Timing (music)

A performed rhythm can sound ‘mechanical’, ‘swinging’, ‘laid-back’, ‘rushing’, etc. This is caused by playing some notes somewhat shorter and others longer in duration. But how does a listener perceive the timing of these rhythms and recognize it as being ‘rushed’ or ‘swinging’? Why is a rhythm with a slightly shorter note not simply a different rhythm? How do rhythm and timing interact?

These are questions not typically addressed in music theory. But they are fundamental in the development of a cognitive theory on music as performed and listened to. Research in music perception has shown that time, as a subjective structuring of events in music, is quite different from the concept of time in physics (Michon & Jackson, 1985). Listeners to music do not perceive rhythm on a continuous scale. Instead, rhythmic categories are recognized which function as a reference relative to which the deviations in timing can be appreciated (Desain & Honing, 1992; Clarke, 1999). In fact, temporal patterns in music combine two time scales which are essentially different: the discrete rhythmic durations as symbolized by, for example, the half and quarter notes in a musical score, and the continuous timing variations that characterize an expressive musical performance.

References

• Clarke, E. F. (1999) Rhythm and Timing in Music, in: Diana Deutsch (ed.), Psychology of Music, second edition, University of California, San Diego, pp.473-500.
• Honing, H. (2002) Structure and interpretation of rhythm and timing. Dutch Journal of Music Theory (Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie). 7(3), 227-232.pdf