Biomaterial Database

Reproduction of musical rhythms by children, adult musicians, and adult nonmusicians. 1993

C Drake

University of Paris V, CNRS URA 316, France.

Many sequential events, musical rhythms in particular, can be described by a hierarchical structure, with lower order events recursively combining to form higher levels. This study investigated factors influencing the ease of reproduction of short musical rhythms that reflect various organizational principles. For adults and children, reproduction was better for rhythms with the following characteristics: (1) binary rather than ternary subdivision, (2) two rather than three different durations, (3) the ability to be segmented into two shorter rhythms of identical duration, and (4) intensity accents on important hierarchical positions. These findings suggest that a prototypical temporal structure--that is, a regular beat with binary subdivisions--is functional in childhood. The ability to process complex hierarchical structure appeared to be influenced more by musical training than by passive acculturation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007092	Imagination	A new pattern of perceptual or ideational material derived from past experience.	Imaginations
D008297	Male		Males
D009146	Music	Sound that expresses emotion through rhythm, melody, and harmony.	Classical Music,Hip Hop Music,Jazz Music,Rap Music,Rock and Roll Music,Songs,Vocal Melody,Hop Music, Hip,Melodies, Vocal,Melody, Vocal,Music, Classical,Music, Hip Hop,Music, Jazz,Music, Rap,Song,Vocal Melodies
D011214	Practice, Psychological	Performance of an act one or more times, with a view to its fixation or improvement; any performance of an act or behavior that leads to learning.	Practice (Psychology),Practice, Psychology,Practicing, Psychological,Practicing, Psychology,Psychological Practice,Psychological Practicing,Psychology Practice,Psychology Practicing
D011571	Psychoacoustics	The science pertaining to the interrelationship of psychologic phenomena and the individual's response to the physical properties of sound.	Psychoacoustic
D011939	Mental Recall	The process whereby a representation of past experience is elicited.	Recall, Mental
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man