Asymmetric Cognitive Clock Structures in West African Rhythms

Results of an experimental investigation of pattern production by a West African (Asante) master drummer are reported. He performed bimanual tapping, with the Kete time-line pattern in one hand and either a regular 3-pulse or a regular 4-pulse in the other hand. Experimental variables manipulated were pulse-stream size (three or four), pulse hand allocation (left or right), and recording protocol, which was either synchronous (played in relation to a computer-generated tone) or spontaneous (no tone). Structural equation modeling was used to systematically examine the comparative fit of two mental models: an asymmetric timeline- ground (TLG) model, which represents a computational elaboration of traditional African understanding, and a pulse-ground (PG) model, which is based on Western ideas of regular meter. The African-based TLG model with at most minor adjustment provided an excellent fit for seven of eight experimental conditions; one condition achieved a good fit only after more substantial modification of the model. The African TLG model achieved superiority over the Western PG model only under certain specific conditions, suggesting that the use of the African cognitive model is subtle, context-dependent, and linked to specific training regimes.

[1]  D Deutsch,et al.  The generation of two isochronous sequences in parallel , 1983, Perception & psychophysics.

[2]  J. Nketia.  The music of Africa , 1974 .

[3]  Jeff Pressing,et al.  Spectral properties of human cognition and skill , 1997, Biological Cybernetics.

[4]  A. M. Jones,et al.  African Music in Ghana , 1963 .

[5]  A. Wing.  28 The Long and Short of Timing in Response Sequences , 1980 .

[6]  R J Jagacinski,et al.  Tests of parallel versus integrated structure in polyrhythmic tapping. , 1988, Journal of motor behavior.

[7]  G. Stelmach,et al.  Tutorials in Motor Behavior , 1980 .

[8]  Jeffery J. Summers,et al.  Practice effects on the coordination of the two hands in a bimanual tapping task , 1993 .

[9]  Kofi Agawu,et al.  African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective , 1995 .

[10]  Jeff Pressing,et al.  Cognitive multiplicity in polyrhythmic pattern performance. , 1996 .

[11]  M. T. Turvey,et al.  ‘Clock’ and ‘motor’ components in absolute coordination of rhythmic movements , 1989, Neuroscience.

[12]  M. Peters,et al.  Coordination of the two hands and effects of attentional manipulation in the production of a bimanual 2:3 polyrhythm , 1989 .

[13]  Pressing,et al.  Error Correction Processes in Temporal Pattern Production. , 1998, Journal of mathematical psychology.

[14]  Jeffery J. Summers,et al.  Strategies in the production of a 5:3 polyrhythm. , 1992 .

[15]  Peter M. Bentler,et al.  EQS : structural equations program manual , 1989 .

[16]  J. Chernoff,et al.  African Rhythm and African Sensibility: Aesthetics and Social Action in African Musical Idioms , 1980 .

[17]  D. Vorberg,et al.  Timing of Two‐Handed Rhythmic Performance a , 1984, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.