Embodied Mind, Situated Cognition, and Expressive Microtiming in African-American Music
Vijay Iyer
Music Perception March 1, 2002 DOI: 10.1525/mp.2002.19.3.387 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that cognitive universals grounded in human bodily experience are tempered by the cultural specificity that constructs the body's role in musical performance, with special focus on microrhythmic techniques in African-American music. |
Abstract
The dual theories of embodied mind and situated cognition, in which physical/temporal embodiment and physical/social/cultural environment contribute crucially to the structure of mind, are brought to bear on issues in music perception. It is argued that cognitive universals grounded in human bodily experience are tempered by the cultural specificity that constructs the role of the body in musical performance. Special focus is given to microrhythmic techniques in specific forms of African-American music, using audio examples created by the author or sampled from well-known jazz recordings.
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Musical creativity and the embodied mind Music & Science 2018
- Music, Creativity, and Human Experience August 28, 2026
- Embodied groove–synchrony model: movement context reshapes groove–synchrony coupling and its dominant timescale Frontiers in Psychology May 15, 2026
- Affordances and the musically extended mind. Frontiers in Psychology January 6, 2014