Honing, H. (2012). Without it no music: beat induction as a fundamental musical trait. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1252: 85–91. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2011.06402.x
Abstract
Beat induction (BI) is the cognitive skill that allows us to hear a regular pulse in music to which we can then
synchronize. Perceiving this regularity in music allows us to dance and make music together. As such, it can be
considered a fundamentalmusical trait that, arguably, played a decisive role in the origins ofmusic. Furthermore, BI
might be considered a spontaneously developing, domain-specific, and species-specific skill. Although both learning
and perception/action coupling were shown to be relevant in its development, at least one study showed that the
auditory system of a newborn is able to detect the periodicities induced by a varying rhythm. A related study with
adults suggested that hierarchical representations for rhythms (meter induction) are formed automatically in the
human auditory system. We will reconsider these empirical findings in the light of the question whether beat and
meter induction are fundamental cognitive mechanisms.
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