Sound, materiality and embodiment challenges for the concept of 'musical expertise' in the age of digital mediatization

Steffen Lepa; Anne-Kathrin Hoklas; Hauke Egermann; Stefan Weinzierl

doi:10.1177/1354856515579837

Sound, materiality and embodiment challenges for the concept of 'musical expertise' in the age of digital mediatization

Steffen Lepa, Anne-Kathrin Hoklas, Hauke Egermann, Stefan Weinzierl

Music

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Within academic music research, musical expertise' is often employed as a moderator variable' when conducting empirical studies on music listening. Prevalent conceptualizations typically conceive of it as a bundle of cognitive skills acquired through formal musical education. By implicitly drawing on the paradigm of the Western classical live concert, this ignores that for most people nowadays, the term music' refers to electro-acoustically generated sound waves rendered by audio or multimedia electronic devices. Hence, our article tries to challenge the traditional musicologist's view by drawing on empirical findings from three more recent music-related research lines that explicitly include the question of media playback technologies. We conclude by suggesting a revised musical expertise concept that extends from the traditional dimensions and also incorporates expertise gained through ecological perception, material practice and embodied listening experiences in the everyday. Altogether, our contribution shall draw attention to growing convergences between musicology and media and communications research.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	294-300
Number of pages	7
Journal	Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies
Volume	21
Issue number	3
Early online date	24 Apr 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856515579837
Publication status	Published - Aug 2015

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10.1177/1354856515579837

Cite this

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title = "Sound, materiality and embodiment challenges for the concept of 'musical expertise' in the age of digital mediatization",

abstract = "Within academic music research, musical expertise' is often employed as a moderator variable' when conducting empirical studies on music listening. Prevalent conceptualizations typically conceive of it as a bundle of cognitive skills acquired through formal musical education. By implicitly drawing on the paradigm of the Western classical live concert, this ignores that for most people nowadays, the term music' refers to electro-acoustically generated sound waves rendered by audio or multimedia electronic devices. Hence, our article tries to challenge the traditional musicologist's view by drawing on empirical findings from three more recent music-related research lines that explicitly include the question of media playback technologies. We conclude by suggesting a revised musical expertise concept that extends from the traditional dimensions and also incorporates expertise gained through ecological perception, material practice and embodied listening experiences in the everyday. Altogether, our contribution shall draw attention to growing convergences between musicology and media and communications research.",

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Sound, materiality and embodiment challenges for the concept of 'musical expertise' in the age of digital mediatization. / Lepa, Steffen; Hoklas, Anne-Kathrin; Egermann, Hauke et al.

In: Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, Vol. 21, No. 3, 08.2015, p. 294-300.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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