Evaluating Evaluation

An Investigation of Quality Judgements in Musical Performance

Evaluating Evaluation (2002-07) examined characteristics of performance evaluation in music through a combination of theoretical interpretation of current practice and controlled experimental methods. The studies conducted focussed on listeners' agreement on the quality of the performances they heard, the speed and variability of their quality judgements, and the importance of affective responses in predicting the enjoyment of concerts.

People

Sam Thompson, RCM
Aaron Williamon, RCM *

* Project contact awilliamon@rcm.ac.uk

Outputs

Thompson S (2006), Audience responses to a live orchestral concert, Musicae Scientiae, 10, 215-244.

Thompson S (2007), Determinants of listeners' enjoyment of a performance, Psychology of Music, 35, 20-36.

Thompson S & Williamon A (2003), Evaluating evaluation: Musical performance assessment as a research tool, Music Perception, 21, 21-41.

Thompson S, Williamon A, & Valentine E (2007), Time-dependent characteristics of performance evaluation, Music Perception, 25, 13-29.

Williamon A, Thompson S, Lisboa T, & Wiffen C (2006), Creativity, originality, and value in music performance, in I Deliège & G Wiggins (eds.), Musical Creativity: Multidisciplinary Research in Theory and Practice (pp. 161-180), Psychology Press.