dack 2013). Yoshi suggested that she was
‘more alert’ during performance than when practising, which enabled her to
notice new features of the music and to have new ideas concerning the shaping
of those features. If Yoshi considers those ideas to be ‘too risky’ she ‘saves them
for later’, but there are times when she tries new ideas during a performance.46
Both Tina and Katharine valued spontaneity in their ensemble performances,
and noted how other performers would influence their own shaping during a
concert. Tina discussed the ‘communal’ and ‘spontaneous’ shaping of a Haydn
string quartet, stating that ‘the ideal is that at any point, really, one person
might help to guide it in a particular way, so that . . . the contour of the piece
changes’.47 Similarly, Katharine reported that she particularly enjoyed perform-
ing with ‘someone who takes a few risks, and does something spontaneously
that you can then react to: . . . that’s really nice music-making’.48 Hence, it is
anticipated that the situation in which musical shaping is considered will influ-
ence the extent to which each aspect of the model is used.

TRACING PATHWAYS THROUGH THE MODEL

The value of the model described above lies not only in its ability to outline
various aspects of shaping as discussed by the participants in the study, but also
its potential for showing the combinations of factors used by participants in
specific situations. With this in mind, specific quotations and musical examples
from the interviews are discussed alongside presentations of the model that
highlight which components are active in each situation. Examples showing
shaping at each musical level are offered.

Shaping at the concert level

Katharine considered the varying of instrumentation and programme for an
audience at a concert:
KATHARINE: I’ve just been doing some concerts over the
weekend . . . basically accompanying, you know, a small chamber
group, but on Sunday I actually played the suite, as a break in
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 231

the programme from having violin sound or singer. Just so that

there’s . . . variety within the . . . listening experience, I suppose.
You’re not listening to string players the whole time, or whatever, a
little bit of time for something a bit different.49

This could be seen as shaping a programme and the instrumentation of that

programme to suit a listener. It can be represented by the model as shown in
Figure 7.2, available online . The shaping level is designated as the level of
the whole concert, and the programme and instrumentation change as a result
of the consideration of the audience. All these components of the model are
shown in black, whereas the rest of the model is shown in grey.

Shaping at the level of a whole piece or movement

Bridget commented on shaping at the levels of phrasing, movement and the
whole piece. She was using ideas related to the ‘direction’ heuristic (‘where’s this
movement going’) and also the ‘importance’ heuristic (‘where’s the . . . high-
light of this’). The comment does not encompass the effect of these ideas on
the musical sound produced, and therefore this uncertainty is represented by
a question mark over this area of the model in Figure 7.3, available online .
BRIDGET: the main thing that I come across, talking about shape,
whether it’s just on my own, or in rehearsals, in an ensemble, is about
phrasing, like, the small phrases, . . . one line, or the bigger shape of
the whole piece, or the whole movement, so, instead of where’s the,
where’s this phrase going, where’s this movement going, where’s the,
you know, the highlight of this, where’s the whole, all these phrases,
where are they going to?50

Shaping at the movement level

Elsie discussed shaping at the movement level in some detail, describing how
her awareness of the larger-scale structure of a piece of music would affect her
shaping of the piece:
ELSIE: For example, if this was a slow movement, in between two outer
movements, . . . I’d be very, very careful to create a mood in which the
music could just sing. And it would also give the audience a chance
to relax, in between the two outer allegro movements, or presto, or
whatever it is. You have to time pieces throughout the whole thing,
and you have to know when to back off, and when to really, you
know, go for it, I suppose.51

She continued, playing the music in two ways, and describing her thoughts
about what she was doing:
ELSIE: I’ll play it in two different ways. If . . . I was playing this, within
the context of a larger piece of music, and I played it sort of, um
232 Music and Shape

[plays]. That might sound, sort of OK, but I’m still so involved with
it, do you know what I mean? Um, why not just let it go? [sighs] and
give the audience a chance to go, ‘Oh, that’s really nice’ you know, in
between having been gripped for the first thing, you know, so I could
just [plays] and just [plays]. It could give something, just completely
different. And it’s all to do with where the music lies within the whole
thing.52

