The Rhythm Century: The Unstoppable Beat

Jon Pareles' article discusses the power of rhythm in 20th-century music.
Rhythm is portrayed as a transformative force that continues to generate new ideas and reshape old ones across various genres worldwide.
The article references Panorama Percussivo Mundial, an international percussion festival in Bahia, as a testament to rhythm's global appeal and unifying power.

Rhythm is both primal and complex, visceral and open-ended.
Small changes can create new rhythms, unlike melody and harmony which seem more defined.
Factors like technology and spirituality have contributed to rhythm's importance.
Rhythm organizes time, satisfies primal longings, and is well-suited to digital music-making.
The rise of rhythm indicates a shift away from European culture's emphasis on melody and harmony, as Africa has influenced global music.

Melody is becoming less prominent due to shrinking attention spans.
Tunes serve as mnemonics, but are reducing to shorter hooks.
Riffs are replacing arias, and dance-floor remixes are common.
Harmony, mainly a Western concern, has been experimented with extensively in classical and jazz music.
Jazz has evolved through various stages, from blues to complex improvisations.
Many modern jazz composers find that most harmonic strategies have already been explored.

Some rock and pop styles prioritize rhythm over harmony.
Club music focuses on pure rhythm, as seen in genres like hard house, techstep, jungle, and speed garage.
Hip-hop often emphasizes the beat, lyric, and vocal texture, with less focus on tonality.
Music is fundamentally rhythm; fast rhythms are perceived as pitch, making harmony polyrhythmic, and slow cycles are perceived as structure.
Rhythm connects music to the body, influencing pulse, respiration, movement, and even sex.
Gilberto Gil: "Rhythm is the installation of life itself… Life is periodicity and repetition, the cycles of nature, and rhythm is fundamental."

Rhythm serves functional purposes, such as pacing labor, galvanizing dancers, rallying marchers, and summoning spirits.
Rhythm affects physiology, synchronizing listeners' heartbeats with the beat.
It also affects psychology, providing regularity or unexpected shifts in tempo.
Rhythm is difficult to capture on paper, requiring learning by ear.
Students can learn drumming or program rhythms using machines.

Rhythm is social, uniting communities through shared dances.
It can also be tribal, with rhythms and instruments serving as geographical markers, associating music with specific cultures.
Examples: merengue beat (Dominican Republic), tabla playing tin-tal (Indian raga).