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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Musical Connectivity in Sitar and Tabla Performance Alec Cooper PhD Thesis The University of Edinburgh 2018 Abstract The aim of this dissertation is to define and account for experiences of musical connectivity by exploring the relationship between joint musical action and social experience through a combination of ethnographic and empirical methods. Live sitar and tabla duo performance, in the Hindustānī tradition, forms the focus of the studies. Through its approach and scope, this research contributes to a broadening of knowledge and understanding of how people play music together, and experience varying feelings of ‘togetherness’ while doing so, from an interdisciplinary, non- Western perspective. The dissertation first considers the various musical and social concepts and behaviours that characterize Hindustānī performance. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of a commercial recording by master musicians Pt. Nikhil Banerjee and Zamir Ahmed Khan, in which the formal, rhythmic, and micro-temporal interactions are explored from a relational, socially-driven perspective. Lastly, qualitative and quantitative data collected through a case study carried out in Varanasi, India, involving close collaboration with expert informants Shyam Rastogi (sitar) and Sandeep Rao (tabla) together with the participation of five other local musicians are presented and discussed. Nine audio-visual performances were recorded, and performers were subsequently interviewed regarding aspects of their social experience whilst playing. Performances were then analysed in order to relate performers’ musical interactions with their self-reported feelings of sociality, both generally and at specific moments of their performance. These various results are used to support a novel model of musical connectivity, based on (i) ethnographic insight gathered through fieldwork, (ii) formal and informal interviews with numerous Indian musicians, and (iii) the author’s auto-ethnographic account of his practice as a sitar student. This model and the phenomenological insights that it presents are explored in detail in the concluding chapter. Lay Summary Music is widely recognized as powerful means of social bonding. It enables participants to express and induce shared emotions, explore social identities, attain optimal psychological states, and reinforce feelings of social belonging. Indeed, music can play a fundamental role in developing and sustaining social skills, relationships and communities. Yet at the same time, performers consistently report that social experiences accompanying musical performance may in fact vary widely both in quality and intensity, ranging from mild feelings of cohesion to overwhelming states of unity, as well as occasional experiences of disconnection and conflict. What makes music so special at promoting feelings of social togetherness, and what causes these experiences to vary so dramatically from one context to the next? More specifically, what is the relationship between musical interaction and social experience in ensemble performance, and how does cultural environment affect this relationship? Clearly, the answers to these questions are largely dependent on musical genre and context. This dissertation addresses these issues from an ecologically-valid and non- Western perspective, by focusing on the specific case of live North Indian sitar and tabla duo performance. The goal of this research is to find out how positive feelings of musical connectivity are generated and shaped - or sometimes inhibited – according to these performers’ varied musical interactions. In addition, it also explores what musical connectivity in sitar and tabla performance feels like and what these experiences mean to the performers who experience them. These questions are approached in an interdisciplinary manner, combining philosophical theories of selfhood, consciousness and shared subjectivity; psychological models of social interaction; and both ethnographic and empirical methods of data collection and analysis. While focusing on a single musical scenario, this research contributes methods, models, and data by which to broaden our general understanding of this topic. This investigation is framed around a psychological model which postulates specific relationships between certain kinds of musical interactions and certain kinds of social experiences. The application of this model requires familiarization with how North Indian musicians interact in the course of performance. This account is complemented by an in-depth analysis of a commercial recording by master sitarist Nikhil Banerjee accompanied by Zamir Ahmed Khan on tabla. The research then centres around a case study carried out in the North Indian city of Varanasi, involving close collaboration with seven professional performers. The study was comprised of nine live performances, during which performers were subsequently interviewed regarding their musical interactions and varied social experiences. These data were used to explore what kinds of contextualized musical interactions are more or less likely to underpin feelings of musical connectivity. Lastly, the insight acquired through this approach was interpreted according to the connectivity model to find out what kinds of social states are more characteristic and valued in this genre. Table of Contents Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... v List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ xi List of Audio-Visual Examples ............................................................................................... xiii Transliterations ...................................................................................................................... xv Research Ethics Statement..................................................................................................... xv Preface ......................................................................................................................................1 A Personal Note ....................................................................................................................1 Chapter One – On Musical Connectivity ..................................................................................5 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................5 1.2 Why Indian music? ....................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Why music? .................................................................................................................. 15 1.3.1 Music and Communication ................................................................................... 16 1.3.2 Musically-Coordinated Action and Attention ....................................................... 24 1.3.3 Joint Action and Social Experience in Ensemble Performance ............................. 31 1.4 Towards a Model of Musical Connectivity (Part One) ................................................. 39 1.5 Towards a Model of Musical Connectivity (Part Two) ................................................. 46 1.6 Research Aims, Methodology, and Chapter Outline ................................................... 50 Chapter Two – Methodological Considerations ................................................................... 55 2.1 Aims and Challenges .................................................................................................... 55 2.2 A Question of Interdisciplinarity .................................................................................. 58 2.3 Defining Fieldwork ....................................................................................................... 61 2.4 The Role of Instrument Learning and Reflective Practice ............................................ 66 2.5 Pilot Case Studies ......................................................................................................... 68 2.6 Final Case Study ........................................................................................................... 74 2.7 Methods of Interview Analysis .................................................................................... 78 2.8 Methods of Musical Representation and Analysis......................................................