Haskins Publications

Number	1258
Year	2002
Drawer	24
Entry Date	12/20/2002
Authors	Repp, B.H., Windsor, W.L., & Desain, P.
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Publication	Music Perception, 19, 565-593
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL1258.pdf
Abstract	Investigated whether and how the timing of musical rhythms changes with tempo. 12 skilled pianists played a monophonic 8-bar melody in 21 different rhythmic versions at 4 different tempi. Within bars, the rhythms represented 2 isochronous patterns and all possible ordered pairs and triplets of different note values with ratios from the set 3, 2, 11. The 3-note rhythms also occurred in each of 2 meters (3/4 and 6/8). Significant deviations from the notated interval ratios were observed in performances of most rhythms, even at the slowest tempo. The observed ratios of the 2-note rhythms changed little with tempo. By contrast, those of the 3-note rhythms showed increasing assimilation of the 2 longer intervals as tempo increased, while the relative duration of the short interval was barely affected by tempo. The results indicate that at fast tempi, the distinction between 3 different interval durations seems difficult to maintain.
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