Groove: A Phenomenology of Rhythmic Nuance

186 Pages·2014·1.011 MB·English

by  Tiger C. Roholt

Groove

Groove
A Phenomenology of Rhythmic Nuance
Tiger C. Roholt
Bloomsbury Academic
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First published 2014
© Tiger C. Roholt 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on
or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roholt, Tiger C.
Groove : a phenomenology of rhythmic nuance / Tiger C. Roholt.
pages cm
Summary: “A highly original work in the philosophy of music and sound, offering
an in-depth study of the nature and purpose of rhythm” -- Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4411-6627-2 (hardback) -- ISBN 978-1-4411-0418-2 (paperback) 1.
Musical meter and rhythm. 2. Music--Philosophy and aesthetics. I. Title.
ML3850.R74 2014
781.2›24--dc23
2014014392
ISBN: 978-1-4411-7077-4
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
for dottie and les

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Introduction 1
1 Musical Nuance 13
2 Perceiving 43
3 The Body 83
4 Groove in Music 105
Notes 141
Bibliography 163
Discography 171
Index 173
Acknowledgments
This book is a reconceived and rewritten version of the project
that was my Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy at Columbia. I want
to begin by expressing my ongoing and sincere gratitude to Lydia
Goehr, my dissertation supervisor, whose voice is always in my head
as I write—still—pushing me to think more carefully, less narrowly,
more deeply. I am also grateful to the other members of my disser-
tation committee, Taylor Carman and Christopher Peacocke. I
owe a special debt to Sean D. Kelly, who was an unusually helpful
external reader of my dissertation; our discussions were pivotal to
the way in which I have ultimately dealt with groove in this book.
Arthur Danto’s response to my first essay on groove was crucial
to my embarking upon this project to begin with. Thank you to
the generous and kind group of students with whom I experi-
enced graduate school—especially Hanne Appelqvist, Michalle Gal,
Jonathan Neufeld, Sirine Shebaya, Matthew Slater, and Brian Soucek.
I am indebted to Ted Gracyk for countless gems of advice, as well
as very helpful comments on a draft of this manuscript. For thought
provoking conversations about art and music, thank you Garry
Hagberg, Christopher Bartel, Jerrold Levinson, Philip Alperson,
Michael Kelly, David Clowney, Jim Greenberg, Steve McClellan and
Margaret Moore. For my productive and inspiring experience as
an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, I owe thanks to
Norman Dahl, Marcia Eaton, Keith Gunderson, Michael Root, and
Naomi Scheman. I also want to thank my colleagues at Montclair—
David Benfield (a true mentor), Roland Garrett, Christopher Herrera,
Kirk McDermid, Dorothy Rogers, Mark Clatterbuck, Cynthia Eller,
Yasir Ibrahim, Stephen Johnson, Michael Kogan, Lise Vail, Tyson
Lewis and Marissa Silverman. I am also grateful to my many students
Acknowledgments ix
who have matched my enthusiasm for philosophy, with special
thanks to James Owen.
At Bloomsbury Academic, I would like to thank David Barker for
his enthusiasm for this project and Ally Jane Grossan for her patience
and assistance. Chapter 1 draws from my “Musical Musical Nuance,”
The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 68 (2010): 1–10. Chapter
2 draws from my “In Praise of Ambiguity: Musical Subtlety and
Merleau-Ponty,” Contemporary Aesthetics 11 (2013). I want to thank
the editors of these journals.
During my years as a musician, many individuals—band mates,
music industrians, music journalists, and so on—helped to shape
my views on music and its seemingly ineffable aspects. I am grateful
to them.
Shira Gal Roholt, my daughter, has taught me the meaning of
intrinsic value. My parents allowed me the space to learn about
music (even when neighbors were pounding on the ceiling). My
father, Les, taught me to play music; my mother, Dottie, made it
impossible for me not to think deeply about it. I was lucky to grow
up in a household where a magical mix of music was playing: Gene
Vincent, early Van Morrison, Sly and the Family Stone, Frank Sinatra,
the Del-Vikings, Roberta Flack. I am also very appreciative of the
guidance and kindness of Henrietta and Henry Rosenberg and the
entire Rosenberg family.
Finally, I owe more than I can express to my life-saving and life-
affirming life partner, Jill Rosenberg.
T.C.R.
Montclair
May 2014