Upright walking may have sparked human creativity and music

A new study suggests that the human ability to walk on two legs may have shaped more than just how we move – it could also explain the emergence of rhythm, music, and even language.

The researchers propose that the shift to upright walking played a key role in developing human creativity and communicative abilities, with echoes of that transformation still present in how we think, speak, and relate to each other today.

Upright walking and human creativity

The study was co-authored by physician and researcher Matz Larsson from Örebro University and anthropology professor Dean Falk from Florida State University.

The research explores how the rhythmic sound of footsteps, unique to upright walking, may have laid the groundwork for our sense of timing and musicality, and how it influenced the evolution of human interaction and brain development.

“This also explains why running and going for walks promote creativity,” noted Larsson. The steady rhythm of walking, he suggests, could help synchronize thoughts and sharpen perception – a connection that may have deep evolutionary roots.

Rhythm in the footsteps

When early humans began walking upright, they produced a new kind of sound – steady, rhythmic, and easy to predict. This contrasts with the more erratic noise made by quadrupedal movement, such as the irregular steps of a chimpanzee climbing through trees.

“Bipedal footsteps create rhythmic and more predictable sounds of movement, in comparison with the way in which our closest living relative, the chimpanzee, moves on all fours, with irregular steps among rustling tree branches,” Larsson explained.

This regularity likely offered an evolutionary advantage. When two people walk in sync, their footsteps create quiet intervals between steps, giving the brain space to tune in to other sounds in the environment.

“That way, a lion or an enemy can be noticed in time. Individuals with no rhythm who could not manage this most likely waddled, quite literally, their way out of the genetic pool,” added Larsson.

This auditory clarity may have helped humans survive by detecting threats sooner. But the implications go further. The rhythm of footsteps may also have trained the brain to group sounds together, paving the way for musical patterns and structured speech beginning with upright walking.

From the womb to the world

Even before birth, the effects of rhythmic motion seem to leave a mark. As pregnant women walk, the steady up-and-down motion of their footsteps activates multiple sensory systems in the fetus – including hearing, balance, touch, and body awareness (known as proprioception).

The tempo of normal walking – around 120 steps per minute – happens to match the beat of many musical compositions.

“Our heartbeat has a different rhythm, around 70 beats per minute, and the heartbeat only stimulates hearing,” Larsson noted. “This means that footsteps create a significantly more music-like experience. Babies are soothed by being rocked. Perhaps it’s because it simulates when the mother was walking around during pregnancy?”

This early exposure to rhythm may prime infants to respond to tempo, soothing them and preparing them for later experiences of music and movement.

The melody of early speech

Larsson’s co-author Dean Falk has spent years studying “baby talk” – the melodic, exaggerated style adults use when speaking to infants. Falk suggests this behavior may have developed as a way to compensate for a loss of physical closeness.

Once humans began walking upright, babies could no longer cling to their mother’s fur, which reduced constant physical contact between parent and child.

“That’s how baby talk arose – as a substitute for the physical connection between babies and parents, according to Falk’s research. This may have stimulated the evolution of music and language,” Larsson said.

In this view, the rhythmic and melodic aspects of early speech – used to comfort and bond with infants – may have contributed to the rise of both language and musical expression.

Upright walking boosts creativity

Larsson believes these ancient patterns are still alive in modern human behavior. “In my experience, running and going for walks promote creativity and can give rise to new thoughts – and going for a walk with a friend stimulates the exchange of ideas,” he said.

Walking doesn’t just help us think more clearly – it may also enhance how we connect with others, synchronizing speech and movement in subtle but meaningful ways.

Larsson had personal inspiration for this theory. “My son Filip has Down syndrome and is a great music lover. He has a special rhythmic ability and likes to walk in step with his dad. The sounds that are created when we are out walking replace the talking – he no longer uses words, he signs instead. Filip got me thinking outside the box,” he said.

With upright walking, father and son communicate without words, guided by the shared rhythm of their steps. For Larsson, this everyday experience points to something profound: the cadence of bipedal motion may have done more than free our hands – it may have freed our minds.

The study is published in the journal Current Anthropology.

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