Harvard Psychological Studies Part 40

Subject. Ratio.

J. 1.000:1.042 K. 1.000:1.025 N. 1.000:1.010

It is perhaps significant that the extent of this differentiation--and inferably the definition of rhythmical synthesis--corresponds to the reported musical apt.i.tudes of the subjects; J. is musically trained, K. is fond of music but little trained, N. is without musical inclination.

The relations of these larger rhythmical series repeat those of their const.i.tuent groups--the first is shorter, the second longer. The two sets of ratios are brought together for comparison in the annexed table:

TABLE XIX.

Subject. Unit-Groups. Five Groups.

J. 1.000:1.354 1.000:1.042 K. 1.000:1.388 1.000:1.025 N. 1.000:1.326 1.000:1.010

It is to be noted here, as in the case of beating out specific rhythms, that the index of differentiation is greater in simple than in complex groups, the ratios for all subjects being, in simple groups, 1.000:1.356, and in series of five, 1.000:1.026.

There is thus present in the process of mechanically accompanying a series of regularly recurring auditory stimuli a complex rhythmization in the forms, first, of a differentiation of alternate intervals, and secondly, of a synthesis of these in larger structures, a process here traced to the third degree, but which may very well extend to the composition of still more comprehensive groups. The process of reaction is permeated through and through by rhythmical differentiation of phases, in which the feeling for unity and equivalence must hold fast through really vast periods as the long slow phases swing back and forth, upon which takes place a swift and yet swifter oscillation of rhythmical values as the unit groups become more limited, until the opposition of single elements is reached.

III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RHYTHMICAL UNIT.

A. _The Number of Elements in the Group and its Limits._

The number of elements which the rhythmical group contains is related, in the first place, to the rate of succession among the elements of the sequence. This connection has already been discussed in so far as it bears on the forms of grouping which appear in an undifferentiated series of sounds in consequence of variations in the absolute magnitude of the intervals which separate the successive stimuli. In such a case the number of elements which enter into the unit depends solely on the rate of succession. The unit presents a continuous series of changes from the lowest to the highest number of const.i.tuents which the simple group can possibly contain, and the synthesis of elements itself changes from a succession of simple forms to structures involving complex subordination of the third and even fourth degree, without other change in the objective series than variations in tempo.

When objectively defined rhythm types are presented, or expression is given to a rhythm subjectively defined by ideal forms, these simple relations no longer hold. Acceleration or r.e.t.a.r.dation of speed does not unconditionally affect the number of elements which the rhythm group contains. In the rhythmization of an undifferentiated series the recurrence of accentuation depends solely on subjective conditions, the temporal relations of which can be displaced only within the limits of single intervals; for example, if a trochaic rhythm characterizes a given tempo, the rhythm type persists under conditions of progressive acceleration only in so far as the total duration of the two intervals composing the unit approximates more closely to the subjective rhythm period than does that of three such intervals. When, in consequence of the continued reduction of the separating intervals, the latter duration presents the closer approximation, the previous rhythm form is overthrown, accentuation attaches to every third instead of to alternate elements, and a dactylic rhythm replaces the trochaic.

In objective rhythms, on the other hand, the determination of specific points of increased stress makes it impossible thus to shift the accentuation back and forth by increments of single intervals. The unit of displacement becomes the whole period intervening between any two adjacent points of accentuation. The rhythm form in such cases is displaced, not by those of proximately greater units, but only by such as present multiples of its own simple groups. Acceleration of the speed at which a simple trochaic succession is presented results thus, first, in a more rapid trochaic tempo, until the duration of two rhythm groups approaches more nearly to the period of subjective rhythmization, when--the fundamental trochaism persisting--the previous simple succession is replaced by a dipodic structure in which the phases of major and minor accentuation correspond to the elementary opposition of accented and unaccented phases. In the same way a triplicated structure replaces the dipodic as the acceleration still continues; and likewise of the dactylic forms.

We may say, then, that the relations of rate to complexity of structure present the same fundamental phenomena in subjective rhythmization and objectively determined types, the unit of change only differing characteristically in the two cases. The wider range of subjective adjustment in the latter over the former experience is due to the increased positive incentive to a rhythmical organic accompaniment afforded by the periodic reinforcement of the objective stimulus.

