the present study models listeners' tactus choices relative to the metric structure of fully musical excerpts using data from a tapping experiment. Viewed from the standpoint of metric structure, tactus was ambiguous between individuals and within excerpts, providing no evidence that this behavior has a global basis in tempo or in a subdivision benefit. Tactus was more consistent within individuals, however, when viewed as following from one of three basic strategies: (1) tapping with a subdivided pulse, (2) tapping with the fastest consistent pulse in the music (a pulse with no consistent subdivision), or (3) using a mixture of these two strategies based on inconsistent rhythmic activity at the musical surface. Music training correlated positively with the first of these strategies. Since individual listeners engage with musical meter in different ways, ambiguity of tactus should be an expected feature of any audience's response to metrical music.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
June 2011
Research Article|
June 01 2011
The Ambiguous Tactus: Tempo, Subdivision Benefit, And Three Listener Strategies
Peter A. Martens
Texas Tech University School of Music
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Peter Martens, Texas Tech University, Box 42033, Lubbock, TX 79409. e-mail: peter.martens@ttu.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Peter Martens, Texas Tech University, Box 42033, Lubbock, TX 79409. e-mail: peter.martens@ttu.edu
Music Perception (2011) 28 (5): 433–448.
Article history
Received:
December 18 2008
Accepted:
September 08 2010
Citation
Peter A. Martens; The Ambiguous Tactus: Tempo, Subdivision Benefit, And Three Listener Strategies. Music Perception 1 June 2011; 28 (5): 433–448. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2011.28.5.433
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Client Account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
