Modeling the tendency for music to induce movement in humans : First correlations with low-level audio descriptors across music genres

• Groove is often described as the experience of music that makes people tap their feet and want to dance. A high degree of consistency in ratings of groove across listeners indicates that physical properties of the sound signal contribute to groove [Madison (2006) Music Perception, 24, 201-208]. Here, correlations were assessed between listener's ratings and a number of quantitative descriptors of rhythmic properties for one hundred music examples from five distinct traditional music genres. Groove was related to several different rhythmic properties, some of which were genre-specific and some of which were general across genres. Two descriptors corresponding to the density of events between beats and the salience of the beat, respectively, were strongly correlated with groove across domains. In contrast, systematic deviations from strict positions on the metrical grid, so-called microtiming, did not play any significant role. The results are discussed from a functional perspective of rhythmic music to enable and facilitate entrainment and precise synchronisation among individuals.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

music groove

adjective ratings

audio analysis

coordination

computational modelling

evolution

dance

groove

movement

music

preferences

entrainment

synchronisation

Psychology

Psykologi

Psychology

psykologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)