These sound examples are available on the companion website, and it is pos-
sible to examine them for differences between the two versions. Using Sonic
Visualiser (Cannam et al. 2010), we identified the main beats of the excerpts
and exported the data for statistical analysis (Table 7.6). The two versions
differed in tempo: the ‘involved’ version ( ) had a shorter mean beat length
and was therefore faster than the ‘letting go’ version ( ). In an interview sit-
uation, the significance of this is difficult to assess; however, the variance of
the beat length also differed, with the ‘involved’ version having a significantly
larger variance than the ‘letting go’ version (Levene’s test of homogeneity of
variance: F (1, 26) = 13.9, p = 0.001). The two versions also differed in Elsie’s
use of dynamics. Although the mean power of each excerpt cannot be judged
reliably from this interview source, the variance of the power showed a con-
siderable difference between the two versions, with the ‘involved’ version hav-
ing significantly greater variance than the ‘letting go’ version (Levene’s test
of homogeneity of variance: F (1, 1739) = 15.9, p < 0.001). Some of this was
achieved by using less bow pressure, though Elsie did not specify any other
technical modifications. When listening, one can hear a slight difference in
the vibrato used in each version, with the ‘involved’ version seeming to have
a slightly faster vibrato that begins more promptly after the start of the note
than the ‘letting go’ version.
When representing the whole of this quotation with the model, we can see
that Elsie is considering the shaping of a piece and movement as a whole, and
that she is considering the musical structure of the whole work as a trigger for
her musical shaping. She is using the heuristics of ‘audience’, ‘emotions’ and

TABLE 7.6 Differences between Elsie’s two versions of the

extract [00:11:00]

Involved Letting Go

Mean beat length 0.562 0.625

Variance of beat length 0.010 0.003
Mean power −15.8 −15.5
Variance of power 48.5 31.6
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 233

‘singing’, and employing technical modifications using both hands to modify

the overall tempo, the timbre, the timing fluctuations, the dynamics and the
vibrato.
Interestingly, Julian discussed a similar idea to Elsie’s ‘letting go’:
JULIAN: sometimes if you make things, if you emote things too much,
it can become a bit wearisome to listen to. Sometimes just sort of,
stating simplicity is beautiful in itself. . . And I think that might
apply here. So I mean, I was sort of suggesting a lot of things, and
I think, if I was performing it in a concert, I might sort of throw a
lot of those, not throw them away, but, just make them a secondary
consideration, just for the, just going for a simple reading . . . So it’s
not too . . . convoluted.53

His performance preparation has involved ideas of shaping, but he some-

times approaches a performance with the desire to give a simpler performance.
Perhaps, as Elsie’s data suggest, a ‘less shaped’ performance can sometimes be
desirable.

Shaping at the section level

Nathaniel discussed the shaping of phrases over longer sections of the music,
noting the harmony, melodic contour and patterns such as repetition, but also
using heuristics of the composer, suggested by his use of ‘he’ (the composer)
rather than ‘the music’ or ‘it’; direction, indicated by terms such as ‘goes’,
‘going’, ‘that way’ and ‘all the way to here’; emotions, suggested by the words
‘amazing’, ‘miraculous’, ‘incredible’ and ‘defeated’; and style, indicated by his
comment about the significance of repetition in baroque music. He does not
discuss the technical means by which he modifies the sound, but he mentions
changes in timing. This quotation is represented on the model in Figure 7.5,
available online .
NATHANIEL: So at the end of that, um let’s just see [plays] then you
start again [plays] and then, this time, he goes up [plays]—isn’t that
amazing?—and back down, before he goes that way. Then he goes
on, B♭ minor [plays] and on, C minor [plays] and then he keeps
going with an extended phrase, all the way to here and here, all the
way to the dominant, and then when he gets here, it’s miraculous,
[plays] and then we get [plays] that chord [plays] which is just
incredible, isn’t it? [plays]. So we get [plays] and away, and
there it is again [plays] which, I suppose, in the baroque, repetition,
it’s, it’s all about something more. So actually [plays] this time,
I think it’s even more defeated [plays] so I get slightly slower
[plays].54
234 Music and Shape

Shaping at the phrasing level

Participants gave many examples of shaping at the phrasing level, and so sev-
eral examples are considered here. Jane discussed shaping phrases using vivid
imagery:

