Now THAT's world music: People from across the globe enjoy tunes with the same rhythm

  • Scientists analysed 304 recordings of diverse music from across the world
  • They found songs from different regions share features including rhythms
  • Believe music is intended to bind people together in social situations
  • Findings go against decades of scepticism about the presence of cross-culturally universal aspects of music 

By SARAH GRIFFITHS FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

Whether it's dancing to a rock band at Glastonbury or a Peruvian brass ensemble, the world moves to the same beat, scientists claim.

They found that songs from around the world tend to share features, including a strong rhythm, to bring people together and act as 'social glue'.

The findings go against decades of scepticism about the presence of cross-culturally universal aspects of music.

Scietists have found that songs from around the world tend to share features, including a strong rhythm, to bring people together in social situations and act as 'social glue. People dancing at Glastonbury are shown

Scietists have found that songs from around the world tend to share features, including a strong rhythm, to bring people together in social situations and act as 'social glue. People dancing at Glastonbury are shown

The study, by the University of Exeter and Tokyo University of the Arts, suggest communal singing and dancing are the primary functions of music.

'Our findings help explain why humans make music,' Exeter's Dr Thomas Currie said.

'The results show that the most common features seen in music around the world relate to things that allow people to co-ordinate their actions and suggest that the main function of music is to bring people together and bond social groups - it can be a kind of social glue. 

The study, by the University of Exeter and Tokyo University of the Arts, suggest communal singing and dancing are the primary functions of music. A group of shishi-odori deer dancers, Japanese performers who sing, drum and perform acrobatic dancing are pictured

The study, by the University of Exeter and Tokyo University of the Arts, suggest communal singing and dancing are the primary functions of music. A group of shishi-odori deer dancers, Japanese performers who sing, drum and perform acrobatic dancing are pictured

WHAT YOUR SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS SAY ABOUT YOUR SOCIAL CLASS

With its roots in the impoverished streets of Jamaica, it might not seem like the music of choice for the upper classes, but research has found enjoying reggae is a sign you're in the social elite.

Researchers discovered our position on the social pecking order can be betrayed by the music we listen to, as well as the music we hate.

While they found some genres like opera and classical music - which have long been the preserve of the elite - were most enjoyed by the upper classes, they also found rock, reggae and pop were also more their taste.

By comparison, those in the lower classes seem to actively dislike most of these 'highbrow' forms of entertainment, preferring country, disco, rap, heavy metal, easy listening and golden oldies.

Perhaps the only musical genre to cross the social divide was jazz, which was enjoyed by those in all social classes.

'In the West we can sometimes think of music as being about individuals expressing themselves or displaying their talent, but globally music tends to be more of a social phenomena.

'Even here we see this in things like church choirs, or the singing of national anthems.

'In countries like North Korea we can also see extreme examples of how music and mass dance can be used to unite and co-ordinate groups.'

The team analysed 304 recordings of diverse music from across the world. 

Although they found no absolute universals, they uncovered dozens of features that were consistently present in music from different regions.

These included features related to pitch and rhythm.

One of the most important was rhythms based on two or three beats, found in music from all regions sampled including North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, according to the study, published in the journal PNAS.

Lead author Pat Savage, a PhD student from the Tokyo University of the Arts, said: 'In the old days, Western people believed that Western scales were universal.

'But then when we realised that other cultures had quite different ideas about scales, that led some people to conclude that there was nothing universal about music, which I think is just as silly. 

Although they found no absolute universals, the experts uncovered dozens of features that were consistently present in msuic from across the world, including those relating to pitch and rhythm. Here, a brass band accompanies a dance-drama troupe as they process down a street in Peru, during a patron-saint fiesta

Although they found no absolute universals, the experts uncovered dozens of features that were consistently present in msuic from across the world, including those relating to pitch and rhythm. Here, a brass band accompanies a dance-drama troupe as they process down a street in Peru, during a patron-saint fiesta

'Now we've shown that despite its great surface diversity, most of the music throughout the world is actually constructed from very similar basic building blocks and performs very similar functions, which mainly revolve around bringing people together.

'My daughter and I were singing and drumming and dancing together for months before she even said her first words. Music is not a universal language ... music lets us connect without language.'

The researchers also created a new way of classifying music pioneered by American music collector and archivist Alan Lomax, whose music was extensively sampled by the musician Moby for his late nineties album Play.

They combined this with statistical analysis to reveal common features in music around the world.

LISTENING TO MUSIC CAN BOOST YOUR MEMORY 

Listening to Mozart can give your brain a boost, according to a recent study.

People who heard the classical composer's music showed an increase in brain wave activity linked to memory, understanding and problem-solving, researchers found.

However, no such increases were found after the group listened to Beethoven, suggesting there is something specific about the effect of Mozart's music on our minds, they said.

The researchers, from Sapienza University of Rome, said: 'These results may be representative of the fact that Mozart's music is able to "activate" neuronal cortical circuits (circuits of nerve cells in the brain) related to attentive and cognitive functions.'

For the study, which was published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition, the researchers used EEG machines to record the electrical activity of the participants' brains.

The group was made up of 10 young healthy adults with an average age of 33 (referred as the Adults), 10 healthy elderly adults with an average age of 85 (known as the Elderly), and 10 elderly people with mild cognitive impairment with an average age of 77 (referred to as MCI).

In a recent study, people who heard Mozart's music showed an increase in brain wave activity linked to memory, understanding and problem-solving. A portrait of the composer is pictured

In a recent study, people who heard Mozart's music showed an increase in brain wave activity linked to memory, understanding and problem-solving. A portrait of the composer is pictured

Recordings were made before and after they listened to 'L'allegro con spirito' from the Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major K448 by Mozart, and before and after they listened to Fur Elise by Beethoven.

'The results of our study show an increase in the alpha power and MF frequency index of background activity in both Adults and in the healthy elderly after listening to Mozart's K448, a pattern of brain wave activity linked to intelligent quotient (IQ), memory, cognition and (having an) open mind to problem solving.

'No changes in EEG activity were detected in both adults and in the elderly after listening to Beethoven.

'This result confirms that the observed EEG patterns are the result of the influence of Mozart's sonata and not just a consequence of listening to music in general.

'The preliminary results allow us to hypothesize that Mozart's music is able to 'activate' neuronal cortical circuits related to attentive and cognitive functions not only in young subjects, but also in the healthy elderly.'

The researchers suggested that the rational and highly organised arrangement of the sonata may 'echo the organisation of the cerebral cortex' (the part of the brain responsible for high-level mental functions).

'One of the distinctive features of Mozart's music is the frequent repetition of the melodic line; this determines the virtual lack of 'surprise' elements that may distract the listener's attention from rational listening, where each element of harmonic (and melodic) tension finds a resolution that confirms listeners' expectations,' they wrote.

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