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Have
you ever thought of democracy or autocracy affecting dynamics of musical notes,
in the instruments and the musicians who play them? We all expect quartets (or
other musical groups even) to produce good harmonies. But to do that, some
power play has been seen vital in its creation.
The Royal Academy of Music
teamed up with the University of Birmingham to examine the implications of the
timing of musicians relative to the other members of the group, in this case, a
string quartet. The experiment involved the participation of “two
well-established groups of chamber musicians”, who were given the same musical
piece to play. The results reveal that there can either be democracy or
autocracy in a quartet. This hierarchy or lack thereof (as the article states,
democracy in music) was observed through the timing and tempo of each musician
in the group. in one of the groups that were tested, the scientists observed
that there was one musician who seemed to be ruling over the group, as the
other three adjusted their timing according to that seemingly dominant musician’s
timing. On the other quartet however, they were described as more democratic,
as the members were said to “[alter] their timing equally”.
Surprisingly, the article also
reveals that the musicians were not aware of this dynamic in their creation of
harmonies. This dynamic or organisation in the quartet, the musicians suggest
may have something to do with the musical piece they are playing.
After learning of the occurrence
of such power play within their quartet, will they still be able to create
harmonies? Or has this put some suspect to their supposedly untarnished
relationship? And which group – the “democratic” or “autocratic” – produces better
music?
Source:
Morelle, R.
(2014, January 29). Hidden hierarchy in string quartets revealed. BBC. Retreived January 29, 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25934323
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