Musical Meaning and Interpretation

Musical Expression, Meter, and the Body

By: John Paul Ito

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Paperback | 1 January 2021

At a Glance

Paperback
398 Pages

Age
22+

Dimensions(cm)
15.6 x 23.4 x 2.7

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$44.00

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Music is surrounded by movement, from the arching back of the guitarist to the violinist swaying with each bow stroke.

To John Paul Ito, these actions are not just a visual display; rather, they reveal what it really means for musicians to move with the beat, organizing the flow of notes from beat to beat and shaping the sound produced. By developing "focal impulse theory," Ito shows how a performer's choices of how to move with the meter can transform the music's expressive contours. Change the dance of the performer's body, and you change the dance of the notes.

As Focal Impulse Theory deftly illustrates, bodily movements carry musical meaning and, in a very real sense, are meaning.

Industry Reviews

John Paul Ito introduces the central concept of his latest book, Focal Impulse Theory: Musical Expression, Meter, and the Body, with an anecdote familiar to musicians: a fellow musician stops during a rehearsal and suggests the music should feel in two rather than four. How and why does the suggestive, more prominent beat in two versus four make such a difference in musical interpretation? Throughout the rest of the book, Ito untangles the abstract and hazy notions around meter, pulse, and feel. . . . Ito has clearly done extensive data collection and research for his book. If asked whether Focal Impulse Theory is better suited as a performance or teaching guide, I would classify it as a study on feel, what happens between large and small beats, and large and small measures. Succinctly put, it's an in-depth guide to the practical aspects of the role meter plays in musical performances for musicians.

-- Laurel Yu * Journal of the American Viola Society *

For music theorists, performers, and students alike, this remarkable book will open up new ways of feeling and thinking about meter, expression, and embodied performance.

-- Jonathan De Souza - Western University * MTO - a journal of the Society of Music Theory *

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