Rhythmic perception and conception : a study of bottom-up and top-down interaction in rhythm and meter / Bruce Finley Taggart.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Taggart, Bruce Finley.

Contributor:

Narmour, Eugene, 1939- advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Music.

Music--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Music.

Music--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

xvi, 410 leaves : illustrations ; 29 cm

Production:

1996.

Summary:

Theories of rhythm and meter tend to blur the distinction between musical structures that are actually perceived and structures that are indirectly understood or conceived. As a result, they often fail to account for the experience of the ordinary listener in hearing music. This dissertation explores the relationship between bottom-up perception and top-down conception in musical rhythm and meter. An alternative view of temporal structure in music is proposed in which rhythm and meter operate only on the lowest levels of the musical hierarchy; structures on high levels are indirectly understood rather than directly perceived because of psychoacoustic limits on temporal grouping and perception. Research in rhythm and meter in cognitive psychology and music theory is examined, including historical roots for current models. Of particular interest are theories of serial pattern perception in cognitive psychology and Schenkerian theories of rhythmic and metric hierarchy in music theory. In both, failure to distinguish between direct perception and indirect conception results in models that do not adequately account for the experience of the ordinary listener. Tactus theories of rhythm, in which rhythmic and metric grouping structures originate on the lowest temporal levels, are discussed and applied to a new approach to rhythmic and metric analysis that is based on Narmour's implication-realization model of melodic analysis. Because it operates from bottom to top and does not presuppose high-level compositional structures, the analytical approach can be applied equally well to tonal and atonal styles; this is demonstrated in sample analyses from each style.

Notes:

Supervisor: Eugene Narmour.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Music) -- University of Pennsylvania, 1996.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

University Microfilms order no.: 96-28012.

OCLC:

244970271