# The surprising thing about musical surprise JENNY JUDGE **Opening (not a real abstract):** Find Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, the imaginatively titled IV. Press play on Black Dog and listen to the opening thirty seconds or so. How would you describe the experience? When the band comes in at 0:11, after Plant’s unaccompanied introduction, the beat stumbles. It rights itself immediately; but the next vocal entry happens at another odd moment, and no sooner have you recovered from that jolt than you hit yet another speed-bump (0:23). You are taken aback again and again – and if you’re a Led Zeppelin fan, at least, it feels great. Whatever else you might say about the experience, an adequate discussion of its phenomenal character would have to mention musical surprise. **Authors:** [[JENNY JUDGE]]