Music Listening, Music Therapy, Phenomenology and Neuroscience

6 – Macrotemporal listening dimensions: Movement, Pulse, Rhythm and Melody

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This music is characterized by tension and balance between pulse time and

the time of movement. Double bass, piano and percussion provide a stable

four-beat pulse. The bass accentuates the first and third beat, percussion

and piano the second and fourth beat. On this background of predictable

regularity, the soloist moves freely in melodic phrases of inventive varia-

bility.

Fig. 6.7 shows a transcription of the two first A sections, measures 1-8

and measures 9-16, and the final A section, measures 57-65. In the tran-

scription, the subtle and flexible timing of the live melodic line is reflected

in the complexity of notated rhythm.

The first A section is a rather close paraphrase of the original Body and

Soul tune. This is the beginning of the tune;

Fig. 6.8

In his improvisation, Hawkins shapes and reshapes the tune. In the

following description, correspondences between parts of the original

melody and Hawkins' reshaped melodic contours are indicated by the

numbering of phrases.

Body and Soul. First A section, measures 1-8. Fig. 6.8.

(1) Hawkins' phrase follows the contour of the tune.

(2) A turning note is transformed into a zig-zag shape.

(3) All the notes of the tune are played, with ornaments added. The

contour rises twice to the top tone Eb4 of the original tune.

(4) Hawkins imitates the falling motion of the tune, keeping the top

note Db and the two target notes F3 and Eb. A second peak is

added to the curve of the tune.

(5) The tune is transformed to a two-peak shape.