Musical Meter, Social Cognition, and Musical Expression: An Inquiry in Cognitive Aesthetics Justin London (Carleton College) Invitation to a march (with apologies to Arthur Laurents) Consider a march—Sousa’s Washington Post March, to be precise: After the stirring introduction, the main strain begins, and all parts, from the lead cornet to the second trombone, beg us to move along with them. Indeed, it is hard not to tap your toe to the music. Almost all music invites movement like this, of course, but if a piece has a steady beat and is lively and quick, it is much more likely to bring about this reaction. Moreover, such music invites not just our individual engagement, but the collective, coordinated engagement of the entire audience. Marches in general do this particularly well. When we listen to Washington Post March, whether in a concert hall or at a parade, we are hearing in time (and often, as a result, moving in time), together. William H. McNeill, an historian who has written on Toynbee, technology and military history, and on the rise of Western civilization, also wrote a fascinating book on a rather different topic. Keeping Together in Time, inspired in part by McNeill’s own experiences on the parade grounds of World War II, is a study of dance and drill in human history. In it, he develops his theory of “Muscular Bonding”—the collective enactment of a shared rhythm. McNeill takes special note of the social aspect of such coordinated action, as it: constitutes an indefinitely expansible basis for social cohesion among any and every group that keeps together in time, moving big muscles together and chanting, singing, or shouting rhythmically. 1