Aksak
InOttoman musical theory,aksakis a rhythmic system in which pieces or sequences, executed in a fast tempo, are based on the uninterrupted reiteration of a matrix, which results from the juxtaposition ofrhythmic cellsbased on the alternation of binary and ternary quantities, as in2+3,2+2+3,2+3+3,etc. The name literally means "limping", "stumbling", or "slumping", and has been borrowed by Western ethnomusicologists to refer generally to irregular, oradditive meters.[1][2][3]
InTurkish folk music,these metres occur mainly in vocal and instrumental dance music, though they are found also in some folksongs. Strictly speaking, in Turkish music theory the term refers only to the grouping of nine pulses into a pattern of2+2+2+3.[3]Some examples are shown below.[additional citation(s) needed]
| Units | Subdivision | Name(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 2+3 | Türk Aksağı[Bulg:Paidushko] |
| 3+2 | ||
| 7 | 2+2+3 | Devr-i Turan[citation needed][Bulg.Račenica] |
| 2+3+2 | ||
| 3+2+2 | Devr-i Hindi[4][Bulg.Lesnoto,Četvorno] | |
| 9 | 2+2+2+3 | Aksak[Bulg.Daychovo] |
| 3+2+2+2 | ||
| 2+2+3+2 | ||
| 2+3+2+2 | [Bulg:Grancharsko] | |
| 11 | 2+2+2+2+3 | |
| 2+2+3+2+2 | [Bulg.Gankino] | |
| 13 | 2+2+2+2+2+3 | [Bulg.Elenino horo] |
| 2+2+2+3+2+2 | [Bulg.Krivo Sadovsko horo] | |
| 3+4+4+2 | Şarkı Devr-i Revâni | |
| 15 | 2+2+2+2+3+2+2 | [Bulg.Bučimiš] |
| 18 | (3+2+2) + (2+2+3+2+2) | [Bulg.Jove Malaj Mome] |
| 25 | (3+2+2) + (3+2+2) + (2+2+3) + (2+2) | [Bulg.Sedi Donka] |
In jazz
[edit]Theaksakrhythm2+2+2+3
8is prominently featured in thejazz standard"Blue Rondo à la Turk"byDave Brubeck.[5]
In rock
[edit]The Belgian experimental rock groupAksak Maboultake their name from this rhythm.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^Brăiloiu 1951.
- ^Fracile 2003,198.
- ^abReinhard, Stokes & Reinhard 2001,§II, 4.
- ^Bektaş 2005,6–7.
- ^User 2015.
Works cited
[edit]- Bektaş, Tolga. 2005. "Relationships between Prosodic and Musical Meters in the Beste Form of Classical Turkish Music".Asian Music36, no. 1 (Winter–Spring): 1-26.
- Brăiloiu, Constantin. 1951. "Le rythme Aksak"Revue de Musicologie33, nos. 99 and 100 (December): 71–108.
- Fracile, Nice. 2003. "The 'Aksak' Rhythm, a Distinctive Feature of the Balkan Folklore".Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae44, nos. 1 and 2:197–210.
- Reinhard, Kurt,Martin Stokes, and Ursula Reinhard. 2001. "Turkey".The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,second edition, edited byStanley SadieandJohn Tyrrell.London: Macmillan Publishers.
- User. 2015. “The Music of Dave Brubeck”.Jazz Academy website (accessed 16 September 2016).
Further reading
[edit]- Arom, Simha. 2004. "L'aksak: Principes et typologie".Cahiers de Musiques Traditionnelles17 (Formes musicales): 11–48.
- Cler, Jérôme. 1994. "Pour une théorie de l'aksak".Revue de Musicologie80, no. 2:181–210.
- Tanrikorur, Cinugen. 1990. "Concordance of Prosodic and Musical Meters in Turkish Classical Music".Turkish Music Quarterly3, no. 1: 1–7.