Evolution of Music Appreciation

I think this social cohesion must be a major factor. It's quite easy to imagine that our hunter-gatherer ancestors would develop rhythmic chants while out looking for food. It would help them feel cohesive, it would help identify them to other groups, it would help ward off other groups or dangerous animals, and also it would be a signal to or from their village/camp as they returned home.Another thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned in this discussion is the idea that babies like to be held against their mother's heart, as it is safe and comforting, and maybe even reminds them of their time in the womb. I heard someone say that even left handed people will usually instinctively hold a baby to the left side of their chest. I don't know if anyone can verify that fact. Small children also enjoy being rhthmically jigged up and down on someone's knee. So do adults if we can persuade anyone to do it! It's not hard to see how the same comforting feeling of nurturing could be gained from foot tapping or beating a stick.None of that explains why I have absolutely no sense of rhthym at all, though.ADDITIONAL THOUGHT: I've often wondered why such a big deal is made about the music charts. Why do the public care so much about which pop song is number one? Why do bands have supporters in a similar way to sports teams? If you like a particular song or a particular band's style of music, what difference does it make whether or not anyone else shares your opinion? Why care? The answer would seem to come very neatly from the idea that music was originally developed as a kind of tribal identity.Edited by Jumped Up Chimpanzee, : ADDITIONAL THOUGHT