Chapter 05 of 5
Why We Dance
The urge to move, a dancing cockatoo and a medieval dancing plague.
- The Urge
Feeling the groove
Some music makes you want to move: tap your foot, nod your head, get up and dance. Researchers call this "groove".
- The Recipe
Not too simple
A 2014 study found groove peaks with a medium amount of syncopation: rhythms that are a bit off the beat, but not too much.
- The Babies
Born to move
A 2010 study found babies move more rhythmically to music than to speech, even before they can walk.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
What did Snowball the cockatoo show scientists?
🌍 The Song in Every Culture
- 01The Oldest InstrumentsFlutes carved from bird bones and mammoth ivory, made long before farming or writing.
- 02A Universal Language?Every society makes music, but not everyone hears it the same way.
- 03LullabiesWhy every culture sings to babies, and why it works even in a foreign language.
- 04Songs for WorkingSea shanties, weaving songs and why singing together makes hard work easier.
- 05Why We DanceThe urge to move, a dancing cockatoo and a medieval dancing plague.