Accumulated Musical Meaning at the Moment of Conciousness

The moment we call now is an awareness that may be quite unique to the human experience. It is a constantly changing point of origin from which we measure how far in the past events were, or how far into the future events are anticipated. We know that as we experience music, known structures are reconstructed in our faculties of perception, and that new structures are learned. Metrical configurations are accepted as a sort of template for other activity, and the mind becomes aware of the continuum of the flow of intensity (with such contributing factors as pitch level, timbre, harmonic "space," rhythmic activity, etc.).

A theory of rhythmic flow should take this specific moment of now into consideration. Every aspect of music contributes to the status of any specific point at which the listener is conscious, and has experienced, instant by instant, the piece up to that point. The contributing factors are truly diverse, and can be analyzed and mapped separately. However, they undeniably conspire to induce a state of consciousness in the listener, which at a distinctly human pace, evolves throughout the duration of the piece. If this state can be described succinctly, even in the case of the evolving state of a specific listener in a specific listening, then a map of this flow of effect can be drawn, and a diagram showing the sequential effect of contributing stimuli on this state can be made, potentially revealing patterns in this relationship.

Presuming that a graphic representation of this relationship could be created, results to look for would include:

Reaction to reoccuring thematic material
Fading of short term memory
Formation of longer lasting memories - and reinforcement of them
Change in state with abandonment of repetitive material (e.g., emerging from ostinati)
Change in state through fluctuation in tempi
Reaction to harmonic or mode-changing rhythm, and how it compares to note-durational rhythm

And there are a great many relationships which would be worth examining. Describing the quality of this state of consciousness in the listener can also take into consideration verbal description of the state by the listener himself, as well as certain biofeedback, including "foot-tapping" type reactions (head-bobbing and others as well), timed breathing, body temperature and heart rate. Existing experiments in cognitive psychology, particularly those involving memory and perception of structure, can be modified to produce data that would be useful in this investigation.