Tracing the Path of Metric Focus in Three Chopin Études

Brent Yorgason, University of Texas at San Antonio

As analysts, our descriptions of a work's meter generally gravitate towards a single clear metric structure, even when the experience of listening suggests multiple metric interpretations or metric unclarity. When we then contemplate these maps of metric structure away from the listening experience, we may forget those fascinating feelings of metric blurriness and uncertainty.

An investigation of the experience of measuring (or "placing the beat" while listening to performed rhythms in real time) might consider the responses that listeners have to situations in which the position of the beat is unclear. These responses may include metric shifts, metric slips, and metric drift. For example, in listening to a complicated passage with conflicting metric streams (as in several of the Chopin Études) our metric focus may be redirected from one stream to another by conscious shifts, or it may drift imperceptibly from one stream to another, subtly affecting our placement of beats. We may even experience moments in which we are unsure of the beat. How do we represent this fluidity of focus in our metric analyses? We could discount the slips and drifts as listener "errors" and simply omit them. Or we could accept these moments of metric flux as legitimate sensations stemming from the composer's metric intentions.

In this paper, I will present a method of describing and representing visually a listener's path of metric focus in following along with works that contain conflicting metric streams. The resulting diagrams will illustrate the ways in which metric attention may shift from one metric stream to another in the process of listening, and how the placement of beats may drift and become more or less confident. I will examine possible paths of metric focus in listening to four Chopin Études which feature nearly-constant hand alternation (resulting in a blurry surface of fuzzy beats). Although the paths taken in each are quite different, the types of events which tend to shift listener focus are very similar.