Small Group Research OnlineFirst, published on January 16, 2009 as doi:10.1177/1046496408329277
Modes of Communication Between Members of a String Quartet
Small Group Research Volume XX Number X Month XXXX xx-xx © 2009 Sage Publications 10.1177/1046496408329277 http://sgr.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com
Frederick A. Seddon Michele Biasutti University of Padova
This qualitative case study revealed the modes of communication employed between members of a professional string quartet during rehearsal and performance. Six modes of communication and two levels of attunement were revealed. The modes of communication were interpreted as verbal and nonverbal: instruction, cooperation, and collaboration. The levels of attunement were interpreted as sympathetic and empathetic. Results indicated that the members of the string quartet were able to become empathetically attuned and produce spontaneous musical variations during performance. These spontaneous musical variations were interpreted as examples of empathetic creativity. Participants confirmed researcher interpretations of the six modes of communication, sympathetic and empathic attunement, and empathetic creativity during member checks. The authors propose that spontaneous musical variations are examples of empathetic creativity. The findings of the current qualitative case study support the findings of a previous study conducted with a jazz sextet (Seddon, 2005). Implications of the findings of the current study for small group communication and creativity are discussed. Keywords: collaboration; creativity; communication; attunement; empathy
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rior research investigating group creativity has tended to focus on group member’s individual characteristics without taking into consideration the interaction between those individuals (Salazar, 2002; Sunwolf, 2002). Even when member interaction is considered, prior research into creativity and communication in groups has tended to employ unrealistic or inappropriate tasks in laboratory situations ignoring natural settings for
Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence Dr. Frederick A. Seddon, Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione, Via Beato Pellegrino, 28 - 35137 Padova, Italy; e-mail: frederick.
[email protected] 1
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investigation (Jarboe, 1999). Research conducted in natural settings provides an opportunity to reveal a more holistic view of group communication making it a more meaningful contributor to research on group creativity that moves beyond issues merely related to divergent thinking and ideation strategies (Jarboe, 1999). When musicians play together in small groups (e.g., string quartets and jazz groups), they have at their disposal a unique form of communication: musical communication. The string quartet has been the focus of attention for many music psychology researchers examining issues of musician’s individual roles, leadership, and social collaboration (Blum, 1986; Butterworth, 1990; Davidson & Good, 2002; King, 2006; Murnighan & Conlon, 1991; Rounds, 1999; Tovstiga, Odenthal, & Goerner, 2005; Young & Colman, 1979). With the exception of Davidson and Good (2002), none of the previous studies of string quartets examined in any detail musical communication. Davidson and Good (2002) investigated sociocultural issues and moment-by-moment social and musical communication between members of a student string quartet. They concluded that the student musicians’ limited experience working together restricted their exchanges to technical and individual concerns rather than creative issues and called for further research with professional musicians. Jazz musicians often describe how they listen to recordings they have made and hear themselves playing phrases they have never previously practiced but which have emerged as a result of what other musicians were playing at the time. These unpracticed phrases may be regarded as spontaneous musical utterances (Davidson & Good, 2002; Seddon, 2005), which can emerge from the interplay of stocks of musical knowledge when musicians are empathetically attuned (Seddon, 2005). For classical musicians in a string quartet, spontaneous musical utterances should be regarded as spontaneous musical variations as classical musicians must play accurately the pitch of the notes indicated in the musical score but still have the opportunity to employ a wide variety of musical interpretations (Cohen, 2005). The research reported in the current study addresses issues of group communication and creativity between members of a professional string quartet undertaken within a theoretical framework based on the concept of empathetic creativity (Seddon, 2005), which was derived from the concept of empathetic intelligence (Arnold, 2004).
