The Perception of Musical Rhythms

Abstract

There are many musical sequences in which the rhythm is evident from the mere durations of the notes. A simple theory is proposed of how a listener may infer the rhythm of such a sequence by comparing the note lengths. It is assumed that the listener forms an idea of the rhythm as the sequence unfolds, constructing and eliminating metrical hypotheses in the light of what he hears. The theory, which differs in some important respects from earlier proposals, has been implemented as a computer program. The program has been tested on a wide variety of musical examples, and its successes and failures are discussed in detail.