Art of Record Production 2019

Introduction:
Accent is an important issue in piano performance, which is loudness, realized in increasing volume (also referred to as dynamic accent) (Thiemel 2001; Cook 2013) or an increase in dynamic level on a given time point as an accent mark (Bocanegra 2001). Accent
is prominence, realized as pitch inflection of a melodic note (pitch accent) (Thiemel 2001), harmonic change (Cheryl 2001) or the approach by leaps in lines (Berry 1976); also realized as a change to a faster tempo and/or more intense timbre (Berry 1976). Accent is emphasis, realized as a stimulus which is a mark for consciousness in some way (Cooper & Meyer 1960; Cook 2013) an event that capture a listener’s attention (Drake & Palmer 1993). This can be realized as the point of initiation (Lester 1986) or new
motive or texture (Cheryl 2001) of a musical event.However, phrase accent in piano music has received little scholarly attention, although it is necessary to performing teaching.

Main Contribution:
Using random selected 287 two-phrase recordings, this study analyzed phrases' accent which might be partially or wholly caused by loudness, pitch, harmony and boundary.Accent experiment is in progress, it is found that the time of accent appears to be tendentious and needs further investigation.

Conclusion:
The highest and loudest sound is the accent in nearly half phrases. No obvious difference between first and second phrase was found. Nearly quarter phrases have no distinct accent.

Implications:
Performers might prefer to select the highest and loudest sound as phrase accent.

Acknowledgements:
This study is funded by Project of Basic Scientific Research in Central Universities, Southwest University (Grant no. SWU1809348 )