Entrainment, Ethnography and Musical Interaction

Abstract

This chapter examines relationships between the empirical study of musical entrainment and an ethnographic research model. Moving beyond a description of the concept of entrainment (roughly speaking, synchronisation), its wider context—that is, dynamical systems theory—is introduced, and the implications of viewing musical ensembles as complex systems discussed. Such an approach presents a challenge to many proponents of an interpretative, humanistic approach who see scientific approaches as essentially reductionist: this critique is addressed head-on with a refutation of the notion that all scientific method is necessarily reductionist. The chapter argues that in order to understand musical interactions it is important to bring the unique insights of a dynamical systems approach into a productive dialogue with an ethnographic and interpretative framework alert to local contexts and meanings.

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