Why we Move to Music: The Psychology of Rhythm and Entrainment

 “The movement-sound interaction develops early and is fundamental to music processing throughout life”.

-Phillips-Silver & Trainor (2007, in Levitin. et.al 2018, p. 66)

We are only beginning to understand that our ability to move to music is not a choice, but a biological necessity and evolutionary adaptation. This is best shown by the brain research of Henkjan Honing (2009, in Levitan 2024, p. 297) who found that beat perception is innate to humans and was developed as an evolutionary advantage from our ape ancestors. In other words, perceiving rhythm gives us a life advantage.

Beat perception is the ability to perceive musical rhythm and pulse, and is involved in our capacity to synchronise to music, known as entrainment. Entrainment occurs when our bodily movements synchronise with music, a process that results in behaviours such as handclapping, playing a musical instrument, or dancing. More than just physical gestures, entrainment implies a synchronisation of brain processes to a periodic input or stimulus (Levitin et.al. 2018, p.56).

To achieve entrainment, an internal representation of the beat must exist, so that the individual can move in synchrony with the beat. These processes are attributed to the brain network consisting of the cerebellum, the supplementary motor area (SMA), and the premotor cortex (PMC). Beat perception is typically strongest for tempos of approximately 100–120 beats per minute, believed to be evolutionarily related to synchronised running behaviours among groups of early humans (Levitin et.al. 2018 p.56). It is not coincidence that music that typically puts us into trance states, such as during religious rituals or EDM festivals, is located in that tempo region.

How we Entrain.

We entrain to rhythm, which consists of the intervals and durations of tones or accents. When we hear rhythms, we naturally tend to tap to the beat, a practice known as tactus. The grouping of beats into groups of twos or threes produces an underlying musical pulse. This grouping of beats into pulses provides us with the meter of music. Metre is the timing framework under which a given pattern of rhythmic durations is understood. This rhythm–meter distinction is fundamental to the understanding of the psychology of rhythm and movement (Levitin et.al. 2018, p.53).

Beyond that, we have tempo, which is the pace of music. Our perception of tempo is affected by other factors such as density, register, and loudness. Tempo plays an important role in emotional interpretation. Generally speaking, across cultures, slower tempos are associated with sadness or reflection, and faster tempos are associated with activity and happiness (Levitin et.al. 2018, p.53).

Rhythm is Fundamental.

Contrary to what many people believe, rhythms aren’t restricted to drums but are the building blocks of all musical sounds. For example, when we hear a flute playing a melody, it is recognisable by the pitch, but also by the intervals between each note, i.e. its rhythm. Thus, rhythm is the foundation of music. Our ability to perceive beats and entrain to music is hard wired into our brain and nervous systems, occurring in children in the first two years of life, with full entrainment ability emerging by ages 3 and 4 (Levitin et.al. 2018, p.58). Studies suggest that those better able to entrain having better language and reading skills, giving rhythmic perception an evolutionary advantage for communication and survival.

Music in Groups.

Cultures all over the world use music. The earliest known instrument is a reindeer bone flute excavated at Haua Fteah, Libya, and is more than 60,000 years old (Lawergren 1988, p.41), suggesting that music was present even before this period. Percussion was likely the first instruments, due to the ability to create rhythms by stamping of feet, striking of hunting bows, or banging of stones, typically by nomadic people who travelled lightly (Blades 1975, p.35). The effectiveness of rhythmic power on health and well-being is evident in many African tribal societies that believed that shamanic drums could invoke good weather and harvest, alleviate pain, or drive a headache from the patient (Blades 1975, p.63). Such procedures occurred during sacred rituals aimed to create harmony between the human world, nature, and the world of gods and ancestors (Some 1994. p32). These beliefs speak to music’s ability to impact the non-observable sphere, which in today’s vernacular includes the realm of emotions, brain, and nervous systems.

Group settings in which music is used- such as rituals, concerts, or events- consists of a complex interaction of sound and movement to achieve synchronisation of human bodies.  This involves the generation of an internal beat from the rhythms of the musicians, which are tracked by each member of the group (Levitin et.al. 2018, p.60). Participants must adapt to subtle variations in tempo and anticipate upcoming beats, which musicians expertly use to create excitement and enhance synchronisation. A heightened sense of connection and unity can have metaphysical connotations, characterised by a sense of rapture and alterations in time and perception (Till 2009, pp.3-5). These experiences have spiritual value, and facilitate strong social affiliations that aid social connection, interpersonal trust, and bonding (Chanda & Levitin 2013,  p.188). Furthermore, group music activities have greater benefits than solitary music listening, with studies showing boosted immune system functioning and enhanced anti-inflammatory properties that aid stress and ageing (Chanda & Levitin 2013,  p.188).

