The aim of this paper is to present a model for understanding unit formation, what we prefer to call chunking, at short-term timescales in musical experience, typically in the duration range of approximately 0,5 to 5 seconds. The idea is that at these short-term timescales, chunks of sound and associated body motion are conceived and perceived holistically, hence demonstrate what may be called quantal elements in musical experience. Very many salient musical features for identifying style, motion, and affect, can be found at such short-term timescales. Also, there are several constraints in perception, cognition and body motion that converge on suggesting quantal elements at work in music. A better understanding of such quantal elements in musical experience could be useful in the fields of music perception, music analysis, and music information retrieval, as well as in various practical artistic and educational contexts.