Rhythm III:

1
Rhythm III

• rhythm and timing in musical performance

2
Rhythm and Timing in Performance

• Metre
• Phrasing
• Motor Programs
• Expression
• Expression and Structure

3
Metre andPhrasing

• Phrasing
• Micropauses
• Acceleration/Deceleration
• Dynamic shaping
• Metre
• Dynamic accents
• Agogic accent
• Length accent
• Level of timing control
• Hierarchy?

4
Motor Programs

• What is a motor program
• A set of instructions for action
• Contains information about order and duration
• Often hierarchical
• Conscious control may only be present at high
  levels of hierarchy
• Learning implies improved representation of
  musical knowledge
• Q Why are transitions important?

5
Expression

• Timing
• Dynamics
• Articulation
• Vibrato
• Timbre

6
Expression and Structure

• Observations/theories
• Motor program encodes hierarchical structure of
  actions
• Music represented in memory as hierarchy of
  bars/beats or phrases
• What might we conclude
• Expressive deviations (e.g.accents, pauses) occur
  at (or around) boundaries between units, and are
  larger at more important ones
• Expression and structure are linked?

7
Expression and Structure

• A piece

8
Expression and Structure

• A phrase structure
• Windsor, W. L. and Clarke, E. F. (1997)
  Expressive timing and dynamics in real and
  artificial musical performances using an
  algorithm as an analytical tool. Music Perception
  , 15 (2), 127-152.
• Windsor, W. L. and Clarke, E. F. (2000). Real and
  Simulated Expression a Listening Study. Music
  Perception, 17 (3), 1-37 (2000).

9
Expression and Structure

• A real performance

10
Expression and Structure
11
Expression and Structure
12
Summary

• Performers are sensitive to rhythmic structure
• Two main reasons?
• Chunking is necessary
• Parity between representation and structure makes
  this easier for both listener and performer
• This sensitivity is shown in performance
• We still have much to learn...