The Tangible in Music

By combining the findings made in music psychology and performative ethnomusicology, Marko Aho shows how playing a musical instrument, and the pleasure musicians get from it, emerges from an intimate dialogue between the personally felt body and the sounding instrument. An introduction to the general aspects of the tactile resources of musical instruments, musical style and the musician is followed by an analysis of the learning process of the regional kantele style of the Perho river valley in Finnish Central Ostrobothnia.

Marko Aho is an ethnomusicologist and has written extensively on musical instruments and music making. He teaches courses on organology and related areas, and holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Tampere. He is also pursuing a degree in instrument building, and lives in Sastamala, Finland.

List of Figures and Examples Audio Examples Preface 1 Introduction 2 Exploring the Musical Instrument 3 Playing in Style 4 Communicating Expression 5 The Cultured Musical Style, Musical Instrument, and Musician Bibliography Index