ABSTRACT
The preferences for properties of music in general and rhythm in particular may be explored at many levels of generality, and at any point in the objective-subjective continuum. In Plato’s Republic, Socrates tells Glaucon that “Good rhythm depends on simplicity.”* For Je Pressing, “e eectiveness of a groove from the standpoint of reception is assessed by its ability to engage human movement and attention.”† Bruce F. Katz proposes measuring musical preference at the neurological level: “A musical passage will be preferred to the extent that it creates synchrony in the neurons that are responsible for processing the passage.”‡ e approach taken in this book to measure rhythmic preference follows and extends the footsteps of Socrates. In this chapter, stock is taken of the variety of properties that are possessed by the clave son rhythm in particular, and “good” rhythms in general. e role that these properties play is examined, individually and as a whole, in contributing to the salience of this particular rhythm. Any one of these properties, by itself, is, perhaps, not su cient to establish a rhythm as a candidate for a good timeline, let alone characterize the clave son uniquely. However, a group of them in combination is quite suggestive. In the nal analysis, it is a question of striking the right balance between these properties. Which properties make one timeline more successful than another? In short, a good rhythm should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.
