Null effect of perceived drum pattern complexity on the experience of groove

There is a broad consensus in groove research that the experience of groove, understood as a pleasurable urge to move in response to music, is related to the complexity of the rhythm. Specifically, music with medium rhythmic complexity has been found to motivate greater urge to move compared to low or high complexity music (inverted-U hypothesis). Previous studies used degrees of syncopation in music as a measure of complexity, where rhythms with more and/or stronger syncopations are considered to be more complex than rhythms with less/weaker syncopations. This study is the first to attempt the verification of the inverted-U hypothesis using forty idiomatic popular music drum pattern stimuli that are associated with perceptual complexity measures obtained in a previous study. In a listening experiment with n=179 participants, the inverted-U hypothesis could not be confirmed as complexity did not have any significant effect on listeners’ urge to move (p=.834). Results are discussed in the context of the psychological model of musical groove, which shows that more complex stimuli are heard as less regular (which negatively affects the urge to move), and as more interesting (which positively affects the urge to move). These findings show that competent drummers are capable of producing equally danceable drum patterns regardless of complexity, at least in a range of complexity that is idiomatic for this repertoire. Results also suggest that the temporal regularity of simple patterns enhances their danceability, while complex patterns invite body movement because they are more interesting for the listener.