Cognição enativa e coordenação intercorporal no desenvolvimento da intenção expressiva

Abstract

Problem

Mirroring exercises between musicians are frequently used in pedagogical contexts to develop mutual listening, coordination, and interpretative integration; these practices may also contribute to the development of expressive intention in conducting contexts. Expressive intention is understood here as the set of elements that shape the musical character of a performance but are not fully specified by musical notation. This paper presents an exploratory approach grounded in the notions of sensorimotor coupling and interbody coordination within the field of embodied cognition, and examines the possibility of applying this perspective to the practice of musical conducting.

Objectives

OThe study proposes the use of a structured improvisation exercise as a laboratory for observing this process. Two musicians construct shared regimes of pulse, tension, and gestural intention while exploring variations in intensity and articulation. The focus is not on thematic invention, but on consolidating a common field of temporal regulation.

Method 

This study adopts a case-study approach aimed at examining whether improvisational interaction contributes to the transmission of expressive intention in the relationship between conductor and instrumentalist. After the improvisation phase between two musicians, one of them assumes the role of conductor while the other performs a sight-reading of an excerpt from a Solo Timpani Study. The experiment is recorded on video and later analyzed to determine whether analogies can be observed between the improvisational interaction and the subsequent conducted performance.

Results 

The results suggest that an integration of musical structures occurred and that these emerged through enactive interaction processes. This phenomenon may be partly explained by the activation of mirror neuron systems, as discussed by Katie Overy and Istvan Molnar-Szakacs (2009). The proposed framework therefore offers a productive context for observing how musical cognition, bodily action, and collective perception contribute to the emergence of musical meaning, including in the practice of conducting

Conclusions 

Practices grounded in interbody coordination and sensorimotor coupling may constitute an effective preparatory procedure for musical performance. By integrating structured improvisation, analytical observation, and different types of repertoire, this proposal expands the understanding of musical performance as a dynamic process of interactive stabilization, in which body, gesture, and temporality play a central role in the organization of sound.