Odd meters and the Balkans
The dances of Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania and Turkey count their beats in groups of two and three eighths mixed, long and short (see Rhythm and meter). They are in Songs > Balkan and Turkish, and the Library has a style for each meter. Count along, a number for every eighth, leaning on the first of each group.
Dances in five, seven, nine and more
| Demo | Meter | Counted | Listen for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paidushko horo, Bulgaria | 2+3/8 | 1 2, 1 2 3 | a quick beat and a slow one; strains that turn around A minor, ii, before coming home to G |
| Tsakonikos, Greece | 3+2/8 | 1 2 3, 1 2 | the paidushko’s limp the other way round; the chord changes on the short beat |
| Ajde Jano, Serbia | 3+2+2/8 | 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 | the lesnoto, long, short, short; D minor resting on C major, ♭VII |
| Jovano, Jovanke, Macedonia | 3+2+2/8 | 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 | E Phrygian with a G♯, the sound of much Balkan music |
| Samiotissa, Greece | 3+2+2/8 | 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 | the kalamatianos, the Greek circle dance; G, C and D7, the singers in thirds |
| Svatbarska rachenitsa, Bulgaria | 2+2+3/8 | 1 2, 1 2, 1 2 3 | a wedding dance, quick, quick, slow; A minor turning to A major |
| Daichovo horo, Bulgaria | 2+2+2+3/8 | 1 2, 1 2, 1 2, 1 2 3 | nine eighths that are not three times three |
| Gankino horo, Bulgaria | 2+2+3+2+2/8 | 1 2, 1 2, 1 2 3, 1 2, 1 2 | eleven eighths, the long beat in the middle |
| Bučimiš, Bulgaria | 2+2+2+2+3+2+2/8 | seven beats, the fifth long | fifteen eighths to the bar |
Open Ajde Jano and watch the channel rack: each beat’s steps are shaded together, six, four and four (see the picture in Rhythm and meter).
Makam hicaz
Many of these tunes use a scale with a step and a half in it: A, B♭, C♯, D, E, F, G. Turkish musicians call it the makam hicaz; it has the notes of the Phrygian mode with a raised third, and its augmented second, B♭ up to C♯, gives it its eastern colour. Listen for it in:
- Entarisi ala benziyor, a Turkish song from Istanbul, in the raks aksağı, 2+3+2+2/8;
- Çayeli’nden öteye, from Rize on the Black Sea, in the devr-i hindi, 3+2+2/8;
- Geamparaua de la Murfatlar, a Romanian geampara, 2+2+3/8, whose strains all end on B♭ falling to A;
- the fifth strain of Svatbarska rachenitsa.
In the Turkish songs, singers and players go in unison over a drum, and the chords in the demos are added from the notes the tune leans on.
Five beats in the concert hall and in jazz
| Demo | Meter | Listen for |
|---|---|---|
| Take Five, by Paul Desmond, for the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959) | 3+2/4 | the piano’s vamp, E♭ minor for three beats and B♭ minor 7 for two |
| Mission: Impossible theme, by Lalo Schifrin (1966) | 3+2/4 | the piano’s ostinato, ten eighths split 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 |
| Pathétique Symphony, Allegro con grazia, by Tchaikovsky (1893) | 2+3/4 | a waltz in five, a short beat cutting in before every waltz step; in the trio, the double basses hold D from its first bar to its last, a pedal point |
| Mândrele, a Romanian dance | 3+2/4 | the Lydian mode, C with an F♯ |
Meters that change
Some music changes meter as it goes:
- Süsserl, a Bavarian zwiefacher: bars of three, danced with a waltz step, and bars of two, danced with a pivot, in an order the tune fixes, 2 2 3, 2 2 3, 2 2 3 3. The beat stays the same; only the bars change, so the band plays oom-pa in the bars of two and oom-pa-pa in the bars of three.
- Promenade, from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (1874): bars of five and of six quarter notes, phrased like speech.
- The Rite of Spring, Ritual of Abduction, by Stravinsky: 9/8, 6/8, 7/8, 3/4, 2/4, and towards the end bars of 5/8, 3/8 and 2/8.
- Desarma y sangra, by Charly García: a ballad in 6/8, with whole passages in 3/4.
To change the meter partway through a song of your own, see Changing time signature partway through.