Tempo and dynamics in piano performance: The role of movement amplitude
Simone Dalla Bella (2) & Caroline Palmer (1)1. Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
2. Department of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Genetics, Kazimierz Wielki University,
Bydgoszcz, PolandABSTRACT
When pianists play a musical piece at a faster tempo, they also tend to play louder. One
kinematic property that may be related to increased loudness is the amplitude of finger
movements. Larger amplitude would allow higher movement force, thus augmenting keyvelocities. The goal of this study was to assess the contribution of movement amplitude tochanges in loudness at increasing tempo. Four skilled pianists memorized short novel melodies
and then performed them from memory, trying to follow the tempo provided by a metronome.
The tempo in the first trial was slow (60 M.M, one beat = one quarter note). Then pianists wereasked to perform at increasingly faster tempi, including 180, 210, 240, and 245 M.M. Motion
capture techniques were used to record finger and hand movements during performance on anelectronic piano. Midi data were also recorded and were synchronized with motion data in termsof event onsets. Midi analyses indicated that loudness increased as a function of tempo, andmotion analyses showed that loudness increased as a function of the amplitude of vertical finger
movements. Interestingly, the relationship between loudness and movement amplitude did not
result from a tendency for pianists to anticipate more at faster tempi. These findings are
discussed in the light of existing models of movement during music performance.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
When pianists play a musical piece at a faster tempo, they also tend to play louder (e.g.
Gabrielsson, 1987; Palmer, 1996). Such correlations between tempo and loudness have been
considered as a natural process that mirrors kinematic properties of movement (Sundberg &Verrillo, 1980; Todd, 1992). One kinematic property that may be related to increased loudness isthe amplitude of finger movements that augments key velocities. Larger finger movements atfast tempi should allow higher movement force, thus leading to increased loudness.
The goal of the study was to examine the contribution of movement amplitude to changes inloudness at increasing tempo. Motion capture techniques were used to record finger and hand
movements during performance on an electronic piano. If a positive correlation between tempo
and loudness is due to kinematic properties of movement, we expect that movement amplitude
will accordingly increase with faster tempi and will positively correlate with loudness.
METHOD
Four skilled pianists memorized short novel melodies and then performed them from memory,trying to follow the tempo provided by a metronome. The tempo in the first trial was slow (60M.M, one beat = one quarter note). In the following trials, pianists were asked to perform at

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increasingly faster tempi, including 180, 210, 240, and 245 M.M. The goal was to increase
performance tempo until the pianists made errors. Fourteen cameras with fine lenses capable ofdetecting light reflected from 25 passive markers taped to each pianist’s fingers and hands wereused to record movement during performance at 120 frames/sec. In addition, keypresses on thepiano were recorded as Midi data, with 1ms temporal resolution. The Midi and motion data weresynchronized in terms of keypress event onsets.
RESULTS
Data from the captured movements from the fingertips were analyzed relative to piano key
movements. Variability of finger movements was greatest on the z-plane (up-down motion fromthe keys) than on the x-plane (sideways motion on a key) or the y-plane (back-front motion on akey), as expected. Midi analyses indicated that loudness increased as a function of tempo, andmotion analyses showed that loudness increased as a function of the movement amplitude in thez-plane. Phase-plane plots indicated consistent velocity-acceleration motion patterns for a given
finger across melodic contexts. Further analyses of time of peak movement amplitude indicatedthe relationship between loudness and movement amplitude did not seem to result from atendency for pianists to anticipate more at faster tempi.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings 1) supported the claim that dynamics and tempo are associated in piano
performance and 2) revealed that movement amplitude, more than movement anticipation,
contributed to pianists’ change in dynamics when tempo increased, lending support to kinematic
explanations of musical dynamics. These findings will be discussed in light of existing models ofmovement during music performance.
TOPIC AREAS
Music performance
Movement257