When Tempo Changes Rhythm: The Effect of Tempo on Nonmusicians' Perception of Rhythm

Abstract

The present study assessed the effects of tempo differences on listeners' ability to recognize previously heard rhythm phrases. The effect of audible beat on subjects' response accuracy also was examined. Three hundred twenty third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students and nonmusic-major undergraduates heard one of two versions of a 20-item paired-comparison test and indicated whether the second rhythm in each pair was the same or not the same as the first rhythm in the pair. In one test version, a second “voice” accompanied each rhythm at the rate of the steady beat. Rhythm performances at the rate of 100 beats per minute (bpm) were compared to performances at 50, 75, 125, and 150 bpm.

The mean number of correct responses for undergraduates was significantly higher than the corresponding means for the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade subjects, which were not significantly different from one another. Response accuracy across all groups was affected significantly both by the comparison tempo and by the direction of tempo change between the first and second rhythms in the test item. The mean number of correct responses for items with a 50-bpm comparison tempo was significantly lower than the correct response means for items with 75-, 125-, and 150-bpm comparison tempos, which did not differ significantly from one another. Subjects were better able to identify paired rhythms as identical when the tempo of the second rhythm was the faster of the two examples in the pair than when the second example was the slower of the two examples. There were no differences in response accuracy attributable to the presence (or absence) of an audible steady beat in the stimulus, and there were no significant interactions between main effects.

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