Conference: Music Creates Community

Music co-evolved with language, allowing communication that language itself impedes, says University of Cambridge reader in Music and Science, Ian Cross. Speaking at a session devoted to music and language at the Cradle of Language conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa, Dr. Cross told the assembled scholars that musical interactions typically involve the unite “action and attention” in a “pulse.” (Abstract here)

A traditional objection to an evolutionary preference for musical communication is that language can express its meanings much less ambiguously and more specifically, but Cross reversed that objection by saying there are times when specificity is undesirable. Encounters with strangers, changes in group membership, disagreements over how to proceed, and uncertainty about the future, for example, can lead to situations where a strengthened sense of community and trust is more important than the clarity of speech.