Exploring How Affordances Influence Phrasing

This artistic research project explores how the affordances[1] of modern musical instruments, specifically clarinets, influence phrasing. The aim is to deepen our understanding of their role in developing and shaping musical ideas.

The results of this PhD project consist of two parts: the artistic results, comprising twenty-seven videos of live performances; and twenty-one reflections, varying in detail and length, on various aspects of phrasing across different clarinets.

Many perspectives exist on phrasing, ranging from language and emotion to physics and geometry. Phrasing is closely tied to how we interact with our instruments, which in turn connects to how these instruments are constructed. Like most woodwind instruments, the clarinet has undergone centuries of technical refinements and innovations, resulting in the instruments we use today. The development has generally moved toward greater evenness across the registers, increased volume, and enhanced projection.[2] Modern playing methodology is equally focused on evening out the instrument's idiosyncrasies, aiming to give every note across the registers the same shape. In this project, I explore how these playing methodologies and material properties influence my interaction with the instrument and, consequently, my phrasing.

I use a period boxwood clarinet alongside modern boxwood, mopane, and grenadilla clarinets as tools for research on how I phrase. By switching between these instruments, I have identified and related various parameters that show how each instrument’s affordances influence my phrasing. As the woodwind manufacturing industry increasingly explores different materials based on availability, cost, and sustainability, it is relevant to understand the attributes associated with each type of wood.

I propose that affordances can be subcategorized into two agency areas: material affordances and co-affordances. Material affordances refer to properties that define an instrument’s use, influenced by factors such as the material (e.g., wood in this project), make, model, plating, keywork systems, construction methods, etc. Co-affordances involve the specific interactions between a player and an instrument that influence phrasing. Woods have different hardnesses and densities; these material affordances influence the instruments separately. Hardness affects response rate and dynamic impact, and density affects pitch. My findings indicate that the response rate and dynamic impact of the different woods are inversely proportional, while density correlates with each wood's particular pitch tendencies. Co-affordances are interactions—for example, fingers and keys closing or opening holes to produce different notes—that influence phrasing. They also involve other interactions of embouchure, air, and tongue that can influence phrasing. The way interactions shape a phrase depends on how well they align with or disrupt an intended musical trajectory and the adjustments needed to reinforce or counteract them. This project primarily focuses on the co-affordances of finger interactions as well as my ability to work with the responsiveness and volume of the different materials. Experimenting with different materials and interaction patterns has expanded my ability to think beyond the properties of my instrument.

Understanding the agencies of material affordances and co-affordances is crucial to the analysis of the musician–instrument cooperation and to an account of how the instrument affords and invites musical action. This research highlights the phrasing challenges that modern instrumentalists face and how choices in material and interaction intersect with the performer and the performance.

Keywords: phrasing, affordance, co-affordance, modern orchestral instruments, clarinet, boxwood, grenadilla, mopane, period instruments

[1] “the quality or property of an object that defines its possible uses or makes clear how it can or should be used.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, accessed March 13, 2026, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/affordance.

[2] Stefan Weinzierl et al., “Sound Power and Timbre as Cues for the Dynamic Strength of Orchestral Instruments,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 144, no. 3 (2018): 1352–1353