Free-Rhythm as an Analytical Problem

Concepts, Parameters, and Methodological Perspectives

Abstract

This article examines the concept of free-rhythm and the methodological difficulties it poses for musical analysis in musicology and ethnomusicology. It begins with a historical genealogy of Anglophone discussions on religious chant, showing how the absence of regular metre was often framed in opposition to measured rhythm and invested with aesthetic values. The article then revisits post-war theoretical debates on the relationship between rhythm, pulse and metre, highlighting approaches that shift analytical attention from metrical hierarchy to temporal processes, perceptual expectations and locally emergent regularities. From an ethnomusicological perspective, it addresses the limitations of Western notation for repertoires without a clear beat, the structural centrality of free-rhythm in diverse traditions, and the need for operational definitions that do not presuppose global metricity. The final section brings into dialogue a set of analytical proposals drawn from modal traditions in Iran, India, Turkey and Arab contexts, organised around four methodological axes: prosody–rhythm relations; the identification of local pulses; segmentation through pauses and phrasing; and the emergence of local metric frameworks and durational projections. The synthesis suggests that pulse and metre remain analytically significant in free-rhythm practices, yet they function in variable, context-dependent ways shaped by performance, listening and analytical framing. The article concludes by arguing for flexible analytical methodologies capable of identifying shared observational parameters across repertoires while remaining sensitive to system-specific constraints, and it outlines a multi-level analytical focus on phrasing, durational variation, prosodic structures and local pulsation.