Focal Impulse Theory: Musical Expression, Meter, and the Body

by John Paul Ito

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253049957
Publisher:	Indiana University Press (Ips)
Publication date:	01/05/2021
Series:	Musical Meaning and Interpretation
Pages:	398
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John Paul Ito is Associate Professor of Music Theory in the School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University.

Table of Contents

Accessing Audiovisual Materials
Preface
Copyright Acknowledgments
Part I: Introduction
1. Introducing the Focal Impulse and its Theory
2. Foundations in Music Theory and Cognitive Science
Part II: Basic Focal Impulse Theory
3. The Basic Concept of the Focal Impulse
4. Focal Impulses and Meter: The Simplest Cases
5. The Sound of Focal Impulses
6. More on Focal Impulses and Meter
7. A Taxonomy of Syncopations
Part III: Expanding Focal Impulse Theory
8. Special Cases of Focal Impulse Placement
9. Anticipations and Secondary Focal Impulses
10. Inflecting Focal Impulses Downward and Upward
11. More Advanced Uses of Inflected Impulse Cycles
12. Performing Metrical Dissonance
Part IV: Connecting Focal Impulse Theory
13. Connections with Psychology
14. Connections with Other Music Scholarship
Part V: Applying Focal Impulse Theory
15. Metrical Dissonance in Brahms
16. The First Movements of the Brahms Sonatas op. 120
Conclusions: Placing Focal Impulse Theory in Larger Contexts
Glossary: Focal Impulse Symbols and Their Definitions
References
Discography
Index

What People are Saying About This

"Ito argues convincingly that motion in music, and motion in response to music, are carriers of meaning and in fact are meanings. . . . Focal Impulse Theory is an important contribution to scholarship."

David Lidov

Ito's Focal Impulse Theory is the best contribution to metrical theory since Hugo Riemann's in 1903. It provides a refreshing and ingenious avenue of metrical interpretation, not one wrinkle more complicated than necessary, largely neglected before (though seeming obvious in retrospect) providing new insight into our musical natures and sensitive simultaneously to sound, notation, construction, and style history.

Harald Krebs]]>

Ito argues convincingly that motion in music, and motion in response to music, are carriers of meaning and in fact are meanings. . . . Focal Impulse Theory is an important contribution to scholarship.

Harald Krebs

Ito argues convincingly that motion in music, and motion in response to music, are carriers of meaning and in fact are meanings. . . . Focal Impulse Theory is an important contribution to scholarship.

David Lidov]]>

Ito's Focal Impulse Theory is the best contribution to metrical theory since Hugo Riemann's in 1903. It provides a refreshing and ingenious avenue of metrical interpretation, not one wrinkle more complicated than necessary, largely neglected before (though seeming obvious in retrospect) providing new insight into our musical natures and sensitive simultaneously to sound, notation, construction, and style history.

Editorial 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.

Journal of the American Viola Society - Laurel Yu

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.

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

"Ito argues convincingly that motion in music, and motion in response to music, are carriers of meaning and in fact are meanings. . . . Focal Impulse Theory is an important contribution to scholarship."—Harald Krebs, University of Victoria

"Ito's Focal Impulse Theory is the best contribution to metrical theory since Hugo Riemann's in 1903. It provides a refreshing and ingenious avenue of metrical interpretation, not one wrinkle more complicated than necessary, largely neglected before (though seeming obvious in retrospect) providing new insight into our musical natures and sensitive simultaneously to sound, notation, construction, and style history."—David Lidov, York University

"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

From the Publisher