Review of the Literature Research focusing on individual, personal characteristics ignores how communication between group members can foster environments that facilitate the
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emergence of group creativity. Researchers have called for further research into this phenomenon (Firestien, 1990; Jarboe, 1999; Salazar, 2002; Sunwolf, 2002). For example, group synergy and its underlying processes require clarification through theories and models revealing group communication and its associations with group creativity (Salazar, 2002). Group synergy suggests that a group can collectively generate more creative ideas than the individuals within a group (Fabian, 1990). When viewing group creativity from a communication perspective, the focus is on the sending and receiving of messages and how such exchanges can stimulate and extend creative ideas (Sunwolf, 2002). The sending and receiving of messages between group members takes place in a fluctuating social environment, which is influenced by the organization of the group and the synergy between its individuals (Salazar, 2002; Sunwolf, 2002). This means that the social system in which the group operates is an important dimension when researching group communication and creativity. Self-organizing systems theory can have relevance for understanding the role of communication during group creativity. Social systems may be examined from the sciences of complexity perspective, which theorists have more recently applied to understanding system behaviour (Cohen, 1999). A small group may be regarded as a system consisting of interdependent parts that form a coherent whole. A system can be self-organizing and can experience a perturbation or disruption, which can cause it to move away from equilibrium. This perturbation may at first make the system appear chaotic but through repetition, over time, a new order is established in the system. The system can be said to have organized itself from chaos into a new order. Selforganization is dynamic and nonlinear, and the point at which the system encounters the perturbation is called the bifurcation point. A system that experiences multiple bifurcation points will find it increasingly difficult to return to equilibrium and could be described as being in a chaotic state. A system can exist somewhere between equilibrium and chaos and while in this state may be described as functioning on the edge of chaos. Working on the edge of chaos increases the sense of dynamism between the members of the system, and the stronger the relationships between the members of the system, the greater potential for change affecting it (Lewin, 1992). It is at a certain point of dynamism, somewhere between stability and the edge of chaos, that the potential for enhanced group creativity is optimized (Salazar, 2002). This dynamism manifests itself through the communication that takes place between the system’s members. A system communicating in this way can be regarded as a complex adaptive system (Sherman & Schultz, 1998) and its communication processes can be said to have the capacity for spontaneity within a bounded instability (Stacey, 1996). Adopting a complexity approach to group creativity through concepts of complexity, stability, and
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chaos may facilitate the generation of group creativity assessment instruments where group creativity is defined as the following: “Creativity is an emergent group phenomenon; it emerges from how group members communicate with one another . . . various environmental, organisational, group and person factors may set the stage for its emergence” (Salazar, 2002, p. 181). In summary, a small group in a stable state, or at equilibrium, will be less likely to be creative than a group moved far from equilibrium. Furthermore, a cascade of bifurcation acting on a group produces a complex state of dynamic behaviour, which can provide the conditions for the emergence of creativity (Salazar, 2002). Much of the prior research into small group creativity and communication has tended to focus on verbal communication between group members. This focus on verbal communication is potentially limiting for group research, as it tends to ignore the importance of nonverbal communication and associated affective sensitivities such as empathy. Highly creative individuals tend to be more empathetic than less creative individuals. They display an affective sensitivity through empathy that can be experienced by others in the same environment (Carlozzi, Bull, Eells, & Hurlburt, 1995). Arnold (2003, 2004) presents an argument for the importance of empathy in communication processes in her work on empathetic intelligence.
Empathetic Intelligence: The Phenomenon of Intersubjective Engagement Arnold (2003, 2004) argues a case for empathetic intelligence from a pedagogical perspective. She maintains that effective learning can take place when an educator creates a dynamic between thinking and feeling and that empathetic intelligence articulates aspects of the intersubjective and intrasubjective (Arnold, 2003, 2004). It is this dynamic between thinking and feeling that differentiates empathetic intelligence from emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a necessary part of empathetic intelligence, but there are two key differences between them. Empathetic intelligence relies on the dynamic between cognitive and emotional intelligence, and empathetic intelligence has an ethical intention revealed in a creative or beneficial outcome (Arnold, 2004). Empathetic intelligence is grounded in personal histories and how they play a formative role in the development of personal, interpersonal, and professional life. It is a blend of theory, reflective practice, and idiosyncratic experience. According to Arnold (2003), empathy is achieved by understanding the thoughts and feelings of self and others through attunement, decentring, and
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introspection engaging in an act of “thoughtful, heartfelt imagination” (p. 15). Attunement prepares individuals for exploration, risk taking, concentration, and rapport. In pedagogy, mirroring can be verbal (e.g., echoing or elaborating words used in an exchange). Decentring serves to distinguish between sympathy and empathy because sympathy suggests we share common experiences, but empathy encourages us to decenter and see things from another’s point of view, experiencing layers of thought and feeling beyond what might be immediately accessible. Introspection gives perspective to one’s experiences in terms of evaluating the importance and lasting significance of those experiences. Empathy is a complex condition requiring objectivity, self-understanding, and complex cognitive and affective functioning. Empathetic intelligence in teaching and learning requires collaborating individuals to interact empathetically through mirroring and attunement creating a preparedness for exploration, risk taking, concentration, and rapport taking into account shifts in intrasubjective and intersubjective experiences resulting in a creative act. Seddon (2005) proposed a theory of empathetic creativity derived from Arnold’s theory of empathetic intelligence, supported by empirical evidence from a research study investigating group creativity that emerged during various modes of communication between the musicians in a jazz sextet when rehearsing and performing.
