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Beat in Music Means Synchronization, Such as Foot Tapping
The innate ability to entrain means people can participate in a musical performance—lock in with the beat—by synchronizing to the beat without knowing how to play a musical instrument—clapping along, foot tapping, nodding to the beat, and, of course, dancing. A few animals can chorus in synchrony, such as frogs and crickets. But only humans can vary the tempo (number of beats per minute) from slow to several times faster, without losing the sense of synchronous timing.
Only humans have the ability to play musical instruments. Non-human primates can not keep a steady beat or learn new melodic sequencing. That’s why they’re incapable of playing the most basic of instruments, and cannot be trained to learn even the simplest human music (although they can learn simple human language).
Every human culture ever known has had music. We humans take for granted our effortless discrete-pitch vocalizing and isometric time-keeping skills. Non-human animals have no such abilities, and consequently no true appreciation of bluegrass, ABBA, or hip-hop. Except for certain breeds of dogs who join in when they hear particular songs from musical theatre and R & B.