JANE: But I’m thinking of . . . not just the shape that’s up and down, . . .
I was thinking of shapes that swell. Again, it’s my three-dimensional
thing, something that swells out, like a kind of serpent with
swellings in its body! [laughs] . . . So it not just a slippery snake that
goes like that, it’s something that kind of opens out and expands. . .
RESEARCHER: Can you tell me where?
JANE: Where it is, I suppose again, it would come to the harmonic thing
[plays]. That’s a sort of [plays], that’s a ‘here I am’ [plays], a sort
of visible [plays]. That to me is where he’s swelling out . . . puffing
himself up, but still he’s got energy to carry on [plays]. Now that
could be either [plays]; that could be just going away to nothing so,
I suppose the shape of that, thin shape, fat bulbous shape, starting
fairly bulbously, getting thinner, more bulbous as it comes down
again, and then going off to, just disappearing off. . . Which is . . . the
way the harpsichord works; you could do it completely the opposite
on the piano, because of . . . the dynamics, so in a way, the lack of
dynamics, . . . means that you have to follow, what the instrument’s
telling you. . . While on the piano, I could play that [sings] at the end,
but on the harpsichord I can do the [plays]. Some holding, but, could
do that I suppose [plays]. . . And the fact that he’s put er, lines over
each one, shows a kind of gestural [plays], gestural shape [plays].
Slightly rounded at the end there.55

When represented on the model, this quotation highlights the phrase level,
triggers of harmony and melodic contour, heuristics of gesture, imagery,
instrument and shape, technical modifications relating to over-holding, and
timing as a change in sound (see Figure 7.6, available online ).
Victor discussed shaping a phrase in slightly more prosaic terms, though
he too was frequently emotionally invested in the music he was discussing
and playing. He noted the musical triggers of harmony, melodic contour
and rhythm, using the heuristic of the audience (listener) and the metaphor-
ical imagery of communication to convey his ideas. The following quote is
represented in Figure 7.7, available online :
VICTOR: it’s about how the listener will receive something that makes
sense. So how the melody, how the phrase is made up, is completely
unique, and it’s made up of technical considerations of rhythm,
pitch, harmony, of where the top point is, where it’s going, how
fast it’s getting there, . . . how slowly or fast it unravels, how it does.
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 235

I think phrasing’s about being able to see that, from this [indicates
score].56
Tina discussed wide-ranging parts of the model when talking about shaping
a phrase. She discussed musical triggers of melodic contour, harmony and
dynamic markings, and heuristics of audience, direction, imagery and line, as
well as changes in sound relating to timing and dynamics. Her quote is repre-
sented in Figure 7.8, available online .:
TINA: Yes, I suppose the shape of a phrase, whether it goes up
or . . . down, for example, the first line, thinking of it generally,
growing up to the top, and down again . . . 
RESEARCHER: So is it the pitch you’re thinking about, in terms of the
shape, or—
TINA: Pitch, and, well, the dynamic, which is written in anyway. And
direction, so . . . some sort of forward movement towards the higher
point of it, so sort of trying to reach the top of it and then perhaps
away, and relaxing on the way back down again.
RESEARCHER: Do you mean forward movement in terms of tempo, or a
combination of things, or—
TINA: Um, not exactly tempo, not an accelerando, but a sense of it.
Someone I know describes things as, you play them either in the
present tense, or the future, or the past, so I s’pose, if you play
something in the future, you’re sort of looking forwards . . . um,
which doesn’t exactly mean you play . . . faster, . . . it means you’re
sort of on the front edge of maybe, of what you think the tempo is,
rather than the back edge.
RESEARCHER: Yeah, OK. . . Would you describe that as rubato, or is it
not quite as much as that?
TINA: It’s not, no, not as much as that, just a general sense, I suppose
a sense of ‘line’ through . . . some kind of thread that, your, sort
of, intention, that comes across. . . I suppose if you’re speaking, if
you’re reading something out loud, you make sure the words within a
sentence carry on, even though you have to articulate each word and
things, but you don’t [pauses] pause [pauses] until you get to the end
of the sentence, you make sure you’ve got there, I suppose.57
Darragh discussed a technically and perceptually complex passage from
Bach’s E minor Partita which contains implied polyphony. He noted how for
this particular passage, little conscious shaping was required, an approach
which is supported by recent research (Davis 2009), whereas at the end of the
passage he would begin shaping the music once more. It was apparent from
his playing that he was referring not only to the timing fluctuations within
his performance, but also the dynamic range, the timbre or tone colour, and
vibrato.
236 Music and Shape

