Additive meter

Additive meter

In music, Additive Meter refers to a pattern of beats that subdivide into smaller, irregular groups. It is common in Eastern European musics, and contemporary compositions attempting to emulate such a sound. For example, a time signature like 9/8 is normally subdivided as 3+3+3, or nine eighth notes with three to a beat. However, the composer or conductor may specify an additive meter for passages of music where it is more natural to conduct with a different pattern. Hence, a meter like 9/8 may instead be subdivided as 2+3+2+2 for musical effect; most commonly such an additive meter is used when accented notes or syncopated patterns do not match up with the normal subdivision.

Flamenco music, for instance, is full of additive meter, particularly in rhythms of 10 (3+3+2+2). Alfred Reed's "Armenian Dances (Part I)" contains a movement written in the nonstandard time signature of 5/8, which can be conducted as either 2+3 or 3+2 depending on which is more musically natural.

ee also

* Additive rhythm
* Meter (music)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Meter (music) — Musical and lyric metre. See also: Hymn meter and Poetic meter. Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry (Scholes 1977; Latham 2002) where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of… …   Wikipedia

  • Additive rhythm and divisive rhythm — Additive and divisive meters. In music, additive and divisive are terms used to distinguish two types of both rhythm and meter. A divisive (or, more commonly, multiplicative) rhythm is a rhythm in which a larger period of time is divided into… …   Wikipedia

  • Armenian Dances — The Armenian Dances is a musical piece for concert band, written by Alfred Reed (1921 ndash;2005). It is a four movement suite, of which Armenian Dances (Part I) comprises the first movement and Armenian Dances (Part II) comprises the remaining… …   Wikipedia

  • David Holsinger — David R. Holsinger (born December 26, 1945 in Hardin, Missouri) is an American composer and conductor writing primarily for concert band. Holsinger is a graduate of Hardin Central High School in Hardin, Missouri, Central Methodist University, the …   Wikipedia

  • Time signature — Common time redirects here. For the short story, see Common Time. Simple example of a 34 time signature: here there are three quarter notes per measure. The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational convention used in Western …   Wikipedia

  • motion-picture technology — Introduction       the means for the production and showing of motion pictures. It includes not only the motion picture camera and projector but also such technologies as those involved in recording sound, in editing both picture and sound, in… …   Universalium

  • photography, technology of — Introduction       equipment, techniques, and processes used in the production of photographs.  The most widely used photographic process is the black and white negative–positive system (Figure 1 >). In the camera the lens projects an image of… …   Universalium

  • Rhythm — For other uses, see Rhythm (disambiguation). Rhythm, a sequence in time repeated, featured in dance: an early moving picture demonstrates the waltz …   Wikipedia

  • Clave (rhythm) — This article is about the rhythmic pattern. For the musical instrument, see claves. Three of the four main forms of clave.   …   Wikipedia

  • Oscar/Technische Verdienste — Der Oscar für technische Verdienste (Academy Technical Achievement Award) ist eine seit 1931 vergebenene Auszeichnung der Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences und würdigt herausragende Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der Verbesserung technischer …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”