Understanding the creative process in the shaping of an interpretation by expert musicians: Two case studies

This article presents the methodology and partial results of a study on the creative processes underlying nine performers' interpretations of a single musical work. Data were collected by videotaping rehearsals and soliciting musicians' verbalizations of the rehearsal process. Musicians also completed a reflexive questionnaire, and an independent third party observed and described the musicians' actions. The data were first assessed through content analysis. Subsequently, interview techniques borrowed from phenomenology were used: self-confrontation interviews, which enable the verbalization of the action a posteriori; and explicitation interviews, which facilitate access to the preconscious processes and enable a detailed description of the action. Preliminary results for two performers demonstrate the varied strategies that musicians use to create original interpretations. The strategies observed were congruent with the existing literature and include alternation between divergent and convergent thinking and creative associations. Nevertheless, our results also suggest the existence of a phase step of artistic appropriation specific to each musician.