The empowering effects of being locked into the beat of the music

Human interaction with music is based on the capacity to synchronise. This chapter looks at the principles behind this capacity and considers its empowering effect. It introduces and offers different views on the study of the underlying mechanisms behind music-to-movement synchronization. The chapter shows how being locked to the beat of the music can pave the way for an overall empowerment effect, that is, the feeling that music affords energy and contributes to an increase in autonomy and self-determination. It presents some recent theoretical and empirical work that focuses on movement rhythm such as walking, running, cycling and dancing. The chapter also introduces a theoretical umbrella perspective on synchronisation and embodied interaction with music. It focuses on some concrete studies that explain something about the mechanisms of resonance, entrainment and emulation. Finally, the chapter sheds some light on possible empowering effects of music.