Repp, B. H., Windsor, W. L., & Desain, P. (2002) Effects of tempo on the timing of simple musical rhythms. Music Perception, 19(40), 565-593.

Abstract

In this study we investigated whether and how the timing of musical rhythms changes with tempo. Twelve skilled pianists played a monophonic 8-bar melody in 21 different rhythmic versions at 4 different tempi. Within bars, the rhythms represented all possible ordered pairs and triplets of note values with ratios from the set {3, 2, 1}. The 3-note rhythms also occurred in each of two meters (3/4 and 6/8). Significant deviations from the notated temporal ratios were observed in performances of most rhythms, even at the slowest tempo. The observed ratios of the 2-note rhythms changed little with tempo. By contrast, those of the 3-note rhythms showed increasing assimilation of the two longer note durations as tempo increased, while the short duration changed little with tempo. These results replicate previous findings of Fraisse (1956), obtained in a nonmetrical context. At fast tempi, the distinction between three different durations seems difficult to maintain.

Full paper(pdf) and figures (pdf).


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