I suspect that long before humans began making music with the elements of harmony and melody, we played rhythm on whatever was available: rocks, hollowed-out pieces of tree trunk, etc. So I agree with Detlof's comment that rhythm is the elemental component of music. Even today's rap "music" (I don't personally regard it as music in the full sense of the word) is essentially words set to rhythm. A good example of music with a strong rhythmic component is military marches, such as those written by John Phillip Sousa. It's pretty hard to listen to "Stars and Stripes", "The Washington Post March", or "Semper Fidelis" without getting up to march around the room.
Rhythm is probably the most distinguishing feature of many music forms, even after different instrumentation is taken into account. Jazz, for example, uses many rhythms/tempos, with Afro-Cuban jazz being the most complex with both poly-rhythms and strong syncopation (the placement of an accent beat where you don't expect it, or the absense of an accent where you do expect it).
Classical European music has generally been confined to a more limited range of rhythms compared to jazz, usually being played in either 3/4 or 4/4 time. By comparison, jazz and the musics of the Caribbean and South America use many different rhythms. Rhythms are what connect us directly to the music, and create a physical response, such as the desire to dance.
I had an interesting experience recently -- one that many parents may have noticed with small children. I was visiting the new home of a couple with a 1-year child. She was playing with a Casio electronic keyboard on the floor of their family room, and she by accident pushed one of the buttons that start a basic rhythm pattern. In this case, the rhythm was a syncopated Latin variety. Although the little girl can't walk yet, she still raised her hips up off the floor and started to "boogie", swinging her hips from side to side.
So, even with babies, it's the rhythm that connects first. Harmony and melody are the more intellectual counterparts to rhythm, and they certainly add intellectual substance to music, but I'd argue that there is no music without rhythm.
Rhythm is probably the most distinguishing feature of many music forms, even after different instrumentation is taken into account. Jazz, for example, uses many rhythms/tempos, with Afro-Cuban jazz being the most complex with both poly-rhythms and strong syncopation (the placement of an accent beat where you don't expect it, or the absense of an accent where you do expect it).
Classical European music has generally been confined to a more limited range of rhythms compared to jazz, usually being played in either 3/4 or 4/4 time. By comparison, jazz and the musics of the Caribbean and South America use many different rhythms. Rhythms are what connect us directly to the music, and create a physical response, such as the desire to dance.
I had an interesting experience recently -- one that many parents may have noticed with small children. I was visiting the new home of a couple with a 1-year child. She was playing with a Casio electronic keyboard on the floor of their family room, and she by accident pushed one of the buttons that start a basic rhythm pattern. In this case, the rhythm was a syncopated Latin variety. Although the little girl can't walk yet, she still raised her hips up off the floor and started to "boogie", swinging her hips from side to side.
So, even with babies, it's the rhythm that connects first. Harmony and melody are the more intellectual counterparts to rhythm, and they certainly add intellectual substance to music, but I'd argue that there is no music without rhythm.