Strange loops of attention, awareness, action, and affect in musical improvisation
Music and Consciousness 2 April 11, 2019 David Borgo
The chapter argues that understanding collective musical improvisation requires moving beyond conventional information-processing models of cognition. It proposes that 'strange', paradoxical, level-crossing feedback loops better capture the dynamics involved. The text highlights challenges in studying improvisation and consciousness, and suggests that embodied and enactive theories of cognition, along with predictive processing and social psychology, offer productive frameworks. Improvising music together involves joint action, embodied coordination, collective attention, and shared intention in ways that challenge standard views of mind and consciousness.