DARRAGH: So, you know, in a sense, you know, here we are talking

about music and interpretation, and shape, and phrasing, and all
that, but you know, music’s always been there, because it’s Bach,
and it’s genius, and it’s probably the best composer ever, but, if you
just kind of can play well, in tune, for that particular passage, and,
you know, technically be in control of what you’re doing, already
a certain amount of the battle is won, isn’t it? . . . he’s written the
genius into it, hasn’t he? . . . all I’m saying is you don’t, there’s not
anything, in one sense, you need to add to this particular passage, for
instance, right from [plays]. You know, if I was just really struggling
with that, [plays] you wouldn’t have the right flow. . . But because I’m
lucky enough, and I gradually worked it out, uh, where my bow’s
meant to be, uh, [plays] then at the end you start, yeah, shaping
again, or, taking time for the music to breathe again.58

When represented on the model (see Figure 7.9, online ), this quotation high-
lights shaping at the phrase level, with musical triggers of melodic contour and
(implied) polyphony, heuristics of breathing, composer and shape, technical
modifications in both hands (the left hand has complex fingering patterns and
shifts, and the bow moves in changing patterns relating to string crossings),
affecting the timbre, the timing and probably the dynamic variation and vibrato.

Shaping at the note level

Elsie gave a very clear example of shaping a single note. Her quote features the
musical triggers of harmony and rhythm; heuristics of the audience, emotion,
instrument (specifically, the baroque bow) and shape; technical modifications
undertaken by both hands; and a change in sound in timbre, timing, dynamics
and vibrato (heard in her demonstrations). The following quote is represented
on the model in Figure 7.10, available online :
ELSIE: Well what I would say, is, um, look at the shape of the bow, and,
and how long you have to do that note, you know [plays] it’s about
[plays] two seconds’ worth, I suppose, if we’re going to be really
analytical about it, and . . . the note needs to have a shape, so where’s
the . . . middle of that note going to be? . . . And um, [plays] basically,
it’s the bar lines, ’cos you know [plays] to get the maximum emotional
impact, I suppose you have to time the middle of that note to
coincide with this [plays] the clash [plays]. Then you’re really gonna
get the audience going, ‘Oh wow!’ you know? ’cos dissonances are
much, much more interesting sometimes than consonances.59

Yoshi, too, described shaping a single note, providing considerable detail about
the physical interaction between her arms and fingers and the keyboard of the
harpsichord, and about the resulting differences in the sound produced:
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 237

YOSHI: I think sometimes, it’s the way you drop. [plays] If you just let
the weight of your fingers drop, or if you do it a little bit more [plays]
instant, not force, but just a little bit of ping on your finger, and then
you get more of a clear start to the sound. And if you, you can use
the flat bit of your finger, then it’s a little bit [plays] um, milder, a
little bit more sort of gentle, sort of plucking. . . I think the weight,
the speed, and also the angle . . . of the fingers will sort of, I think,
[plays] I guess you have more control [plays] when it’s flatter . . .
[plays] rather than that, but then, and then you sort of, sometimes,
just give it a little kick, and that’s a little bit . . . uh, it’s a little bit
more clear at the beginning, and somehow louder as well. [plays]60

When represented on the model, the heuristics of gesture, imagery and instru-
ment are highlighted, reflecting Yoshi’s discussion of the movements she is
making, the metaphorical ideas surrounding those movements (‘ping’, ‘little
kick’, etc.), and the technicalities of the instrument she is playing. She is dis-
cussing the attack of a single note, and therefore this is highlighted in the
musical level and technical modifications areas of the model. The change in
sound discussed concerns the timbre and dynamic of the note produced. This
can be seen in Figure 7.11, available online .

Discussion

It is clear from the examples shown that multiple components of the model are
frequently used by participants at once. Each broad category can be thought
about in isolation or considered in relation to another. Often, technical modifi-
cations may not be thought about on a conscious level, with performers thinking
instead of heuristics to achieve their desired change in sound. Nor are musi-
cal triggers always thought about consciously. Different participants seemed
to favour particular components, suggesting that, over time, performers may
develop their own preferred means of thinking about musical shaping that are
represented in numerous areas of the model. It is worth bearing in mind, how-
ever, that the model was built from data gathered in one interview with each par-
ticipant, and is unlikely to represent the full scope of the shaping experience. It
does, however, provide a picture of some of the ways in which these performing
musicians conceptualize and use the notion of musical shaping.
The model provides a new perspective on performance preparation, partly
because it is focused on musical shaping, rather than on performance prepar-
ation in general. Some components seem to correspond with aspects of exist-
ing research findings. In relation to research in expert practice (Chaffin et al.
2002; Chaffin et al. 2010), many of the musical triggers, some of the heuris-
tics, and many of the technical modifications may be involved in the formation
of interpretative performance cues. Some of the heuristics also seem likely to
238 Music and Shape

