The Cambridge Companion to Rhythm

An exploration of rhythm and the richness of musical time from the perspective of performers, composers, analysts, and listeners.

Russell Hartenberger (Edited by), Ryan McClelland (Edited by)

9781108730129, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 September 2020

366 pages, 20 b/w illus. 24 tables 76 music examples
24.3 x 16.9 x 1.8 cm, 0.7 kg

'The importance of this collection for music scholarship lies not only in the subject matter - rhythm has long been ignored by traditional music studies - but in the fact that fully half the volume is devoted to music other than the Western European classical canon … Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals.' M. Dineen, Choice

One of the defining aspects of music is that it exists in time. From clapping to dancing, toe-tapping to head-nodding, the responses of musicians and listeners alike capture the immediacy and significance of the musical beat. This Companion explores the richness of musical time through a variety of perspectives, surveying influential writings on the topic, incorporating the perspectives of listeners, analysts, composers, and performers, and considering the subject across a range of genres and cultures. It includes chapters on music perception, visualizing rhythmic notation, composers' writings on rhythm, rhythm in jazz, rock, and hip-hop. Taking a global approach, chapters also explore rhythmic styles in the music of India, Africa, Bali, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Indigenous music of North and South America. Readers will gain an understanding of musicians' approaches to performing complex rhythms of contemporary music, and revealing insights into the likely future of rhythm in music.

Introduction Russell Hartenberger and Ryan McClelland
I. Overview of rhythm: 1. Rhythm in Western music: Concepts and literature Ryan McClelland
2. Perception of rhythm Daniel Cameron and Jessica Grahn
II. Performing rhythm: 3. Visualizing the rhythms of performance Alan Dodson
4. A percussionist understands rhythm Steven Schick
5. A different kind of virtuosity Russell Hartenberger
6. Conducting rhythm David Robertson
III. Composing with rhythm: 7. Expressive rhythm and meter in the German Lied Harald Krebs
8. Rhythm in post-tonal music: a modernist primer Gretchen Horlacher
9. The concept of rhythm: composers in their own words Adam Sliwinski
IV. Rhythm in jazz and popular music: 10. Jazz rhythm: the challenge of “swing” Matthew W. Butterfield
11. Rhythmic influence in the rock revolution Trevor de Clercq
12. Rhythm in contemporary rap music Mitchell Ohriner
V. Rhythm in global musics: 13. The musical rhythm of Agbadza songs David Locke
14. Rhythmic thought and practice in the Indian subcontinent James Kippen
15. The draw of Balinese rhythm Leslie Tilley
16. Rhythmic structures in Latin American and Caribbean music Peter Manuel
17. Indigenous rhythm and dance in North and South America Kristina F. Nielsen
VI. Epilogue: 18. The future of rhythm Nick Collins
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: World music [AVGW], Music reviews & criticism [AVC]