Touch and Talk : Detailing Embodied Experience in the Music Masterclass

This paper analyses talk and touch in interaction in a musical masterclass setting. It shows how sequences of touch and talk enable the public evaluation and instruction of internal body experience through a focus on three forms of touch: 'demonstrative touch', 'diagnostic touch,' and 'manipulative touch'. As a consequence, it highlights the mechanisms of semiotic power in the instructional relationship as the province of private reflection (the embodied sense) is made public and available for the embodied instruction of a group of students.