Connections between multiple intelligences used in the performance and teaching of contemporary art music

Abstract

Learning and performing contemporary art music is considered among many students and teachers as a music, which is demanding, complex to understand and easily brings out the extremes of the learning and performing ways of processing information, but also bringing out also wide possibilities of co-creating art with another artists and diverse usage of new technologies, practices and multi disciplinary projects. Awareness of diverse inputs from always changing and developing contemporary music culture, evokes in nowadays artists an extensive spectrum of diverse formations for navigating throughout learning, teaching, performing and thinking processes. Being mindful contemporary artist brings out all above, with usage of own perception and understanding of arts, leading to the usage of several intelligences, either consciously or unconsciously, towards the holistic approaches and diverse ways for contemporary art music practices - an area that should be investigated with help of neuroscience in the future. Leading on The Theory of Multiple Intelligences developed by Howard Gardner, this seminar thesis conducted in Finland, at the Sibelius Academy of The University of the Arts Helsinki, is a qualitative research about the connections among the intelligences on how the four experienced teachers, performers and professors (Ph.D. Mieko Kanno, DMA Veli Kujala, DMA Mika Väyrynen and DMA Juho Laitinen) describe their teaching, performing experiences and understandings of contemporary art music. Their valuable experiences within this field of music are understood throughout Gardner’s multiple intelligence theory, describing what intelligences do certain occasions raise in them, including sharing their experiences about how several inputs from their own lives are contributing to the perception and broadening aspect of contemporary art music. The findings suggest that considering only musical intelligence as an only possible intelligence for musicians, is not the case for any kind of music, whereas especially inside the contemporary art music, the ‘mindful contemporary artist’ should possess, or be aware between all of the possible intellects. This paper concludes with a realization (with the support from both literature and the qualitative research semi-structured interviews) that mindful contemporary artist also possesses, either on subconscious or conscious levels, the visual-spatial intelligence, the linguistic intelligence, the logical-mathematical intelligence, the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, the intrapersonal and the interpersonal intelligences and the naturalistic intelligence, with leaving open suggestions for reader and his/her own interest to ‘digest’ and start thinking and forming own personal conclusions about this subject of research.