You know how their faces contort when hitting certain notes or rhythms? Why is that triggered in the face? Is it an emotional response? Communication by facial expression? Vestigial from some other process?
The funk
Emoting musical thoughts and feelings -
Just like your face emotes surprise, disgust, anger, taste and smell…
Source: professional musician >40yrs
I remember an interview with a guitarist. He recalled being chewed out by the director of a video they were shooting. Their conversation went something like this:
“You need to stop making such ugly faces while playing.” “But it just happens! I can’t help it!” “Your guitar isn’t even plugged in to anything. Knock it off with the goddam faces.”
For me, I think it’s whatever face I make when I’m in the zone. I’m not really aware of what I look like or contrive to look a certain way. But if I crack a smile, that’s a pretty good tell that I goofed up somewhere.
One time I was playing a Robbie Burns event where we were all encouraged to wear kilts. I made the mistake of putting my phone in the sporran (a kind of purse that hangs right over your crotch) and it started vibrating incessantly. I can’t even imagine the faces I was making that night!
In this instance, polyrhythms caused this face
I always assumed they were just getting into it, assuming you aren’t talking about expressions caused by just playing the instrument in general (like with brass and wind instruments).
I was initially going to call it guitar face, but drummers make some wild expressions too. Though as a listener, I will also sometimes involuntarily make them too. Seems most of us aren’t immune.
I think the term you are looking for is stank face. It happens naturally when you appreciate it. Obviously happens more in musicians due to their already innate general draw to music
I believe the term you’re looking for is “stank face”. I’ll sometimes do this when I’m listening to a song and a part is especially virtuosic or surprising. When you see a musician doing it it’s often either concentration or them hitting sort of a flow state where they’re really feeling what they’re playing.
Concentration and focus, sometimes expression or simply indulgence. It can happen in other situations too. Sports for instance. Music is just one of those abstract things where you need to keep focus for a longer duration.
Try tapping your finger in a steady rhythm counting 1,2,3,4 repeatedly. After a while you’ll want to close your eyes. Eventually you’ll make a tap that is ever so slightly early or late and you’ll probably start smirking or tighten other facial muscles. If that doesn’t happen to you, perhaps try holding a dumbbell in a straight arm for as long as you can. Most people will start doing weird faces before they inevitable have to give up, even if the funny faces does nothing to keep the dumbbell up.
That makes sense. It seems the expressions are often tied to the music —raised eyebrows when playing a high note, something like surprise when hitting cymbals, scrunching when it’s nasty. So maybe involuntary but relative expressions from concentration and focus?
My choirmaster years ago taught us that raising your eyebrows actually does help you reach the top of your vocal range, so that might actually be technique? Though I’m not a professional singer by any stretch, so who am I to say.
Years of practice
You should check out the Fairy Voice Mother on YouTube. She talks all about how positioning the lips, jaw, and larynx in certain ways helps create certain sounds. Very interesting!
I’ve just viewed it as clenching one of the only parts of your body that won’t impact your actual play. Humans often hold their breath and clinch when they are focusing on something
Real Devin Townsend hours
