Phrase (music) - Intuitive Versus Analytical Approach To Phrase/phrasing

Intuitive Versus Analytical Approach To Phrase/phrasing

There are two ways/manners in which phrase/phrasing can be approached: intuitive, or analytical.

There are two schools of thought on phrasing, one more intuitive, the other more analytical. The intuitive school uses a verbal model, equating the function of phrasing with that of punctuation in language. Thus, said Chopin to a student, "he who phrases incorrectly is like a man who does not understand the language he speaks." —Nancy Toff The question how far the analytical and critical study of a work of art aids or hinders the appreciation of its more emotional and spiritual factors is one that has been asked over and over —Stewart Macpherson

Often the analytical method is more theoretical and related to the term phrase (analysing a phrase), while the intuitive approach is more related to the term phrasing.

Problems linked with an analytical approach to phrase, occur particularly when the analytical approach is based only on the search for objective information, or (as is often the case) only concerned with the score:

The reliance on the score for information about temporal structures reflects a more profound analytical difficulty. Structural information gleaned from the score is visually apprehended and as such is predisposed to visualist models of structure. These models are premised on symmetry and balance and on a timeless notion of "objective" structure. Temporal and aurally-apprehended structures are denied reality because they cannot be said to "exist" in the way that spatial and visually apprehended structures do. Musical investigations exhibit the Western prejudice toward visualism in the dependence on visual symmetry and balance. Information about structure from listening experience is suspect because it is considered "subjective" and is opposed to "objective" information from the score. —F. Joseph Smith