The Advantage of Group Music Experience

Non-Western religious cultures, such as afro-Cuban Santeria (which derives from West-African Yoruba peoples), place great importance on audience participation in rituals through hand clapping, singing, and dancing (Labra 2025 p.34 ). As shown by the current scientific research, this participatory feature provides important health benefits for individuals and communities. It seems that the ability for groups to move to musical rhythm is both fun, while providing individual self-expression and communal bonding. This could explain the modern trend towards ritualisation of events, as seen in Electronic Dance Music (EDM) in the West. Rather than being gatherings of hedonistic and non-spiritual youth as some propose, research suggests that EDM events are arenas for psycho-spiritual exploration and social development (Redfield & Thouin-Savard, p.52). EDM parties comprise dancers moving to the rhythmic pulse of electronic dance music, along with elaborate lighting systems and visual displays, and the presence of mind-altering substances (Redfield & Thouin-Savard. p.56). Benefits derived from these experiences include experiences of rite of passage; enhanced psychological health and well-being; and feelings of solidarity, unity, and of connection with a larger whole (Redfield & Thouin-Savard, p.57). These “contemporary rituals” have been associated with shamanic and spirit-possession rituals, where drumming and rhythm is used to produce altered states of consciousness (Redfield & Thouin-Savard, p.58). My own 2024 PhD research investigates these types of claims, exploring the music that comprises traditional spirit rituals and their development into modern electronic music sub-genres.

Conclusion: Our Need to Move

The need to move to music, entrain with the group, and merge with rhythm, may derive from a deep human desire for transcendent experience (Redfield & Thouin-Savard 2018, Tacey 2013). This desire may have existed from the beginning of time, innate to our human biology, and developed through millennia in our rituals and events. The ability to entrain is not only a biological and psychological feature, but a social, cultural, and religious development, shown to provide benefits to individual and community. Human entrainment appears as early as 2 years old and progresses throughout life, elaborated through our events, social gatherings, and cultural ethos. Entrainment to music is correlated with health and well-being, including increased immunity and language abilities, reading skills, and immunity function, while having profound effects on our mood, stress levels, and sense of connection with others. Furthermore, entrainment to rhythm is the basis for our experiences of altered states, providing the spiritual experiences of unity and cosmic connection that religions and cultures are built upon. In Western culture we have often relegated music to entertainment, but this article suggests it more vital than previously thought, a type of music medicine. This aligns with the knowledge of traditional cultures, such as afro-Cuban Santeria, where music is a technology for healing. It seems that music is connected to the fabric of who we are, to the pulse of life, an extension of the will that moves us to pursue the things we do. This idea is best articulated by the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, (1958, p.97) who states that:

 “Music is the most profound art because its language is absolute directness, not capable of translation into reason”.

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References

Blades, J., (1975). Percussion Instruments and their History. Faber and Faber Limited, London.

Chanda, M.L. and Levitin, D.J., (2013). The neurochemistry of music. Trends in cognitive sciences, 17(4), pp.179-193.

Labra, V.S (2024), From Ritual Music to Electronica: The Transformation of Traditional Santeria into Electronic Neo-Santeria. University of Newcastle. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1511083.

Lawergren, B. (1988). The Origin of Musical Instruments and Sounds. Anthropos, 83(1/3), 31–45. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40461485

Levitin, D. (2024) Music as Medicine. Cornerstone Press, Penguin Books, UK.

Levitin, D.J., Grahn, J.A. and London, J., (2018). The Psychology of Music: Rhythm and Movement. Annual review of psychology, 69(1), pp.51-75.

Redfield, A. and Thouin-Savard, M.I., (2017). Electronic Dance Music Events as Modern-Day Ritual. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 36(1), p.6.

Schopenhauer, A., (1958). On the Inner Nature of Art. The World as Will and Representation, pp.406-10.

Somé, M.P., 1994. Of water and the spirit: Ritual, magic, and initiation in the life of an African shaman. Putnam.

Tacey, D., (2013). Gods and Diseases: Making Sense of Our Physical and Mental Wellbeing. Routledge, Oxfordshire, UK

Till, R., (2009). ‘Possession Trance Ritual in Electronic Dance Music Culture: A Popular Ritual Technology for Re-enchantment, Addressing the Crisis of the Homeless Self, and Reinserting the Individual into the Community.’ in Deacy C and Aldershot E (eds) Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age, pp.169-87.

Glossary

Beat perception: the ability to perceive musical rhythm and pulse; involved in our capacity to synchronise to music.

Density: the thickness or thinness of sound in a piece, determined by the number of layers, instruments, or notes occurring simultaneously.

Electronic Dance Music (EDM): a broad genre of electronically produced music designed for dancing, featuring rhythmic beats, synthesised sounds, and often energetic, repetitive structures.

Entrainment: when our bodily movements synchronize with music, a process that results in behaviours such as handclapping, playing a musical instrument, or dancing.

Loudness: the perceived intensity or amplitude of a sound.

Metre: the timing framework under which a given pattern of rhythmic durations is understood.

Pitch: the perceived frequency of a sound, determining how high or low it appears to the listener.

Pulse: The underlying grouping of beats; the way that rhythms are generally grouped together in groups of twos or threes.

Register: a specific range of pitches within an instrument's or voice's overall range.

Rhythm: intervals and durations of tones or accents.

Tactus: our natural ability to tap to the beat or pulse.

Tempo: the pace of music.