The Embodied Experience of Groove in Music and Dance

Abstract

The term groove is quite elusive in music psychology research. While some define it as a musical feature, others describe it as the subjective experience of wanting to move. Much of the existing literature focuses on the former (e.g. syncopation, rhythm). However, most of these papers are limited to listening contexts, offering little insight into participants’ internal experiences and comparisons with movement to the music. Building on this, my thesis adopts the widely accepted definition of groove in music psychology: the internal urge to move in response to music. Additionally, the majority of studies emphasize the significant role of pleasure in the groove experience [1]. The study therefore focuses on both urge to move and pleasure.

My thesis aims to expand existing research by introducing a first-person perspective. It investigates how dancers and non-dancers experience pleasure and urge to move when they spontaneously dance to music clips compared to just listening to them. This will be assessed using a questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose, comprising six questions—three for the pleasure scale and three for the urge to move scale [1]. The primary goal is to examine whether there will be any difference between the results from the questionnaires and how participants describe the difference/similarity between the internal urge to move and pleasure when listening/dancing on the music clips.

The methodology therefore comprises two key phases. In the listening phase, participants listen to short musical excerpts and rate each one based on their pleasure and urge to move, using the aforementioned questionnaire [1]. In the dancing phase, participants spontaneously move to the excerpts and then complete the same questionnaire. After all excerpts have been both listened to and danced to, participants take part in a semi-structured interview designed to explore differences in their experiences between listening and dancing, including bodily sensations. The study may be conducted either online or in person; this is yet to be determined.

As the study has not yet been conducted, there are no empirical results to report. However, based on previous research, a difference in questionnaire responses between the two phases is anticipated, with pleasure ratings expected to be higher after dancing [2]. Due to the phenomenological nature of the interview phase, no specific predictions are made in order to maintain methodological consistency.

Limitations include the subjective nature of self-reported data. A more robust design could integrate motion-capture technology to compare perceived versus actual movement. Future studies might also explore group contexts, where social interaction could enhance the groove experience.

References

[1] O. Senn et al., “Experience of Groove Questionnaire: Instrument Development and Initial Validation,” Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 46–65, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.jstor.org/stable/48737505.

[2] N. F. Bernardi, A. Bellemare-Pepin, and I. Peretz, “Enhancement of pleasure during spontaneous dance,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 11, 2017. [Online]. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00572.