Passionate Appearance Enhances Musical Performance

富有激情的表演能增强音乐表现力

Classical music competitions pit performers against each other. Obviously, the most important criterion for judges is sound. But that assumption needs a new…hearing. Because a player’s passion may be the best predictor of victory.

古典音乐比赛使表演者互相竞争。很明显，对评委来说，最重要的标准是声音。但是上述假定需要重新考量了。因为一个选手的激情可能是取得胜利的最重要因素。

In a new study, nearly 200 novices had to choose the winners of 10 classical music competitions. Some heard a music clip of the top three performances. Others saw a video with sound. Still others watched a silent video. And the participants were more likely to choose the winner if they watched the silent video, in all 10 of the competitions.

在一份新的研究中，将近200个新手选择十个古典音乐比赛的胜者。一些听了前三名表演的音乐片段。其他的则看了带声的表演视频，还有一些则看了无声的表演视频。在所有的十个比赛中，看了无声表演视频的实验者更倾向于选出胜者。

Then professional musicians gave it a try. These judges also only reliably selected the winners from the silent video. Musicians selected the winner more frequently even when all they saw was an outline of the motion of the performers.

接着，专业的音乐家也做了这个实验。这些评委也是更倾向于从无声表演视频中选出胜者。音乐家甚至在看到表演者大体动作的时候更频繁的选出胜者。

The researchers say the findings show that novices and experts make quick judgments about musical performances based on visual cues conveying involvement and passion. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

研究人员表示这个发现表明新手和专家都是基于表达参与与激情的视觉感受做出快速判断。这项研究发表在美国国家科学院院刊上。

So next time you see a live concert, don’t close your eyes to focus on the music. You might be missing the most important part.

因此，下次你看现场演唱会的时候，不要闭上眼睛聆听音乐。你可能会错过最重要的部分。

—Cynthia Graber