Empathetic Creativity: The Phenomenon of Intersubjective Creativity The pedagogically orientated intersubjective engagement proposed by Arnold (2003, 2004) resonates with musicians’ intersubjective creativity. Musicians engage in a mutual creative learning experience when they rehearse and perform together. They have to be able to trust the musical abilities of the other ensemble players during performance, especially if they are taking musical risks. Listening and responding to other musicians produces a collaborative and intersubjectively generated performance. The performance emerges out of the actions of everyone working together (Sawyer, 2006). Empathetic musicians are sensitive to attunement to signal attention and mirroring to affirm and modulate musical responses. Empathetic attunement between musicians goes beyond mere concentration and aesthetically pleasing self-absorption to cognitive distancing coupled with self-engagement and aesthetic judgment. Musical attunement can occur at both a sympathetic and empathetic level. At a sympathetic level of attunement, there is musical cohesion. To reach empathetic attunement, musicians must decenter and see
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things from other musicians’ musical points of view. The process of decentring facilitates empathetic attunement, which can lead to musicians thinking of and feeling phrases beyond what had been immediately accessible to them. During performance, a distinction may be drawn between the interplay of stocks of musical knowledge and truly spontaneous musical variations (Davidson & Good, 2002; Sawyer, 2006; Seddon, 2005). These spontaneous musical variations rely on the performance evolving to an empathetic mode of communication requiring empathetic attunement between the musicians. It is proposed that empathetic attunement is a prerequisite for the emergence of spontaneous musical variations, which exemplify empathetic creativity.
Research Questions The current study examines the relationship between communication and creativity revealed by the members of a string quartet in the natural setting of rehearsals for, and the performance of, a musical concert. The study is a qualitative case study based on methodology established in a previous study that investigated modes of communication between members of a jazz sextet (Seddon, 2005). The aim of the study is to reveal the moment-by-moment verbal and nonverbal communication between the members of a string quartet during rehearsal and performance. Although exploratory in nature, the following general research questions were addressed: RQ 1: What are the communication processes employed between members of this string quartet during rehearsal and performance? RQ 2: How does group member communication impact on the rehearsal process and the eventual performance?
Method Participants The Paul Klee String Quartet is an international, professional string quartet based in Venice, Italy (www.quartettopaulklee.it). The quartet was formed in 1990, and since formation, there have been two changes in personnel. The current second violinist and cellist were recruited in 2002 after which there have been no further changes. The quartet is unusual in that they adopt the German seating position (i.e., from left to right, 1st violin, viola, cello, and 2nd violin) rather than the conventional seating position
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(i.e., from left to right, 1st violin, 2nd violin, viola, and cello). All the players are male: Alessandro Fagiuoli (1st violin), Stefano Antonello (2nd violin), Andrea Amendola (viola), and Luca Paccagnella (cello). The average age of the musicians is 43 years. All the players graduated from Italian conservatories of music and studied in postgraduate master’s classes in various parts of the world. Currently, all the players are also involved with instrumental tuition and/or teaching chamber music at conservatory level. The quartet performs internationally in prestigious venues such as The Grande Teatro, La Fenice in Venice and other important international venues in the major cities of Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, and the United States (including New York). Their performances have been featured in radio broadcasts, and their discography includes recordings of pieces ranging from Baroque to Contemporary music. The quartet has had a number of pieces composed specifically for them.
Procedure The musicians invited the researchers to videotape three rehearsals prior to the concert, a preconcert rehearsal, which took place immediately before the performance, and the concert performance. The rehearsals followed the usual pattern of rehearsal employed by this string quartet when preparing for a concert. The concert was performed on May 29, 2005 in the Sala dei Giganti al Liviano in Padova. The program consisted of (a) J. S. Bach, Contrapunctus 1, 2 & 3, Da “L’Arte della Fuga” BWV 1080; (b) Philip Glass, String Quartet n 2 ‘Company’ Movements I, II, III & IV; (c) Philip Glass, String Quartet n 4 ‘Buczak’ Movements I, II & III.; and (d) J. S. Bach, Contrapunctus 4 & 6, Da “L’Arte della Fuga” BWV 1080. Memorization of the music was not specifically employed. However, the Bach pieces and the Glass No. 2 had been performed at previous concerts, thus the musicians were very familiar with the music. This meant that the Bach pieces and the Glass No. 2 required less reference to the score during rehearsal and performance than the Glass No. 4, which was the only piece they learned specifically for this concert during the rehearsals.
Data Videotape data were recorded at all four rehearsals and the concert and consisted of rehearsal 1 (50 minutes), rehearsal 2 (75 minutes), rehearsal 3 (117 minutes), preconcert rehearsal (33 minutes), and concert (60 minutes).
