A music-inspired strategy as an actor training technique: a study into the use of music to access emotional memory
Acting and music have a lot in common and often share similar terminology. From rhythm, tempo, beats and tone, there is a musicality to language, text, physicality and emotion, and yet a focused music-inspired strategy for actor training has not been explored. My thesis attempts to fill this gap.
By introducing music within the actor training classroom my research looks at what music can do to aid an actor in their search for emotional connection and physical and imaginative freedom, through the creation of memories both real and fictitious. I explore how music can build character, place, and history, whilst quietening the actors’ self-judgment. Supporting this research is an exploration into actor-training, both from a historical and a contemporary perspective, focusing on the use of music within the acting studio.
The research was conducted with the help of 9 students of acting at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore, and 6 professional actors. These 2 groups were chosen to form a comparison between actors-in-training and professionals, and their differing approaches, experiences and results. A qualitative approach to recording and analysing data through observations, participants' reflections and interviews was employed. The results showed a strong potential for the use of music-inspired exercises within actor training and encouraged further research.
Keywords: music, subconscious episodic memory, emotion, BRECVEMA, freedom, flow, Stanislavski, Chekhov, Csikszentmihalyi