aBar-Ilan University
bTel Aviv University
Abstract :
Expressive Musical Terms (EMTs) are commonly used by
composers as verbal descriptions of
musical expressiveness that performers are requested to
convey. In order to classify 55 EMTs
covering a wide range of characters on the basis of
their perception by performers, we
conducted two experiments with the participation of 11
professional string players. They were
asked (i) to organize the considered EMTs in a two-
dimensional plane in such a way that
proximity reflects similarity; (ii) to rate these EMTs in terms
of valence, arousal, extraversion and
neuroticism, on 7-level Likert scales. Using a minimization
procedure, we found that a
satisfactory partition requires these EMTs to be organized
in four clusters (whose centers are
associated with tenderness, happiness, anger and
sadness) located in the four quarters of the
valence-arousal plane of the Russell’s circumplex model
of affect. An alternative representation
is provided by the positive-negative activation
parameters, introduced by Watson & Tellegen
and corresponding to the coordinates along the
diagonal directions of the valence-arousal
plane. We obtained for these EMTs a significant
correlation between positive activation and
extraversion and between negative activation and
neuroticism. This demonstrates that the
expressed emotion is strongly related to the musical
character of the performance.