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It is moderately easy for me to match the tempo of the pulse of music with my movement (e.g. clapping, instrument, dance). However, I find it immensely difficult to lock into phase of that pulse. What is more, without very obvious cues I cannot even tell if I am in phase or not. (Obvious as in looking over the heads of scores of people pogoing since everyone comes down while I jump up.)

Is there a method to get in phase?

Literature I found suggested it's trivial and automatic. For example, Wright et al:

Humans can synchronize movements with auditory beats or rhythms without apparent effort. This ability to entrain to the beat is considered automatic, such that any perturbations are corrected for, even if the perturbation was not consciously noted.

This sounds very much like matching frequency as well as phase of the pulse is not a learnt method but inherent to everyone. This is in Wright's introduction (without sources) as if it was a trivial fact. Other papers sounded similar. An absence of tutorials also hints as if being in phase with the pulse would hardly be an issue for music beginners. It's that indeed so?

Dom
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gschenk
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    phase is likely a misleading tag since it's likely used in the context of audible frequencies. Unfortunately there is no pulse or timing tag. This is more basal than time-signature or rhythm. Reviewers, please be so kind to re-tag as you see fit. – gschenk Jan 17 '23 at 01:07
  • What do you mean by "phase of the pulse"? This is not a standard musical term in the way you're using it. Are you just saying you can't clap at the right time? And if that's the case, then how to you know you're clapping at the right speed? – Aaron Jan 17 '23 at 02:01
  • "Phase" might not be a common term, but it's not one OP made up either, and I can't think of a more suitable term. Being "out of phase" tempo-wise means you're not lining up, but not (necessarily) because you're at a different tempo. – Edward Jan 17 '23 at 02:08
  • I'm not sure this would make an answer, but I've always considered a sense of timing as similar to that of singing. It's a bell-curve, with the truly bad at one end & the truly good at the other. Most people fall somewhere in the middle, ie most people can carry a tune, even if it is in a bucket. Same with timing, most people can be somewhere close, much of the time [to parallel, they can swing, if only from a rope;) I used to know a girl who told me she could only dance if she could watch the feet of others, else she had no idea where to start. – Tetsujin Jan 17 '23 at 10:59
  • Visual clues help. I found that when trying to learn to perceive Morse code, sound only: hopeless, blinking lights only: hopeless, sound + visual possible but bad. (Sending Morse was way easier though.) – gschenk Jan 17 '23 at 11:39
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    If external clues are strong enough it is quite obvious whether the frequency is wrong (eg on or off time) or the phase is off (difference between own action and external events is roughly constant over several cycles). Say I count percussion in a 2/4 signature, instead of pulses coinciding with my count on 1 or two they'd fall on 'e', &, or 'u', yet this happens repeatedly. – gschenk Jan 17 '23 at 11:58

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Beginners just don't call it "phase", they conceptualize it as simply being "early" or "late". There is plenty of effort expended by beginners learning to play in time with other people (or recordings or a metronome).

What you need is a feedback mechanism. For a student learning an instrument, that will be the sound of their instrument coming after everyone else's (if they're late) or coming before (if they're early) or a teacher telling them which way they're off (if they have not developed good listening skills yet). For you, I suppose it will be looking at the movements of other people, or listening for their claps.

(I guess now's a good time to mention that the average person is pretty poor at staying in time too, by a musician's standard...)

You need practice with feedback. Pay attention to how your timing compares to the "correct" timing. Adjust your timing and think about how this new timing feels. After attempting and adjusting enough times, you will eventually be more accurate in "phase-locking" with other people. "Enough times" will be a different number for everyone.

Edward
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    @Tom says he's OK at keeping with the pulse. His problem, in musical terms, is in choosing whether to clap on 1 & 3, or on 2 & 4. – Laurence Jan 17 '23 at 10:57
  • @Laurence that would be a step further, as soon as there is a distinctive count, eg snare on 1, it's a rythm. I'll have a lot of problem counting that too. But my action (count, tap, whatever) might be anywhere in between. – gschenk Jan 17 '23 at 12:02
  • @Laurence Note that I'm not the OP ;) – Tom Jan 17 '23 at 17:53
  • About conceptualizing: do people think they early or late when they notice that they are marching with left foot on 1 or playing snare on 1 and 3 and kick on 2 and 4 with no idea how they ended up that way? – ojs Jan 17 '23 at 22:41
  • @ojs I can't recall being in that situation, but my immediate reaction would probably be to correct at the next opportunity, with no thought given to if I'm early or late. It's not a common situation for beginners to be playing an exercise consisting of 2 beats repeated indefinitely and ending up exactly 1 beat off without noticing how. – Edward Jan 18 '23 at 00:08
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We're talking about this?

The audience is clapping onbeats, 1 & 3. (And who's to say they're wrong?) But Harry Connick Jr. feels he wants them to clap offbeats, 2 & 4. And he tricks them into doing it.

Settle for finding the pulse. Your 'phase' is as valid as anyone else's! 'Look at those soldiers! They're all out of step except our Johnnie!' Johnnie is stepping left while the others step right. Go Johnnie!

Laurence
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