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Analysis The procedures employed for analyzing the video data collected during the rehearsals and concert were informed by the sequence of procedures employed in previous studies (Davidson & Good, 2002; King, 2006; Seddon, 2005). The qualitative analysis procedures employed in the current study allowed the modes of communication to emerge from the data. This combination of procedures resulted in a six-stage analysis. First, the two authors (both music psychologists and trained musicians) together observed all the videotaped material once through to establish the nature of the material. Second, all rehearsal videotapes were transcribed documenting the verbal discourse between the participants during rehearsal, and these transcripts were subjected to a thematic analysis. This thematic analysis was based on grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and employed the constant comparative method, which allowed the verbal categories to emerge from the data through a process of inductive reasoning (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Constant comparative method involves a five-stage process: (a) immersion, (b) categorization, (c) phenomenological reduction, (d) triangulation, and (e) interpretation (McLeod, 1994). Immersion involved repeated viewing of the transcribed verbal material to acquire a high level of familiarity with the raw data. Categorization involved the identification and categorization of verbal units of analysis that emerged from the data (e.g., instructions, discussion of organization, technique, interpretation, dynamics, bowing, tempo, and phrasing). Phenomenological reduction involved grouping these verbal units of analysis into themes according to a rule of inclusion, which was constructed through a propositional statement grounded in the verbal units of analysis already assigned to the categories. Each verbal unit of analysis had to comply with the rule of inclusion for a theme to be included in that theme. When a verbal unit of analysis did not comply with the rule of inclusion for existing themes, a new theme was created with its own rule of inclusion defined by a new propositional statement. Three verbal communication themes emerged during this process, which at this stage were labeled A, B, and C (see the appendix). Triangulation of these verbal communications was addressed concurrently with the nonverbal communications through the process known as member checks where examples of verbal and nonverbal communication and researcher interpretations of these communications were presented to the participant musicians for their comments (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Punch, 1998; Seddon, 2005).
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Rehearsal and performance videotapes were repeatedly viewed to allow categories of nonverbal communication to emerge from the raw data. The analysis of the nonverbal communication followed the procedures employed in the analysis of the verbal communication described above. The process was an adaptation of the constant comparative method for use with nonverbal communication first employed in a previous study investigating composition strategies (Seddon & O’Neill, 2003) and communication between jazz musicians (Seddon, 2005). Immersion involved repeated viewing of the videotaped material to acquire a high level of familiarity with the raw data. Categorization involved the identification and categorization of nonverbal units of analysis that emerged from the data (e.g., aural demonstration, body language, facial expression, eye contact, gesticulations, and musical cues). Phenomenological reduction repeated the process previously described for the verbal communication. Three nonverbal communication themes emerged during this process, which at this stage were labeled D, E, and F, (see appendix). Triangulation of these nonverbal communications was addressed concurrently with the verbal communications through the process known as member checks where examples of verbal and nonverbal communication and researcher interpretations of these communications were presented to the participant musicians for their comments (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Punch, 1998; Seddon, 2005). Discussions between both researchers produced agreement on the interpretation of the themes A through F. The themes in the current study were subsequently interpreted as verbal instruction, verbal cooperation, and verbal collaboration and nonverbal instruction, nonverbal cooperation, and nonverbal collaboration. Together, both authors revisited the raw data to ensure that all communications between the members of the string quartet were attributed to the modes of communication established in the current study.
Results and Interpretation Hoogsteder, Maier, and Elbers (1998) in a study investigating interaction during joint problem solving describe a mode of interaction as a communicative interaction that provides a framework that gives meaning to the participants’ activities. As each of the six types of communication displayed by the participants in the current study was linked to a particular activity– instruction, cooperation, and collaboration–the different types of communication were interpreted as modes of communication. Analysis of the videotaped rehearsals and performance revealed six modes of communication between the members
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of the string quartet that were directly related to musical aspects of rehearsal and performance. These modes of communication formed two main categories, verbal and nonverbal, each containing three distinct modes of communication that were subsequently interpreted as instruction, cooperation, and collaboration (see Table 1). Two of the modes of communication–cooperative verbal and cooperative nonverbal–were revealed to be related to activities facilitating cohesive performance of the music. Another two of the modes–collaborative verbal and collaborative nonverbal–were revealed to be related to activities facilitating creative developments in the interpretation of the music. The modes of communication related to cohesive performance were interpreted as being of a lower order than those related to interpretation of the music. Underwood and Underwood (1999) support this interpretation of the modes as they make a hierarchical distinction between cooperative modes and collaborative modes. Generally speaking, cooperative modes are associated with lower level cohesive processes, and collaborative modes are associated with higher level creative processes. A further hierarchical distinction was made between modes of communication in relation to levels of attunement between the participants. Sympathetic attunement was regarded as a lower order level of attunement than empathetic attunement (Arnold, 2003, 2004; Seddon, 2005). Evaluation of the performances produced was based on researcher judgements of the production of spontaneous musical variations, which are examples of empathetic creativity as distinct from adherence to stylistic convention (Seddon, 2005). Although it was possible to identify six distinctly different modes of communication, the musicians seldom used these modes separately. Rather, they often employed them simultaneously. For example, the musicians often illustrated verbal instruction, cooperation, and collaboration with their nonverbal counterparts. These nonverbal illustrations remain in the verbal examples below to remain faithful to the original verbal transcripts, but during analysis, the nonverbal illustrations would be regarded separately as nonverbal modes of communication.
