Multisensory Tone, Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony
By Kent Godfrey
My hypothesis is that autistic people who have odd responses to sound and Deaf people can reap the benefits associated with the concept “music” through senses in addition to sound. One reason is that for millennia the species of mankind has absorbed tone, rhythm, melody, and harmony (TRM&H) through multiple senses from plants, animals, water, and more. Consequently, all individuals have a deep understanding of and fondness for TRM&H regardless of the senses through which they are perceived. Various societies take that TRM&H and combine it differently. To Westerners, TRM&H combined auditorily is “music,” visually: visual art, and kinesthetically: dance.
The first evidence that the benefits of “music” can be reaped multisensorily is that most societies combine TRM&H simultaneously through multiple senses. Also, Deaf people express songs kinesthetically through sign-language. Research shows that the music, dance, art, cuisine, and architecture of a specific culture each contain the same TRM&H. The structure of a language influences what can be conceptualized within that language (including multisensory music). Finally, similar processes occur in the brain whether specific TRM&H’s are experienced visually, auditorily, kinesthetically, or tactilely. This is a fraction of the evidence demonstrating that the benefits associated with “music” can be reaped multisensorily.
Attachment: KGodfrey.pdf (39.9 KB)
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