Applying Score Analysis to a Rehearsal Pedagogy of Expressive Performance

Abstract

The discoveries of score analysis (e.g., minor seventh chord, ostinato, phrase elision, melodic fragment, half cadence) are more than just compositional techniques or music vocabulary. They are sounds—fascinating, storytelling, dynamic modes of expression—that when approached as such enrich the rehearsal experience. This article presents a three-step process designed to connect style analysis to rehearsal pedagogy: (1) Style analysis yields music vocabulary that (2) the ensemble conductor conceptualizes aurally—as sound with expressive potential—thus laying the groundwork for (3) rehearsing in ways that bring the expressive potential of sounds to the forefront of students’ minds. In step 3, teachers develop student response targets that reference listener, audience, or effect of sound.