Verbal Instruction A verbal communication was interpreted as instructional when a member of the group gave another member specific verbal instructions on when to start playing and members verified notes in the score with each other or instructed each other how a section of the piece should be performed. These communications did not require any discussion. For example, the 1st violinist clearly instructs the other members of the quartet to begin playing at bar 22 from the second time bar with “Let’s go from bar 22 the second time.” In another example, the violist and 1st violinist ask the cellist for verification of the key at a certain point in the score:
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Table 1 Modes of Communication Mode of Communication
Verbal
Nonverbal
Instruction Musicians are instructed when to Musicians are instructed through start playing. Notes in the score music notation or aural are verified, and instruction on demonstration. how to play certain sections of the piece is given. Cooperation Musicians discuss and plan the Musicians achieve sympathetic organization of the piece to attunement producing a cohesive achieve a cohesive performance performance employing body and address technical issues language, facial expression, eye (e.g., bowing). contact, musical cues, and gesticulation. Collaboration Musicians collaborate to evaluate Musicians achieve empathetic performance and discuss remedial attunement and take creative action if required in the music to risks, which can result in develop interpretation and/or style spontaneous musical variations. of the piece. When they do, this signals empathetic creativity.
Cellist: Bar 32? Violist: Is it minor? Cellist: I have A flat major [singing a fragment]. And then D major [singing a fragment]. 1st violinist: Is it correct? Cellist: A flat major Bar 33, 34.
As a third example, the cellist instructs the violist to play a section without crescendo. “You try it without the crescendo, like . . . even.” Verbal instruction emerged mainly when the group were beginning rehearsal of a piece and was distinguished by an absence of discussion between the musicians.
Verbal Cooperation A verbal communication was interpreted as cooperative when discussion between the musicians regarding possible organizational or technical changes (e.g., repeats or bowing) took place. These organizational changes to the piece were agreed to enable the musicians to cooperate to achieve a cohesive performance by agreeing on the basic form and technical aspects
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of the piece beforehand. For example, a discussion regarding the bowing of a certain section of the piece takes place between the 2nd violinist and the violist. 2nd violinist: Yes, if we don’t stress this one; it works. Violist: Excuse me Stefano, I don’t remember, at bar 9, don’t you have maybe . . . I mean, I do [sings his part] . . . at that point the bowing is correct, only at the end? 2nd violinist: The only thing is that this hasn’t to be stressed too much [sings what he, the violist, should play].
Verbal cooperation emerged when musical communication was suspended. It provided a verbal medium for the musicians to discuss, clarify, evaluate, and adapt organizational issues or technical problems that did not directly involve creative issues (e.g., bowing, whether or not to observe repeated sections).
Verbal Collaboration A verbal communication was interpreted as collaborative when discussion regarding possible creative changes took place. During verbal collaboration, changes in interpretation were discussed, developed, and implemented following group evaluation of both the piece and the musician’s individual and combined performances. For example, an evaluation of a section of the piece is made and discussion regarding the interpretation takes place. Violist: Take care that it is not too much at bar 17 [singing demonstration] but I’m not sure of that. Violist: As you were saying before, playing the downward slurs? Perhaps it is true? I exaggerated. Cellist: Usually, when it is a bridge passage, it is better if you slur downwards. After, you can do whatever you want. It could happen in many places of the piece; it is never regular, but it is a change of accent and you must not change it.
Verbal collaboration also emerged when musical communication was suspended. It involved the verbal expression of a musician’s creative preferences (e.g., issues of interpretation such as phrasing, dynamics, and tempo), which gave a sense of the creative development of the piece belonging to the group rather than the individual.
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Nonverbal Instruction A nonverbal communication was interpreted as instructional when (a) the musicians focused on reading the music notation to the extent that it could be argued that the notation was instructing them on what to play and (b) when there was a musical dialogue consisting mainly of one or more of the musicians demonstrating for another how a particular section of the piece should sound by playing it on an instrument or vocalizing it. For example, the members of the quartet were observed focusing intently on reading the notation. Essentially, in this mode of communication, often found in the early stages of rehearsing a new piece, the notation instructs the musicians’ playing. As another example, the1st violinist and cellist provided an aural demonstration to the viola player demonstrating how his part should be played.
Sympathetic and Empathetic Attunement The main differences between nonverbal cooperative and collaborative modes of communication lie in the level of attunement (sympathetic or empathetic), required between the musicians and the focus of their communication (cohesion or interpretation). Nonverbal cooperative modes are related to sympathetic levels of attunement and group cohesive issues, whereas nonverbal collaborative modes are related to empathetic levels of attunement and group creative issues as exemplified through visual and musical communication between the musicians. Researcher judgments of sympathetic versus empathetic attunement were made based on comparisons of observed participant communication, both visual and musical, produced during videotaped observation sessions. When sympathetically attuned, the musicians were perceived to be drawing on their musical knowledge base playing without taking risks or challenging their individual or collective creativity. Sympathetic attunement was visually evident in expressions of relative disinterest (e.g., no smiles, affirmative nods, or energetic body movements). Sympathetic attunement was musically evident in comparatively predictable performance providing musical cohesion without creative risk through adhering to previously rehearsed interpretations. When empathetically attuned, the musicians seemed to respond to each other in an atmosphere of risk taking and challenge, which extended their joint creativity. They took risks with musical phrasing, timing, and dynamics in that they challenged each other’s musical creativity.
