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Isochrony, vocal learning, and the acquisition of rhythm and melody

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 September 2021

Andrea Ravignani*
Affiliation:
Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, 6525 XD, The Netherlands. andrea.ravignani@mpi.nl; https://www.mpi.nl/people/ravignani-andrea

Abstract

A cross-species perspective can extend and provide testable predictions for Savage et al.'s framework. Rhythm and melody, I argue, could bootstrap each other in the evolution of musicality. Isochrony may function as a temporal grid to support rehearsing and learning modulated, pitched vocalizations. Once this melodic plasticity is acquired, focus can shift back to refining rhythm processing and beat induction.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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