:
Entrainment in the
biomusicological sense refers to the
synchronization
Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are said to be synchronou ...
(e.g. foot tapping) of organisms to an external perceived
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...
such as human
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
and
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
. Humans are the only species for which all individuals experience entrainment, although there are documented examples of entrained nonhuman individuals.
Beat induction
Beat induction is the process in which a regular
isochronous pulse is activated while one listens to music (i.e. the beat to which one would tap one's foot). It was thought that the
cognitive mechanism that allows us to infer a beat from a sound pattern, and to
synchronize
Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are said to be synchrono ...
or
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire ...
to it, was uniquely human. No primate tested so far—with exception of the human species—can dance or collaboratively clap to the beat of the music. Humans know when to start, when to stop, when to speed up or to slow down, in synchronizing with their fellow dancers or musicians. Although primates do not appear to display beat induction, some parrots do. The most famous example,
Snowball
A snowball is a spherical object made from snow, usually created by scooping snow with the hands, and pressing the snow together to compact it into a ball. Snowballs are often used in games such as snowball fights.
A snowball may also be a lar ...
was shown to display genuine dance, including changing his movements to a change in tempo (Patel et al., 2009)
Beat induction can be seen as a fundamental
cognitive skill that allows for music (e.g., Patel, 2008; Honing, 2007; 2012). We can hear a pulse in a rhythmic pattern while it might not even be explicitly in there: The pulse is being induced (hence the name) while listening—like a perspective can be induced by looking at an arrangement of objects in a picture.
Neuroscientist
Ani Patel proposes beat induction—referring to it as "beat-based rhythm processing"—as a key area in music-language research, suggesting beat induction "a fundamental aspect of music cognition that is not a byproduct of cognitive mechanisms that also serve other, more clearly adaptive, domains (e.g. auditory scene analysis or language)" (Patel, 2008).
Evolutionary function
Joseph Jordania recently suggested that the human ability to be entrained was developed by the forces of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
as an important part of achieving the specific
altered state of consciousness, battle trance.
[ Joseph Jordania. Why do People Sing? Music in Human Evolution. Logos, 2011] Achieving this state, in which humans lose their individuality, do not feel fear and pain, are united in a shared
collective identity
Collective identity is the shared sense of belonging to a group.
In sociology
In 1989, Alberto Melucci published ''Nomads of the Present'', which introduces his model of collective identity based on studies of the social movements of the 1980 ...
, and act in the best interests of the group, was crucial for the physical survival of our ancestors against the big African predators, after
hominids descended from the safer trees to the dangerous ground and became
terrestrial.
See also
*
Choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
*
Evolutionary musicology
*
Music therapy
*
Unison
*
Zoomusicology
*
Restless legs syndrome
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
* Patel, A. (2008). "Beat-based rhythm processing as a key research area", In Music, Language and the Brain (pp. 402–415). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Desain, P., &
Honing, H. (1994). "Foot-Tapping: a brief introduction to beat induction". In Proceedings of the 1994 International Computer Music Conference. 78-79. San Francisco: International Computer Music Association.
*
*
External links
Patel (2008).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Entrainment (Biomusicology)
Biology terminology
Music cognition
Music psychology
Rhythm and meter