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Empathetic attunement was visually evident in expressions of interest (e.g., smiles, collective affirmative nodding, and animated body movements). Empathetic attunement was musically evident in the production of a more animated performance of the piece. On occasion, this more animated, risk-taking performance could result in the production of unpredictable musical variations to interpretation when participants engaged each other in challenging musical interaction. Researcher interpretation indicated that these responses went beyond cohesive modes of communication to creative modes of communication.
Nonverbal Cooperation Nonverbal communication was interpreted as cooperative when the musicians became sympathetically attuned displaying nonverbal communication (e.g., body language, facial expression, eye contact, musical cues, and gesticulations). This mode of communication facilitated a cohesive performance and at times contained sympathetically attuned musical cues that focused on cohesive issues (e.g., staying in time and generally playing together). When cohesive performance became problematic, playing would cease and verbal communication would address these problems. Depending on the nature of the problem this would involve either verbal cooperation or verbal collaboration.
Nonverbal Collaboration A nonverbal communication was interpreted as collaborative when communication was conveyed directly through musical interaction that focused on creative exchanges. This nonverbal collaborative form of interactive, creative musical communication required empathetic attunement between the musicians to occur. In this mode of communication, the music itself acts to communicate along with body language, which tends to be more exaggerated expressing enjoyment and positive evaluation of their combined playing. When this phenomenon occurs, it provides the vehicle for empathetic creativity to emerge, which, when it does, is exemplified by spontaneous musical variations.
Empathetic Creativity Empathetic creativity was interpreted to have emerged when the string quartet was empathetically attuned, and a novel spontaneous musical variation was judged to have been produced. Although, theoretically, empathetic
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creativity could emerge at any time we propose that it is more likely to emerge during performance than rehearsal. Support for this proposal can be found in Davidson and Good (2002) where the researchers argue that during rehearsal musicians seek to coordinate their timing and expression and during performance they seek spontaneous variations.
Member Checks To provide validation of researcher interpretations of the six modes of communication, sympathetic and empathetic attunement, and empathetic creativity, participants were individually shown video clip examples of these concepts and asked to review and critique the research of which they were the focus. This procedure is known as member checks where participants are asked to tell researchers if they have accurately described their experience and produced a recognizable reality (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Lincoln & Guba, 1985; Punch, 1998; Seddon, 2005). Following the analysis of the video data, the researchers subsequently met with each of the participants individually to conduct the member checks procedure. During these sessions, the six modes of communication, relationships with sympathetic and empathetic attunement, and the concept of empathetic creativity were explained to the participants. The researchers used a script to ensure explanations were constant for each participant. Multiple examples of the six modes of communication, sympathetic and empathetic attunement, and two examples of empathetic creativity from the video data were recorded to DVD. These recordings were played to the participants and they were asked (a) if they agreed with the interpretations made by the researchers and (b) if they had any further comments they would like to make about any aspect of the research. The member checks procedures were recorded to audiotape and transcribed for later analysis. All members of the string quartet individually concurred with and confirmed researcher interpretations of the six modes of communication, concepts of sympathetic and empathetic attunement, and empathetic creativity. Examples of participants’ further responses to researcher interpretations are presented below. Verbal Instruction
During the instruction phase, we verify technical issues that do not need discussing from an aesthetic point of view, because we have to respect the score. This is a very important phase because there could be a printing error.