An investigation of the limits of simple rhythmical groups is not concerned with the solution of the question as to the extent to which a reactor can carry the process of prolonging the series of elements integrated through subordination to a single dominant accentuation.

The nature of such limits is not to be determined by the introspective results of experiments in which the observer has endeavored to hold together the largest possible number of elements in a simple group.

When such an attempt is made a wholly artificial set of conditions, and presumably of mechanisms, is introduced, which makes the experiment valueless in solving the present problem. Both the direction and the form of attention are adverse to the detection of rhythmical complications under such conditions. Attention is directed away from the observation of secondary accents and toward the realization of a rhythm form having but two simple phases, the first of which is composed of a single element, while within the latter fall all the rest of the group. Such conditions are the worst possible for the determination of the limits of simple rhythm groups; for the observer is predisposed from the outset to regard the whole group of elements lying within the second phase as undifferentiated. Thus the conditions are such as to postpone the recognition of secondary accents far beyond the point at which they naturally arise.

But further, such an attempt to extend the numerical scope of simple rhythm groups also tends to transform and disguise the mechanism by which secondary stresses are produced, and thereby to create the illusion of an extended simple series which does not exist. For we have no right to a.s.sume that the process of periodic accentuation in such a series, identical in function though it be, involves always the same form of differentiation in the rhythmical material. If the primary accentuation be given through a finger reaction, the fixating of that specific form of change will predispose toward an overlooking of secondary emphases depending on minor motor reactions of a different sort. The variety of such subst.i.tutional mechanisms is very great, and includes variations in the local relations of the finger reaction, movements of the head, eyes, jaws, throat, tongue, etc., local strains produced by simultaneous innervation of flexor and extensor muscles, counting processes, visual images, and changes in ideal significance and relation of the various members of the group.

Any one of these may be seized upon to mediate the synthesis of elements and thus become an unperceived secondary accentuation.

Our problem is to determine at what point formal complication of the rhythmical unit tends naturally to arise. How large may such a group become and still remain fundamentally simple, without reduplication of accentual or temporal differentiation? The determination of such limits must be made on the basis of quant.i.tative comparison of the reactions which enter into larger and smaller rhythmical series, on the one hand, and, on the other, of the types of structure which appear in subjective rhythmization and the apprehension of objective rhythms the forms of which are antecedently unknown to the hearer. The evidence from subjective rhythms is inconclusive. The prevailing types are of two and three beats. Higher forms appear which are introspectively simple, but introspection is absolutely unable to solve the problem as to the possible composite nature of these extended series. The fact that they are confined to even numbers, the multiples of two, and to such odd-numbered series as are multiples of three, without the appearance of the higher primes, indicates the existence in all these groups of secondary accentuation, and the resolution of their forms into structures which are fundamentally complications of units of two and three elements only. The process of positive accentuation which appears in every higher rhythmical series, and underlying its secondary changes exhibits the same reduction of their elementary structure to double and triple groups, has been described elsewhere in this report. Here it is in place to point out certain indirect evidence of the same process of resolution as manifested in the treatment of longer series of elements.

The breaking up of such series into subgroups may not be an explicitly conscious process, while yet its presence is indispensable in giving rhythmical form to the material. One indication of such undiscriminated rhythmical modification is the need of making or avoiding pauses between adjacent rhythmical groups according as the number of their const.i.tuents varies. Thus, in rhythms having units of five, seven, and nine beats such a pause was imperative to preserve the rhythmical form, and the attempt to eliminate it was followed by confusion in the series; while in the case of rhythms having units of six, eight, and ten beats such a pause was inadmissible. This is the consistent report of the subjects engaged in the present investigation; it is corroborated by the results of a quant.i.tative comparison of the intervals presented by the various series of reactions. The values of the intervals separating adjacent groups for a series of such higher rhythms are given in Table XX. as proportions of those following the initial, accented reaction.

TABLE XX.

