Chimpanzees Share “Fundamental Elements of Musical Rhythms” with Humans

Musicality may have originated from a shared ancestor of chimpanzees and humans, given the similarities in their drumming techniques.

Katherine Hoheiter at The University of St Andrews and her research team analyzed 371 instances of drumming from two of the four subspecies of chimpanzees in Africa: Western chimpanzees (Pantroglogistics Vers) and Eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi).

They utilize their hands and feet, often on buttress roots, creating rapid rhythms mainly during rest, travel, or during displays of threat.

Hoheiter mentions that while capturing chimpanzee drumming is common, the rainforest poses significant research challenges, and gathering data for some populations took decades.

Ultimately, researchers found that chimpanzees drum significantly faster than most humans. “The longest drumming event we recorded exceeded five seconds, while the shortest was less than 0.1 seconds,” notes Hoheiter. “Chimpanzees also tend to repeat these beats, especially while traveling.”

Despite the contrasts between chimpanzee and human drumming, chimpanzees exhibit some “core components of human musical rhythms,” according to team member Vesta Eleuteri from the University of Vienna.

“They employ recognizable rhythms present in various musical cultures, which contrasts with randomly played beats. These consist of hits that are evenly spaced, akin to clock ticks,” she elaborates. “Moreover, we discovered that the Eastern and Western chimpanzee subspecies, residing on different sides of Africa, exhibit distinct rhythmic patterns.”

Eleuteri explains that Eastern chimpanzees alternate between short and long intervals between beats, while Western chimpanzees maintain equally spaced hits. Additionally, these chimpanzees initiate drumming more quickly and use more hits to commence drumming early during a unique pant-hoot call.

Miguel Rulente from the University of Girona finds the notion that different subspecies display unique drumming styles compelling. “These patterns suggest the potential for not just individual idiosyncrasies but also cultural distinctions in how groups utilize drumming as communication tools.”

It is well understood that rhythm plays a crucial role in human social interaction, whether through music, dance, or even conversational rhythms, explains Hoheiter. “I’m not implying that chimpanzee drumming reflects the sophistication of modern human rhythms. However, this research is the first to show that we share fundamental rhythmic elements, suggesting that rhythms are intrinsic to our social environment even before we evolved into humans.”

“Previously, it was claimed that rhythmicity was exclusive to humans,” states Gisela Kaplan from the University of New England. “However, a growing body of evidence suggests this is not the case.”