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We also verify basic technical elements such as staccato and slurs, which are not issues of interpretation but the composer’s instructions. (1st violinist)
Verbal Cooperation
It is the phase in which some friction can arise between members, because the technical problem of bowing is pretty individual, subjective, and expressing his own vision, which could be different than the other’s vision . . . we have to arrive at a compromise. (2nd violinist) It is really evident that the discussion is heated, animated where the musicians can confront, bring their experiences and consequently before deciding anything we confront each other. (cellist)
Verbal Collaboration
This is an essential step of a superior level. This is the moment in which you detach from what you’ve heard [commercial recordings of the piece] . . . this is the moment in which you free yourself from what you know and you are looking for your own [interpretation]. (violist) Here is entering something more important, something which characterizes the string quartet, the interpretation–it places the quartet in a certain situation. (cellist) It is the moment in which the ideas of the individuals become common ideas of the quartet. (violist)
Nonverbal Instruction
The Glass quartet it is not in the Classical repertoire . . . and then a piece that you are studying for the first time, which is not of [your] repertoire, there is always attention for understanding the structure, verifying and to be sure that we are doing exactly what is required by the score. (1st violinist) Sometimes it is more efficient to demonstrate to the others by playing how a passage should be played more than explaining it in words. (1st violinist)
Nonverbal Cooperation
We are still worried about keeping together, of performing all together. (2nd violinist) There is still no “flow” state; that will come–this is a phase in which the focal points are difficult; we are still not fluid. (violist)
Nonverbal Collaboration
We are certainly in collaboration. Also, small variations like sonorities produced, we don’t need to say anything because if one component [of the string quartet] is proposing them [sonorities] all the quartet follows and then there is this empathetic phase. (1st violinist)
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Sympathetic Attunement
There is still a lot of attention paid to the score but we start to see some gesture, some breathing. (1st violinist)
Empathetic Attunement
From this moment, during which the artists [musicians] are absolutely concerned with creating a certain magic which for me is all linked with the sound. At this point the quartet are not any more four individuals with their own individualities, their own personalities, their own knowledge but it is only a unique energy. (cellist) In this condition [empathetic attunement], the risks are high . . . you are aware that there is a risk, but it is a risk that gives great joy because in that moment you are really making music. (cellist)
Empathetic Creativity
It is sufficient that one of the group is performing a note softer so the other members understand his intentions, and they follow him because some different things are coming out, and many times are more interesting than what we did during the rehearsal. (2ndviolinist) If there is no [empathetic creativity], then everything is even. What changes are the dynamics also the tempi which are faster [for allegros] or slower [for adagios]. You don’t worry if it doesn’t happen during the rehearsals because . . . it costs effort and psychophysical stress and during the rehearsal, it is not necessary to do that because we know that all four of us will do that [during the concert]. (violist) Sometimes something happens that we did not rehearse at any time. (violist) For me the quartet is the most organically united unit that you can think of because a quartet must breathe as one performer. (1st violinist)
Although the member checks procedure provided a useful validation tool, there is a potential for researcher bias to influence the procedure. For example, when the researcher describes the interpretations made, the participant(s) may be influenced by the researcher and may find it difficult to challenge the researcher’s interpretation. The researchers were aware of this potential bias and made every effort to describe their interpretations objectively and allow the musicians every opportunity for disagreement and discussion. Moreover, the musicians were articulate adults with many years experience and very strong professional opinions about their involvement with music and were confident in voicing those opinions. In addition to this, a good rapport was developed between the participant musicians and the researchers over a period of several months, which facilitated the opportunity for the musicians to challenge researcher interpretations of the
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modes of communication. A further concern with the process was that the musicians adopted some of the research terminology in their responses during the member checks procedure. This could also be regarded an example of conforming to researcher expectations. However, we believe the member checks procedure facilitated a common understanding of the modes of communication between researchers and musicians. Also, the fact that the musicians adopted the research terminology associated with the modes of communication provided some evidence that, for them to effectively discuss their communication processes, the musicians needed to draw on this specific vocabulary. These terms, directly related to the theoretical concept of empathetic creativity, provided the musicians with a vocabulary that was previously unavailable to them and is an important outcome of the current research.
Discussion The results of the current case study reveal qualitative information about this particular string quartet within its holistic, contextual, and natural setting. More specifically, it reveals the modes of communication employed by the musicians in this professional string quartet and how those modes of communication impacted on creative outcomes during rehearsal and performance for one of their concerts. When communicating employing verbal instruction, the musicians focused on the verification of notes or dynamic instructions in the written score. When communicating employing verbal cooperation, democratic discussion was employed to resolve noncreative issues. When communicating employing verbal collaboration, the musicians democratically developed creative issues. When communicating employing nonverbal instruction, quartet members gave aural demonstrations using their voices or instruments to indicate how something in the piece should be played. When communicating employing nonverbal cooperation, the musicians became sympathetically attuned, which facilitated cohesive performances. When communicating employing nonverbal collaboration, the musicians became empathetically attuned, which facilitated the emergence of more creative outcomes in the performances. The six modes of communication revealed in the current study have been individually characterized but were seldom used separately. For example, during discussions there were times when the technical resolution of bowing issues was also related to creative issues of musical interpretation, which indicated they were moving between verbal cooperative to collaborative modes.
Seddon, Biasutti / Modes of Communication 19
Moreover, although a general progression from instructional to cooperative to collaborative modes of communication was observed, the musicians at times moved back and forth between cooperative or collaborative modes of communication dependent on whether or not the issue they were considering was a cohesive or creative one. Results also revealed that the musicians were able to collectively create spontaneous musical variations while empathetically attuned during the concert performance. The emergence of spontaneous musical variations during performance supports the results of prior research that reported the emergence of spontaneous musical variations during performances by other string quartets studied (Cohen, 2005; Murnighan & Conlon, 1991; Sawyer, 2006). It is proposed that the two examples of spontaneous musical variations perceived by the researchers in the current study, and confirmed by the musicians in the string quartet during the member checks, are examples of empathetic creativity and constitute novel musical performances (Seddon, 2005). Furthermore, we propose the Paul Klee string quartet strive to achieve a novel musical performance every time they perform. The example below, taken from the member checks procedure, supports this assertion: Researcher: Are you experimenting something in the performance? Cellist: Absolutely yes, otherwise it becomes very boring and it doesn’t take you anywhere, instead for us the concert, every concert, is different. Every concert is starting again from the beginning.
