My Project for Science Class

[rubinsteinmad]

Here is my "experiment  " for science class, if anyone's interested . It's piano related; it's to see if there is a correlation between a pianist's gender and the way they play.

One of the requirements is for me to share the project, and I seriously don't want to share it on social media right now  , so here you go:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ee3dest02ils50p/The%20Effect%20of%20a%20Pianist%E2%80%99s%20Gender%20on%20How.pptx?dl=0

[swagmaster420x]

This seems extremely half-assed, lol

[schumaniac]

This seems extremely half-assed, lol

completely agree...
"playing style" is the vaguest term on earth

[Bob]

Haha.  You need to get more subjects.  Three won't tell much at all.

I'm not sure how you'd measure style exactly, but I see your point.  I think it's probably somewhat true.  Maybe there's a way to measure articulation, dynamics, or something objective like that.  What I've heard is men being more aggressive.  Women being more concerned about tone, maybe expression, not making anything stand out too much, but also not having the oomph sometimes.

You might also be testing people's perception of whether they think the performer is male or female here though, not an actual difference in the performance itself.

Still an interesting enough experiment.


You could probably do this online somehow, as long as you trust the people who volunteer to become subjects.  There's survey monkey and you're able to post sound clips on here. 

[rubinsteinmad]

completely agree...
"playing style" is the vaguest term on earth

Well, OK, my original experiment was titled this:
The Effect of Sound of Piano Performance on Listener's Perspective of Gender

I thought that was a bit long for a title, so I shortened it, but I didn't realize it would make it less acciurate. too bad though, it was due today 

[swagmaster420x]

Your first title is very interesting.

[Bob]

You should probably also add something about what masculine or feminine means.  And what it doesn't necessarily mean.  It could add more filler, but also out of interest and to cover yourself/a disclaimer.  Something like, "Traditional genders roles...." and then define masculine and feminine.  Maybe something about classical Greek if that's where it comes from.  And then a disclaimer that that's not necessarily true... Otherwise, you could come across as biased just in the hypothesis.  Adding something about what "traditional" gender aspects are according to your current culture might be good too.  There would be plenty of material to cite for those angles.

And then how that actually translates into music.

[rubinsteinmad]

Oh, I see what you mean. I wasnt actually biased, I just thought great males and great females sound different. However, I see what you mean- what I wrote must've seemed biased.

[swagmaster420x]

How do you think great males and great females sound different?

[rubinsteinmad]

How do you think great males and great females sound different?

I was listening to Julian Chi Zhao the other day.... never mind.

[Bob]

Oh, I see what you mean. I wasnt actually biased, I just thought great males and great females sound different. However, I see what you mean- what I wrote must've seemed biased.

Could.  Potentially.  I'm not sure what I think exactly.  There's probably all sorts of variation with something male and female on either end.  And some extreme versions beyond the norm on each end.  Somebody would see it and think, "Well, that's not me or so and so.  That's a stereotype."  But you could frame it as "According to the classical Greek idea of masculine and feminine..." blah, blah, blah.  There might even be an Asian ying-yang part too, some info there.  And, it might give you more ideas of what to look for in music, how that translates to actual music.

I suppose it would depend on the 'stereotype' male/female mental state too.  (think tick off female).  But there probably are generalities.

I was just wondering what happens if you took performers who did have those traits and had them in an ensemble.  Small ensemble, so there's no director.  A director could do that same for shaping a performance I think.

[rubinsteinmad]

Could.  Potentially.  I'm not sure what I think exactly.  There's probably all sorts of variation with something male and female on either end.  And some extreme versions beyond the norm on each end.  Somebody would see it and think, "Well, that's not me or so and so.  That's a stereotype."  But you could frame it as "According to the classical Greek idea of masculine and feminine..." blah, blah, blah.  There might even be an Asian ying-yang part too, some info there.  And, it might give you more ideas of what to look for in music, how that translates to actual music.

I suppose it would depend on the 'stereotype' male/female mental state too.  (think tick off female).  But there probably are generalities.

I was just wondering what happens if you took performers who did have those traits and had them in an ensemble.  Small ensemble, so there's no director.  A director could do that same for shaping a performance I think.

That seems very interesting. I might be able to upload a new file for an improved project, but at school the presentation is already due 

Anyways, that idea sounds very interesting. If I can find a group of musicians in my area (sadly, there's not many professional musicians here.), Ill try to do it.