Rhythm or music? Contrasting two types of auditory stimuli in the performance of a dancing routine

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether rhythmic beats only or music would be more effective as accompaniment for the motor performance of specific rhythmic-dance steps by 30 female Students of physical education (M age 20.1 yr.), without prior experience in music or dance. They performed a dance routine in synchronization with a Musical phrase of eight rhythmical meters, with the general value of 4/4 each. Each meter involved representative steps of the rhythmical values of 4/4, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16 like rhythmical walking, Small kicks, galloping, chasse, cat leap, and different ways of balancing. Subjects performed these in synchronization to the rhythm played on a tambourine or to music played on an harmonium. All movement performances were registered using two video cameras. Differences between the two groups ("rhythm" and "music") and across the different meters (4/4, 1/8, 1/8, 1/16, 1/4) were analyzed by a mixed between-within Subjects 2 X 3 analysis of variance with repeated measures of "meter." Students who performed with the tambourine showed better synchrony with that external auditory stimulus than students who performed the same routine guided by music played on the harmonium. Also, students showed better synchrony with the external rhythm when performing a whole (4/4 meter) than when performing either the 1/8 or the mixed 1/8-1/16-1/4 meters. These findings suggest that for highly complex artistic movements Such as the ones involved in dance, beginners perform much better when their movements are guided by a rhythmical sequence of single beats than when guided by a musical phrase having identical metrical structure.