Communicative Pressure and the Evolution of Musical Styles

Bibliographic Data

ID5771684
AuthorsDavid Temperley (0000-0002-0569-7877, Eastman School of Music, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume21
Issue3
Pages313-337
Publication date2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMusic Perception An Interdisciplinary Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0730-7829 • E-ISSN: 1533-8312
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/mp.2004.21.3.313
OpenAlexW2105764826
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited24

Music functions, at least in part, to convey certain structures to the listener via a surface of notes. For communication to occur successfully, the structures must be recoverable from the surface. I argue that this consideration has been an important factor in the shaping of musical styles, and sheds light on a number of phenomena: the greater degree of syncopation and lower degree of rubato in traditional African music and rock versus common-practice music; the extensive use of rubato in pieces with consistent repeated patterns (e.g., much Romantic piano music); the rise of swing tempo and the higher degree of syncopation in jazz as opposed to ragtime; and the greater variety of chord-tones and lower tolerance for chordal inversion in jazz as opposed to common-practice music

Chord (peer-to-peer · Jazz · Musicality · Music and Audio Processing · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Neuroscience and Music Perception

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