tatum
n. countablen. the smallest unit of time in a piece of music that still feels like it has a steady beat. It is often used to describe the very fast, precise notes played by jazz musicians.
n. the smallest time interval between successive notes in a musical performance that maintains a perceived rhythmic regularity. Named after jazz pianist Art Tatum, it represents the underlying temporal grain of a performance.
The drummer maintained a consistent tatum throughout the fast solo.
Music researchers use computational models to identify the tatum, which helps them understand how humans perceive complex jazz rhythms.
By analyzing the tatum of Art Tatum's recordings, musicologists have demonstrated how his rapid-fire melodic runs remain perfectly synchronized with the underlying harmonic structure of the piece.
Primarily used in the fields of music theory, ethnomusicology, and music information retrieval.