Rhythm. Initial Interval. Final Interval Five-Beat, 1.000 1.386 Six " 1.000 0.919 Seven " 1.000 1.422 Eight " 1.000 1.000 Nine " 1.000 1.732 Ten " 1.000 1.014

The alternate rhythms of this series fall into two distinct groups in virtue of the sharply contrasted values of their final intervals or group pauses. The increased length of this interval in the odd-numbered rhythms is unquestionably due to a subdivision of the so-called unit into two parts, the first of which is formally complete, while the latter is syncopated. In the case of five-beat rhythms, this subdivision is into threes, the first three of the five beats which compose the so-called unit forming the primary subgroup, while the final two beats, together with a pause functionally equivalent to an additional beat and interval, make up the second, the system being such as is expressed in the following notation: .q. q q; >q. q % . The pause at the close of the group is indispensable, because on its presence depends the maintenance of equivalence between the successive three-groups. On the other hand, the introduction of a similar pause at the close of a six-beat group is inadmissible, because the subdivision is into three-beat groups, each of which is complete, so that the addition of a final pause would utterly unbalance the first and second members of the composite group, which would then be represented by the following notation: >q. q q; .q. q q % ; that is, a three-group would alternate with a four-group, the elements of which present the same simple time relations, and the rhythm, in consequence, would be destroyed. The same conditions require or prevent the introduction of a final pause in the case of the remaining rhythm forms.

The progressive increase in the value of the final interval, which will be observed in both the odd-and even-numbered rhythms, is probably to be attributed to a gradual decline in the integration of the successive groups into a well-defined rhythmical sequence.

This subdivision of material into two simple phases penetrates all rhythmical structuring. The fundamental fact in the const.i.tution of the rhythmical unit is the ant.i.thesis of two phases which we call the accented and the unaccented. In the three-beat group as in the two-beat, and in all more complex grouping, the primary a.n.a.lysis of material is into these two phases. The number of discriminable elements which enter each phase depends on the whole const.i.tution of the group, for this duality of aspect is carried onward from its point of origin in the primary rhythm group throughout the most complex combination of elements, in which the accented phase may comprise an indefinitely great number of simple elements, thus:

______ __________ ______________ / / / > . > . >> .

q q ; q q , q q q; q q q , q q q q; q q q q , etc.

_/ >

An indication of this process of differentiation into major and minor phases appears in the form of rhythm groups containing upwards of four elements. In these the tendency is, as one observer expresses it, 'to consider the first two beats as a group by themselves, with the others trailing off in a monotonous row behind.' As the series of elements thus bound up as a unit is extended, the number of beats which are crowded into the primary subgroup also increases. When the attempt was made to unite eleven or twelve reactions in a single group, the first four beats were thus taken together, with the rest trailing off as before. It is evident that the lowest groups with which attention concerned itself here were composed of four beats, and that the actual form of the (nominally) unitary series of eleven beats was as follows:

_______________________ / >> > > q q q q; q q q q; q q q q .

The subscripts are added in the notation given above because it is to be doubted if a strictly simple four-beat rhythm is ever met with. Of the four types producible in such rhythm forms by variation in the accentual position, three have been found, in the course of the present investigation, to present a fundamental dichotomy into units of two beats. Only one, that characterized by secondary accentuation, has no such discriminable quality of phases. Of this form two things are to be noted: first, that it is unstable and tends constantly to revert to that with initial stress, with consequent appearance of secondary accentuation; and second, that as a permanent form it presents the relations of a triple rhythm with a grace note prefixed.

The presence of this tendency to break up the four-rhythm into subgroups of two beats explains a variety of peculiarities in the records of this investigation. The four-beat rhythm with final accent is found most pleasant at the close of a rhythmical sequence. The possibility of including it in a continuous series depends on having the final interval of 'just the right length.' If one keeps in mind that a secondary initial accent characterizes this rhythm form, the value required in this final interval is explained by the resolution of the whole group into two units of three beats each, the latter of the two being syncopated. The pause is of 'just the right length' when it is functionally equal to two unaccented elements with their succeeding intervals, as follows: .q. q q; .q % % .

Likewise in four-rhythms characterized by initial stress there appears a tendency to accent the final beat of the group, as well as that to accent the third. Such a series of four may therefore break up in either of two ways, into >q. q; .q q on a basis of two-beat units, or into .q. q q; >q % % on a basis of three-beat units.

