Resumen

ALAMOS GOMEZ, José Eduardo  y  TEJADA GIMENEZ, Jesús. Facilitating factors in the cognitive processing of rhythmic information. A review of the literature on the concepts of pulse, tempo, meter and accent. Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2021, vol.38, n.2, pp.87-102. ISSN 1668-7027.  http://dx.doi.org/10.16888/interd.2021.38.2.6.

Rhythm perception models have studied an important variety of general characteristics of temporal structures and specific elements of musical rhythm, presenting a degree of heterogeneity in study objects. However, most of the research converges in the study of processes related to the listener's detection of an underlying temporal pulse. This, along with other processes such as temporal grouping, have been referred to as basic or primitive aspects, since they seem fundamental to the perception of simple rhythmic sequences.

In the present work, a review of the literature in which research findings related to the cognitive processing of basic rhythmic aspects are described, synthesized and related: pulse, tempo, meter and accent. This review aims to specify certain temporal characteristics that facilitate the psychological understanding of rhythm. The information presented has been obtained from scientific journals indexed in Wos and Scopus; from Research Handbook on Education-Musical Cognition and; from fundamental texts in the study of temporal and rhythmic processing at the cognitive level.

Among the basic elements that make up the musical rhythm, perhaps the most intrinsic and natural is the pulse. There seems to be consensus that humans, either by processes of enculturation or by biological aspects mainly related to the nervous system, tend to isochronyand regularity. Pulse velocity, called in musical language as tempo, is an important factor to consider when facilitating the processing of rhythmic structures. This is how, the preferred pulse or optimal tempo spectrum for all, regardless of musical formation, age, or personal characteristics; ranges from 60 to 120 pulses or beats per minute (bpm). In addition, recent research findings show that young children have a preferred tempo of 140–150 bpm (400 ms approximately), which is a faster rate for adults: 100 bpm (600 ms approximately). This preference for fast tempi, decreases with age, showing improved responses to a greater diversity of slow and fast tempi thanks to the increase in cognitive and motor development.

The meter is another factor that strongly influences the psychological understanding of the rhythm. The meter has been defined as a sequence of regular pulse cycles that include "strong" and "soft" impacts organized at hierarchical levels. It has been proposed that the meter forms a framework for rhythmic expectation that anticipates the central or accented pulse, allowing the predictability and organization of future rhythmic events involved in a fragment or piece of music. This process appears to be automatic and is explained by the brain constantly setting predictions by comparing the previous information accumulated with the sensory stimulus it perceives from the outside. In the context of Western music, a predisposition by listeners towards binary meters (sequences of accented pulses every two, four, etc.) has been proposed rather than to the ternaries (pulse sequences accentuated every three, six, etc.). This has led to hypothesize regarding the existence of improved processing for hierarchical binary relationships in contrast to the more complex or ternary.

Finally, the findings presented in this article should be considered in the future to promote psychological understanding of the rhythm in various individual and/or group contexts, especially in formative - musical areas.

Palabras clave : musical rhythm; cognition; cognitive processing; temporal processing; psychology of perception.

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