Music can be understood as a form of sonic, bodily and social interaction. This is evident in live performance where, in addition to sonic interaction between musicians, we can see performers and audience members responding to each other and to the sounds produced through modalities such as gesture, facial expression, utterance and dance.
In this talk, I explore music performance as interpersonal, embodied interaction through the lens of my research on gesture in the Karnatak music tradition of South India, where vocalists tend to spontaneously gesture while they sing. Looking at both lessons and concert settings I examine details of gesture, gaze, facial expression, utterance and sung phrases that constitute interpersonal interaction. In light of these analyses and based on theoretical work from pragmatist and phenomenological traditions, I discuss how such gestures can contribute to performers’ grip over their interactions, both with other people and with the music performed.