The persistence of these simple equivalences appears also in the treatment of syncopated measures and of supplementary or displaced accents. Of the form >q. q >q. one reactor says, and his description may stand for all, "This deliberate introduction of a third accent on the last beat is almost impossible for me to keep. The single group is easy enough and rather agreeable, but in a succession of groups the secondarily accented third beat comes against the first of the next group with a very disagreeable effect." This is the case where no pause intervenes between the groups, in which case the rhythm is destroyed by the suppression, in each alternate simple group, of the unaccented phase; thus, >q. q >q. alone is pleasant, because it becomes .q. q; >q % , but in combination with preceding and succeeding groups it is disagreeable, because it becomes in reality >q. q; .q % , etc. A long pause between the groups destroys this disagreeableness, since the lacking phase of the second subgroup is then restored and the rhythm follows its normal course.

The amphibrachic form, >q q. q , is more difficult to maintain than either the dactylic or the trochaic, and in a continuous series tends to pa.s.s over into one of these, usually the former. 'With sufficient pause,' the reactors report, 'to allow the att.i.tude to die away,' it is easily got. The same inability to maintain this form in consciousness appears when a continuous series of clicks is given, every third of which is louder than the rest. Even when the beginning of the series is made coincident with the initial phase of the amphibrachic group the rhythmic type slips over into the dactylic, in spite of effort. In this, as in the preceding type of reaction, if the interval separating adjacent groups be lengthened, the rhythm is maintained without trouble. The 'dying away' of the att.i.tude lies really in such an arrangement of the intervals as will formally complete a phrase made up of simple two-beat units.

The positive evidence which this investigation affords, points to the existence of factors of composition in all rhythms of more than three beats; and a variety of peculiarities which the results present can be explained--and in my estimation explained only--on the basis of such an a.s.sumption. I conclude, therefore, that strictly stated the numerical limit of simple rhythm groups is very soon reached; that only two rhythmical units exist, of two and three beats respectively; that in all longer series a resolution into factors of one of these types takes place; and, finally, that the subordination of higher rhythmical quant.i.ties of every grade involves these simple relations, of which, as the scope of the synthesis increases, the opposition of simple alternate phases tends more and more to predominate over triplicated structures.

Variation in the number of elements which enter into the rhythmic unit does not affect the sense of equivalence between successive groups, so long as the numerical increase does not reach a point at which it lessens the definiteness of the unit itself. For the purpose of testing this relation the reactors beat out a series of rhythm forms from 'one-beat' rhythms to those in which the group consisted of seven, eight and nine elements, and in which the units were either identical with one another or were made up of alternately larger and smaller numbers of elements. Two questions were to be answered in each case; the manner in which these various changes affected the sense of rhythmical equivalence in the alternate groups, and the variations in affective quality which these changes introduced into the experience.

With the former of these problems we are here concerned. From 'one-beat' to four-beat rhythms the increase in number of const.i.tuents in no way affects the sense of rhythmical equivalence. Beyond this point there is a distinct falling off. 'The first part of the rhythm begins to fade away before the end of the second,' says one; and another: 'The series then reverts to a monotonous succession without feeling of rhythm.' This decline marks those groups composed of an odd number of elements much earlier and more strongly than those which contain an even number. The sense of equivalence has fallen off at five and practically disappears at seven beats, while groups of six and eight retain a fairly definite value as units in a rhythmical sequence. This peculiar relation must be due to the subconscious resolution of the larger symmetrical groups into smaller units of three and four const.i.tuents respectively.

Likewise the introduction of variations in the figure of the group--that is, in the number of elements which enter into the groups to be compared, the distribution of time values within them, the position of accents, rests, and the like--does not in any way affect the sense of equivalence between the unlike units. Against a group of two, three, four, or even five elements may be balanced a syncopated measure which contains but one const.i.tuent, with the sense of full rhythmical equivalence in the functional values of the two types.

Indeed, in the case of five-beat rhythms the definition of values is greater when such opposition finds place than when the five-beat group is continuously repeated. This is to be explained doubtlessly by the more definite integration into a higher rhythmical unity which is afforded under the former conditions.

