It Dont Mean a Thing (If It Aint Got That Swing)

It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing. It don't mean a thing, all you got to do is sing. It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot. Just give that rhythm.
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In other words, promised spouses need also to catch the eyes of the mothers and fathers in law or other group members who have a say. This latter aspect has, to our knowledge, not yet been explored. They offer the fundament for the joy of the dancers. Music and especially rhythm constitute a deeply rooted signaling system for extra-verbal communication evoking emotional reactions of other potentially cooperating individuals Bryant, Joint drumming facilitates the synchronization in preschool children Kirschner and Tomasello, Interpersonal synchrony increases helpfulness already in 14 month-old toddlers and the promotion of prosocial behavior by interpersonal rhythmic synchrony has been confirmed in cross-cultural studies in 4-year-old children as compared to matched controls Kirschner and Tomasello, ; Cirelli et al.

The emotional impact of the synchronization of many individuals in military drill has impressively been described by McNeill There is evidence of intra- and intergroup aggression in primates such as chimpanzees de Waal, , and hominids Kelly, ; Zollikofer et al. Hominids possessed spears for more than , years Thieme, The advent of tools of potential use as weapons among hominids required even more effective reconciliation means Wilkins et al.

To say it with the words of Zollikofer et al. Intragroup aggression in primate societies must be understood as one specific behavioral option in a complex network of social interactions, which is typically balanced by active reconciliatory behavior […]. This ability is confirmed by the relative scarceness of traces of violence in prehistoric bone findings as compared to skeletons from historic times Haas and Piscitelli, Dancing as an effective reconciliatory means has been well-described among potentially hostile Andaman groups by Kelly Dancing enabled to appease our most dangerous enemies: Similar to symbolic fights present in many non-human animal species, dance may serve for getting to know who is stronger before undertaking a fight, thus reducing the risk of injury and preventing casualties Evans Pim, As an actual example, ghetto dance battles may contribute to avoid deadly duels McDermott and Hauser, Nietzsche, — argued that he would not believe in any god unless this god was able to dance.

Although, trance may in some cultures be also reached without dancing, rhythmical techniques including breathing, hyperventilation and dance, as in the Indonesian island of Bali, are the means which are used in the majority of societies for entering trance. Some historical and actual examples for trance dances include the medieval European St.

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Trance dance serves as catharsis reached through ecstasy. An ancestor, a spirit or a god drives the dancer; the dancer is possessed. Pre-Christian religious mask dances are the origin of present time Carnival traditions. Dancers moving like puppets on the strings such as in Indian Kathakali and Japanese Kabuki are the precursors of theater and pantomime.

In this respect, it is interesting that a 15,year-old marionette puppet with moveable limbs has been found in a grave of an adult man believed to be a shaman in Brno, Czech Republic Williams, It is still matter of debate whether religion is an adaptive complex itself or a by-product of adaptive behaviors in other non- religious contexts. In a pre-verbal context the importance of dance for individual and collective memorizing cannot be overemphasized. Dance in many traditional societies is an instrument to memorize hunting techniques and to preserve traditions by telling stories about the past of the community.

Since the mirror motor neurons of who observes dancers are activated dance is an excellent method to train children and adolescents and to communicate experiences and skills which are later internalized by imitation Rizzolatti et al. However, the evolution of language requires an underlying rhythmic and gestural understanding, i. Rhythm perception enables to discern words and is necessary to codify and decode language. The observation of a dancer aids to recapitulate and decode gestures Patel and Daniele, ; Patel, ; Hausen et al. Human babies are, however, especially immature at birth as compared to other animals.

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Therefore, human infants may require more specific soothing efforts such as rocking. To rock the baby one needs free arms. Soothing a baby by rocking is probably a human universal which, however, has not been investigated in this respect. A recent study comparing cultural effects on rocking a baby for soothing showed more similarities than differences between different cultures Vinall et al. There is some research on the effects of rocking in the medical literature. In PubMed we found hits from to Especially premature babies benefit from rocking Malcuit et al.


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Rocking has a positive effect on the entrainment of respiration as well as on neuromuscular development of infants Malcuit et al. Infants and toddlers exhibit also active physiological stereotypic movements Sallustro and Atwell, ; Thelen, ; Barry et al. Interestingly, physiological rhythmical stereotypies not only have a self-soothing effect as reflected by heart rate reduction but frequently involve the legs, a behavior that could be the starting point of dancing Soussignan and Koch, In fact, also later spontaneous unintentional movements to a musical beat most frequently involve the lower limbs reflecting an unconscious proneness to dance Woods and Miltenberger, ; Janata et al.

Whether or not rocking a baby is a behavior strictly confined to humans is an interesting research question which deserves to be explored by evolutionary biologists. We did not find any report of animals or non-human primates rocking their offspring. Moreover, whereas rhesus monkeys have not been found to be good detectors of beat Honing et al. Rocking may also promote the ability of infants to stratify rhythm Phillips-Silver and Trainor, Dance enables to self-induce the soothing effect of being rocked.