be involved in the formation of expressive cues. Many of the participants dis-

cussed the musical structure (and harmonic goals within the music, which are
necessarily related to musical structure), around which expert practice is often
organized. Parts of the model may also be considered in the light of research
in musical decision-making discussed earlier (Bangert, Fabian et  al. 2014;
Bangert, Schubert and Fabian 2014). While musical triggers appear to prompt
all types of decisions concerning musical shaping, deliberate decision-making
seems likely to involve technical modifications, while more intuitive decisions
may involve heuristics.
It may be possible to relate particular components of the model to Juslin’s
(2003) GERMS model of musical expression. Many of the musical triggers are
likely to be generative features, and therefore are highlighted with some of the
changes in sound in the right-hand column. The heuristics of audience and emo-
tions are likely to aid the performer in generating an intended emotional expres-
sion. While random variations are not intended by the performer, this component
might perhaps be related to technical modifications. Motion principles may be
created with the aid of heuristics such as breathing, direction, gesture, line, natu-
ral and shape. Finally, stylistic unexpectedness may be aided with the heuristic
of style. Future research could use the research methods commonly employed in
performance-preparation studies to ascertain whether or not the above specula-
tions hold true, or whether there may be ways of combining this model of musical
shaping with other aspects of performance preparation to create an overarching
model. It might also be possible to develop ways of representing individuals’ per-
sonal preferences in their understanding of musical shaping, or the particular
components used within one practice session or rehearsal. These could be used in
studies of performance preparation to examine participants’ shaping focus and
how this changes over time. Such representations could also be used in a study
of ensembles to investigate the dynamics of musical shaping in a group setting.
Does the shaping within a rehearsal switch between the preferred modes of the
members, or does it remain more constant? Are the dominant shaping modes
related to the music performed or the members of the group, or both?
Although the model represents the findings of the ten interviews discussed,
it may have the potential to be applied to other performers, and this would
be desirable in the search for an overarching conceptual model of shape or
shaping for musicians. When assessing the model’s generalizing potential, we
need to take several considerations into account. The two sample instruments
are technically very different in how they generate sounds, in the techniques
required of performers, and in the sounds themselves. There were, however, few
(if any) systematic differences between the responses of violinists and harpsi-
chords in terms of the levels at which musical shaping could be applied or dis-
cussed, musical triggers for shaping, or the heuristics for performance. Rather,
it seemed as though participants had individual preferences for these features of
the model. These similarities suggest that another sample of classical musicians
 Shape as understood by performing musicians 239

would discuss shaping in the ways suggested here. A future study might look at
wind or brass players, or singers. Another interesting group might be players
of untuned percussion instruments: we could hypothesize that they might be
focused on rhythm, but to what extent do they shape what they play according
to the melodic and harmonic features of other parts?
Further studies might also establish whether or not the model has the poten-
tial to be generalized to western performers who are less reliant on a score, such
as musicians within the broad popular genre or jazz musicians. Within Chapter
8 of this book, Greasley and Prior argue that the performers of popular music
share responsibility for the shaping of the final sounds of the songs with others,
such as sound engineers, and indeed, classical musicians in recording settings
and certain live performance situations may also recognize this idea. The model
might therefore need to be extended to encompass the performers’ awareness
of and interaction with these other contributors; this is something that neces-
sitates further empirical study.
In its current form, this model offers an understanding of musical shaping
from the perspective of classical performing musicians. While the terms ‘shape’
and ‘shaping’ are commonly used by performers, their meanings have not previ-
ously been defined in relation to music. This model confirms the flexibility of
the term, highlighting its ability to be used in relation to all levels of the musical
structure; the influence of an array of musical triggers on performers’ shap-
ing decisions; the use of shape as one of a number of heuristics for expressive
performance; the technical modifications required to shape a note, phrase, sec-
tion, etc.; and the change in sound that results. At the very least, the data and
the resulting model have allowed some understanding of the commonly used
phrase ‘That was a beautifully shaped performance’, and that understanding
may perhaps help others to achieve that elusive goal.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the AHRC Research Centre for Musical
Performance as Creative Practice (grant number RC/AH/D502527/1). The
author is most grateful to David Mackin of Greengate Publishing Services for
producing the figures for this chapter.

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