The number and the distribution of elements are factors variable at will, and are so treated in both musical and poetical expression. The condition which cannot be transgressed is the maintenance of strict temporal relations in the succession of total groups which const.i.tute the rhythmical sequence. These relations are, indeed, not invariable for either the single interval or the duration of the whole group, but they are fixed functions of the dynamic values of these elements and units. Two identically figured groups (_e.g._, >q. q q >q. q q ), no more possess rhythmically subst.i.tutionary values than does the opposition of a single beat to an extended series (_e.g._, >q. >q. q q ), apart from this factor of temporal proportion.

Those groups which are identical in figure must also be uniform in duration if they are to enter as subst.i.tutionary groups into a rhythmical sequence.[5] When the acatalectic type is alternately departed from and returned to in the course of the rhythmical sequence, the metrical equivalents must present total time-values which, while differing from that of the full measure in direction and degree, in dependence on the whole form of their structure, maintain similar fixed relations to the primary type. The changes which these flexible quant.i.ties undergo will here only be indicated. If the subst.i.tutionary groups be of different figures, that which comprises the larger number of elements will occupy the greater time, that which contains fewer, the less.

[5] Theoretically and strictly identical; this abstracts from the coordination of such identical groups as major and minor components of a higher rhythmical synthesis, which is really never absent and in virtue of which the temporal values of the groups are also differentiated.

I do not forget the work of other observers, such as Brucke, who finds that dactyls which appear among trochees are of less duration than the latter, nor do I impugn their results. The rhythmical measure cannot be treated as an isolated unit; it must always be considered in its structural relations to the rhythmical sequence of which it forms a part. Every non-conforming measure is unquestionably affected by the prevailing type of the rhythmical sequence in which it occurs. Brucke points out the converse fact that those trochees and iambs are longest which appear in dactylic or other four-measures; but this ignores the complexity of the conditions on which the character of these intrusive types depends. The time-values of such variants are also dependent on the numerical preponderance of the typical form in the whole series.

When a single divergent form appears in the sequence the dynamic relations of the two types is different from that which obtains when the numbers of the two approach equality, and the effect of the prevailing form on it is proportionally greater. Secondly, the character of such variants is dependent on the subordinate configuration of the sequence in which they appear, and on their specific functions within such minor rhythmical figures. The relative value of a single dactyl occurring in an iambic pentameter line cannot be predicated of cases in which the two forms alternate with each other throughout the verse. Not only does each type here approximate the other, but each is affected by its structural relation to the proximately higher group which the two alternating measures compose.

Thirdly, the quant.i.tative values of these varying forms is related to their logical significance in the verse and the degree of accentuation which they receive. Importance and emphasis increase the duration of the measure; the lack of either shortens it. In this last factor, I believe, lies the explanation of the extreme brevity of dactyls appearing in three-rhythms. When a specific rhythm type is departed from, for the purpose of giving emphasis to a logically or metrically important measure, the change is characteristically in the direction of syncopation. Such forms, as has been said elsewhere, mark nodes of natural accentuation and emphasis. Hence, the dactyl introduced into an iambic or trochaic verse, which, so far as concerns mere number of elements, tends to be extended, may, in virtue of its characteristic lack of accentuation and significance, be contracted below the value of the prevailing three-rhythm. Conversely the trochee introduced into a dactylic sequence, in consequence of its natural accentuation or importance, may exceed in time-value the typical four-rhythm forms among which it appears. The detailed examination of the relation of temporal variations to numerical predominance in the series, to subordinate structural organization, and to logical accentuation, in our common rhythms, is a matter of importance for the general investigation which remains still to be carried out. In so far as the consideration of these factors entered into the experimental work of the present research, such quant.i.tative time relations are given in the following table, the two types in all cases occurring in simple alternation:

TABLE XXI.

Rhythm. 1st Meas. 2d Meas. Rhythm. 1st Meas. 2d Meas.

q q q; q q % 1.000 1.091 q q %; q q q 1.000 1.140 . > > .

q q q; q q % 1.000 1.159 q q %; q q q 1.000 1.021 . > > .