The current study also takes research in group communication and creativity beyond what is already known because it offers a view that has broad implications for a discipline that is not often researched. For example, the results provide evidence from research conducted in a naturalistic setting that reveal relationships between empathy and nonverbal communication and how this relationship can impact on group creativity. The emergence of examples of empathetic creativity in the current study provide empirical evidence supporting the proposition that collective group synergy enables small groups to generate more creative ideas than individuals within the group ( Fabian, 1990; Salazar, 2002). The emergence of the communication mode of nonverbal collaboration with its link to empathetic attunement resulting in empathetic creativity supports the notion that sending and receiving messages between group members stimulates and extends creative ideas (Sunwolf, 2002). The string quartet in the current study may be regarded as a complex adaptive system, consisting of group members that send and receive messages within a fluctuating social environment (Sherman
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& Schultz, 1998). The importance of empathy, particularly during nonverbal communication, is demonstrated during the current study, which supports the findings of Carlozzi et al. (1995) who reported that empathy is related to higher levels of group creativity. By producing spontaneous musical variations while empathetically attuned, the musicians could be said to have emerged from a cascade of bifurcations, into a complex state of dynamic behavior, to a certain point of dynamism somewhere between stability and the edge of chaos where the potential for enhanced group creativity is optimized (Salazar, 2002). We propose that optimized creativity was achieved by the musicians as evidenced by the emergence of spontaneous musical variations providing examples of empathetic creativity (Seddon, 2005).
Future Research We also propose that the modes of communication have implications for nonmusical groups engaged in creative activities (e.g., brainstorming to create or improve products or systems). Although the current research focuses on a musical dimension in nonverbal communication, it is possible that small groups of nonmusicians could be trained to develop their empathy skills to employ during their nonverbal communication and subsequently become empathetically attuned while engaged in collaborative creative tasks. Future research with nonmusical groups could investigate this possibility. We believe empathetic attunement is achieved through the process of decentring (Arnold, 2004; Seddon, 2005). Future research could examine potential relationships between training that focuses on the promotion of decentring techniques and more creative group outcomes. Also, the importance of body movements and gestures in musician’s nonverbal communication cannot be overemphasized (Clayton, 2005; Davidson, 2005). These researchers discuss how body language and gesture (e.g., facial expressions and eye contact) influence co-performers cooperative and collaborative communication across a wide range of musical genres. Future research could also examine the impact of the employment of various types of body language and gestures on creative outcomes when nonmusical groups collaborate in creative situations.
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Appendix Propositional Statements for Themes A Through F Theme A: This verbal communication was characterized by the musicians being instructed by other musicians on any aspect of playing. Theme B: This verbal communication was characterized by the musicians discussing the organization of the music or technical problems that arose during rehearsal for example, bowing when related to technical issues, whether or not to observe repeat signs. Theme C: This verbal communication was characterized by the musicians discussing issues of interpretation and the creative development of the piece for example, phrasing, dynamics, tempo, and bowing when related to interpretation. Theme D: This nonverbal communication was characterized by a musician(s) being instructed by another musician(s) through aural demonstration, or the musical score, on how to play something in the music. Theme E: This nonverbal communication was characterized by the musicians playing cohesively when sympathetically attuned. Sympathetic attunement was exemplified by a lack of risk taking and challenge to individual or collective creativity. Sympathetic attunement was visually evident through a lack of physical expressions of engagement with the music for example, no smiles, no affirmative nods or positive energetic body movements and musically evident through comparatively predictable performance that ensured musical cohesion without creative risk through adhering to previously rehearsed interpretations. Theme F: This nonverbal communication was characterized by the musicians playing more animatedly when empathetically attuned. Empathetic attunement is visually evident through physical expressions of engagement with the music (e.g., smiles, collective affirmative nods, and positive energetic body movements) and musically evident through comparatively less predictable performance that facilitated collective creative risk taking that resulted in challenging previously rehearsed interpretations, which at times resulted in a spontaneous musical variation. A spontaneous musical variation was produced when the musicians were empathetically attuned and provided an example of empathetic creativity.
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Frederick A. Seddon, PhD, is a researcher in the Department of Education, University of Padova, where he conducts research into musical communication, the training of music teachers, and the use of technology in music education. He is a member of the international advisory board of the journal Music Education Research. He has published several articles in international peer-reviewed journals, contributed chapters to edited books, and presented his research at international conferences during the past 10 years. Michele Biasutti, PhD, is an associate professor in the Faculty of Psychology, University of Padova, where he conducts research in psychology of music and music education. He is scientific director of a research project financed by Italian Institutions. He is a member of the editorial board of international journals and has published articles in international peerreviewed journals. He was the conference director of the international conferences Psychology and Music Education and Training Music Teachers.
