Rhythm as an Evolutionary System: The Musician Immersed in Perception Cycles

Abstract

Starting from the idea that it is possible to correlate rhythmic structures to a system that evolves over time and gradually build ever more complex structures, the article discusses rhythmic procedures and their perceptual relationships. We first present theoretical aspects related to rhythm as described by Ravignani, Bowling and Fitch (2014) and Honning, Bouwer and Háden (2014). Then we discuss the notion of embodied cognition introduced by Gibson (1979) and Varela, Thompson and Rosh (2001) and finally the concept of proprioception by Berger (2016). In order to illustrate these concepts we cite procedures based on rhythmic cycles of the Indian raga, on constructing rhythmic threads of African music, and on recent experiments conducted by the author during an ongoing post-doctoral study.

Keywords

• Estruturas rítmicas complexas. Cognição Musical. Percepção incorporada. Propostas de improvisação.