Dance appeases the tormented soul and leads to the secretion of hormones like dopamine and endorphins Sutoo and Akiyama, ; Harris, ; Salimpoor et al. Their capacity to influence mood, to reach autistic patients otherwise refractory to any emotional involvement and to make Parkinson patients start moving are taken advantage of in medicine Hayakawa et al. Playing musical instruments and dancing reduce the risk of dementia in the elderly Verghese et al.

Boredom may be not only a phenomenon of modern societies but also a problem of traditional societies. Men seem to be more prone to both, boredom and violence, which also are associated with suicide Wrangham and Peterson, ; Heinsohn, Dance, rhythm, music and being rocked have been shown to have painkilling effects Lehmann, ; Pillai Riddell et al. The capacity of music to reduce the dosage of painkilling medication in intensive care patients is documented in medicine Lehmann, A recent study has shown that rhythmical music reduces the perceived exertion induced by strenuous physical performance an observation which was well-known to the cotton harvesters in the USA and is reflected by specific working songs.

This effect occurs not only on a psychological but also on a proprioceptive level Fritz et al. The pain threshold is elevated more by active drumming, dancing or singing than by passive music listening Dunbar et al. Rhythmic movements or breathing into hyperventilation are effective means for entering trance, an effect that Hindu yogis take advantage of when they perforate their skin, tongue, or lips before starting their processions. Furthermore, active and passive rhythmical movements improve body coordination Trainor and Cirelli, Although, a major evolutionary advantage is to be expected from cooperation, in some given moments preparation for fighting may be useful for a given group to succeed in winning against enemies and thereby improving the access to resources Kelly, From an evolutionary perspective, all these more or less overlapping aspects are likely to have played a role although these are not equally important at the same time and age.

We would tentatively rank reproductive fitness, cooperation and bonding as the driving evolutionary forces whereas the individual aspects may have further contributed to the evolutionary functions of dance in specific age, gender, and prehistoric contexts Nowak, ; Nowak et al. Survival is particularly important for children in traditional societies with high infant mortality Carter and Mendis, ; Hart and Sussmann, Reproductive fitness applies to sexually mature individuals who may even risk their lives in order to find potential partners.

Peace-keeping and martial dancing could have been particularly important for young men during periods of high violence. On the other hand, martial dances are not human universals and high violence periods have been more widespread in historic times than in prehistory Kelly, ; Haas and Piscitelli, In summary, dance offers evolutionary advantages to humans by contributing to sexual reproduction signaling, cooperation, social bonding, infant care, violence avoidance as well as embodied individual and social communication and memorization.

The main intention of this article is to provide a refined concept for further interdisciplinary research on the evolution of dance and music in humankind. It is proposed that in future studies on the evolution of music, attention should be paid on which attribute of music precisely is focused whether rhythm, melody, or harmony. The same applies to rhythmical attributes, i. The evolutionary functions of dance have been relatively neglected.

The close mutual relationship between rhythm and dance and embodied rhythm perception should be fully acknowledged in future research. JR did the literature search, developed the hypothesis and wrote the manuscript; RO contributed to the literature search, to developing the hypothesis and writing the manuscript. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. We are deeply indebted to Prof. Large-scale brain networks emerge from dynamic processing of musical timbre, key and rhythm.

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Effects of rocking on neuromuscular development in the premature. A California sea lion Zalophus californianus can keep the beat: Oxford University Press , 27— Oxford University Press , 61— The Descent of Man. Oxford University Press , — Functional magnetic resonance imaging study comparing rhythmic finger tapping in children and adults.

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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing - Muziekweb

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Nonpharmacological management of procedural pain in infants and young children: How the Mind Works. Chorusing, synchrony, and the evolutionary functions of rhythm. Social Interaction and Group Dynamics , eds M. When the Drummers were Women. It is now accepted as a jazz standard , and jazz historian Gunther Schuller characterized it as "now legendary" and "a prophetic piece and a prophetic title.

The music was composed and arranged by Ellington in August during intermissions at Chicago's Lincoln Tavern and was first recorded by Ellington and his orchestra for Brunswick Records Br on February 2, After Mills wrote the lyrics, Ivie Anderson sang the vocal and trombonist Joe Nanton and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges played the instrumental solos. The song became famous, Ellington wrote, "as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time.

Ellington's recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in The song's refrain was sung several times by various characters in the movie Swing Kids. On American Public Media 's Marketplace , when they "do the numbers," Thelonious Monk's instrumental version plays to denote the financial markets ended the day mixed, e. Evander Holyfield and Edyta Sliwinska danced a quickstep dance to the song in the first season of Dancing with the Stars.

Nancy Grace and Tristan MacManus also danced a quickstep to the track in the thirteenth season of the same show. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.