Groove a Phenomenology of Rhythmic Nuance

by Roholt, Tiger C.

• ISBN13: 9781441104182
• ISBN10: 1441104186
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-09-25
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Written by an experienced drummer and philosopher, Groove is a vivid and exciting study of one of music's most central and relatively unexplored aspects. Tiger C. Roholt explains why grooves, which are forged in music's rhythmic nuances, remain hidden to some listeners. He argues that grooves are not graspable through the intellect nor through mere listening; rather, grooves are disclosed through our bodily engagement with music. We grasp a groove bodily by moving with music's pulsations. By invoking the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty's notion of "motor intentionality," Roholt shows that the "feel" of a groove, and the understanding of it, are two sides of a coin: to "get" a groove just is to comprehend it bodily and to feel that embodied comprehension.

Author Biography

Tiger C. Roholt is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Montclair State University, USA. He earned his PhD in Philosophy from Columbia University, and was a professional musician prior to embarking on his academic career.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Groove
The Role of Groove
Preview
Chapter 1. First Aspect of Groove: Slight Timing Variations
1.1 Musical Nuance
1.2 The First Aspect of Groove
1.3 Is a Groove Identical to the Variations?
1.4 Is a Groove Identical to the Variations Plus Other Musical Elements?
Chapter 2. Second Aspect of Groove: Perceptual Structure, Ways of Perceiving
2.1 Art's Perceptual Ambiguity
2.2 Musical Meter
2.3 Slight Variations as Objects of Attention
2.4 Slight Variations as Perceptually Indeterminate
Chapter 3. Third Aspect of Groove: Bodily Feeling
3.1 What it's Like
3.2 Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Motor-Intentionality
3.3 Moving to a Pulse
3.4 Conclusion
Bibliography
Discography
Index