Abstract:In a recent experiment on enculturation and metrical perception, we compared responses of two groups of either folk or jazz musicians tapping the beat to music recordings of familiar and unfamiliar genres: jazz music and Scandinavian folk music. Responses were recorded in audio format, which facilitates analyses of stress patterns and using the responses as input for educational methods as we propose in this abstract. The musicians were all students at the same higher music institution. The study aimed to investigate how enculturation affected beat perception of subjects in a similar cultural background but with specializations in either one of the two genres. Computational metrics for the evaluation of beat tracking algorithms [1] and accent histograms were used in order to analyze differences in how the two groups tapped to the beat for each genre. The results showed differences in the group’s synchronization when tapping to the familiar and unfamiliar examples, as well as differences between the groups concerning the preferred metrical level, the accentuation of beat cycles and in response to the asymmetric beat cycles featured in the Scandinavian, triple meter tune types [2]. Understanding how the perception of rhythm can vary between groups of musicians [3] may enhance the capability to communicate and interact across genres, and as such these results are relevant for music education. In order to facilitate such cross-genre understanding, we outline a teaching methodology that uses tapping recordings in the context of a workshop, including one or several of these student groups.Drawing on our experiment, this workshop will focus on music examples where the groups tapping patterns differed significantly. Specifically, these examples include extremely slow or fast tempi in jazz, and folk tunes with asymmetric beat. Furthermore, they illustrate genre-specific approaches: solo playing or ensemble playing with leading and accompanying parts.In the proposed workshop setting, students will be instructed to tap the beat to music examples containing unfamiliar metrical structures. Additionally, students will be asked to play simple accompaniment parts along with the examples, and to play typical musical excerpts while applying alternative metrical interpretations. Subsequently, they will be asked to tap or play with the same recordings, but with added sounds of tapping responses obtained from groups of expert musicians.The sound of the tapping recordings is suited to be distinguished from the original recordings: for Scandinavian folk music performed on solo violin, the tapping will stand out in the lower register, similar to foot-tapping; for jazz ensemble, the tapping sounds will be filtered to resemble medium bright wood-sticks. Thus, this methodology, accompanied by discussions involving students and teachers, facilitates students gaining insights into how expert musicians respond to metrical structures in a non-familiar genre, and aims towards a practice-based understanding of playing with the beat in different musical contexts.The workshops will be recorded for later evaluation and students will be asked to comment on their responses during the different stages of the workshop. We aim to report first results from the application of the tapping responses in teaching contexts in our presentation.

Bibliographic References:

[1] Davies, M. E., Degara, N., & Plumbley, M. D. (2009). Evaluation methods for musical audio beat tracking algorithms. Queen Mary University of London, Centre for Digital Music, Tech. Rep. C4DM-TR-09-06.

[2] Ahlbäck, S. (2003). About asymmetrical beat in the polska. The Polish dance in Scandinavia and Poland, 17, 165-180.

[3] Polak, R., Jacoby, N., Fischinger, T., Goldberg, D., Holzapfel, A., & London, J. (2018). Rhythmic Prototypes Across Cultures. Music Perception, 36(1), 1–23.