A Review of Psychological and Neuroscientific Research on Musical Groove (2006−2022)

Abstract

When we listen to music, we often feel the urge to tap our fingers, stomp our feet, or move our bodies. This pleasurable sensation of wanting to move one's body with the music has been termed "groove." Research on groove was initially conducted mainly in the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology and philosophy, and in the 2000s, researchers within the field of empirical psychology began to investigate the concept of groove and the characteristics of music associated with it. In the 2010s, studies of the relationship between groove and underlying brain structures and functional processes emerged and the topic has recently become a prominent theme in empirical research on musical behavior. This review aims to provide a comprehensive characterization of groove and to highlight future directions for related empirical research. In doing so, we focus on two topics that have the potential to provide new insights into perception and action from the perspectives of psychology and neuroscience: (1) sensorimotor interactions and (2) the role of the motor system in predictive processing. To this end, we survey the literature on groove conducted in the fields of psychology and neuroscience from 2006 to 2022 in five sections: (1) the concept of groove, (2) musical features related to groove, (3) responses to groove including body movement and neurophysiological activity, (4) characteristics of listeners that influence the experience of groove, and (5) the effect of culture and environment on groove perception. Through the review, we propose four themes as promising future directions for empirical study: (1) social aspects of groove, (2) the effect of microtiming and syncopation on groove, (3) the mechanisms by which groove is evoked, and (4) clinical implications and applications of groove. Taken together, these research efforts may ultimately lead to an increased understanding of human sociality, evolution, and the brain and mind.

Neural dynamics of predictive timing and motor engagement in music listening

“…2, B and C; see Supplementary Results). This inverse U-shape profile is well approximated with a quadratic function [online experiment: adjusted r 2 (33) = 0.73; MEG experiment: adjusted r 2 (33) = 0.67], confirming previous findings of moderately syncopated melodies inducing strongest wanting-tomove experiences (12,14,15,50,51). This behavior shows that motor engagement indexes neither temporal predictability (highest in the low-syncopated condition) nor temporal prediction errors (highest in the high-syncopated condition) but is compatible with the notion of a precision-weighted temporal prediction error computation (5,40).…”

“…Then, the experiment consisted of a listening task in which each of the 36 melodies was presented binaurally once to participants, in a randomized manner. After stimulus offset, participants reported on a keyboard the associated level of groove, defined as the extent to which they wanted to move to this music (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). They had 60 s to answer.…”

“…Not all music induces dance equally, but why does it sometimes urge us to dance? What are the brain mechanisms supporting the musical wanting-to-move experience called groove (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)?…”

Is happier music groovier?: The influence of emotional characteristics of musical chord progressions on groove

“…Pleasurable feelings are another characteristic of groove (Etani et al, 2023;Hosken, 2020;Janata et al, 2012;Stupacher et al, 2016;Witek et al, 2014). Witek et al (2014) showed that pleasure ratings changed in accordance with changes in the syncopation level of drum breaks.…”

“…Groove is a worldwide phenomenon of listening to music, which is defined as the urge to move induced by specific rhythmic patterns or music (Kawase et al, 2001;Madison, 2006;Senn et al, 2016); it is accompanied by positive feelings such as pleasure or enjoyment (Etani et al, 2023;Janata et al, 2012;Stupacher et al, 2016;Witek et al, 2014;Senn et al, 2020). Various regions and different cultures bear synonymous terminology of groove, for example, nori, a Japanese musical term that is related to the sensation of vertical and horizontal movement (Etani et al, 2018;Kawase & Eguchi, 2010), "balanço" in Brazilian or "lüpfig" in Swiss German (Senn et al, 2019).…”