undecuple meter
{{Short description| Meter with each bar divided into 11 notes of equal duration}}
File:Video-of-11o4-at-60-bpm.ogv
Undecuple meter or undecuple time is a musical meter in which each measure is divided into 11 equally spaced beats, usually notated as either {{music|time|11|4}} or {{music|time|11|8}}. It is usually subdivided into groupings of two or three beats (for example, a grouping of the meter could be {{serif|2+2+2+2+3}}).
The meter remained largely unused until the 19th century, when Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used it in his operas The Snow Maiden and Sadko.
Because 11 is a prime number, undecuple meter is considered a complex time signature. It can be found in jazz, pop, and rock music.
In folk music
= Kopanitsa =
{{Main|Kopanitsa}}
Kopanitsa is a form of Bulgarian folk music that utilizes certain forms of undecuple meter (typically {{music|time|11|8}}). The terms are also used to describe the folk dances that are frequently performed alongside the music.Typically, kopanitsa's usage of undecuple meter will divide the measure into groupings of {{serif|2+2+3+2+2}}. This usage is referred to as a pattern of quick-quick-slow-quick-quick.
= Gankino horo =
Gankino horo (Bulgarian: Ганкино хоро, lit. 'Ganka's dance') is a Bulgarian folk dance written in undecuple meter (either {{music|time|11|8}} or {{music|time|11|16}}) similar to kopanitsa or krivo horo.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}} The name gankino appears to be most used in northern Bulgaria. The basic gankino horo is a three-measure dance using the step structure also common in the dances: dunavsko (danubian pravo), povarnoto (also known as devetorka in North Macedonia) and eleno mome.
The three measures comprise a seven-step grapevine.{{Clarify|date=May 2024}} The accompanying dance starts with the right foot to the right, and the left foot crosses in front, taking two measures. The third measure is a three-step grapevine to the left, with the left foot stepping left, the right foot crossing in the back, and the left foot stepping left again.
Usage in classical music
= 17th century =
A rare example of undecuple meter in the 17th century is found in Claude Le Jeune's "Cygne je suis de candeur", notated in {{music|time|11|4}}.{{cite journal |last1=Verchaly |first1=Andre |title=Claude Le Jeune, Airs (1608) Edited by D. P. Walker in Four Volumes, Vol. I, Part. I of the Premier Livre |journal=Revue de musicologie |date=July 1953 |volume=35 |issue=105/106 |pages=105 |doi=10.2307/927962|jstor=927962 }} Another example (also in {{music|time|11|4}}) is found in the John Bull piece In Nomine IX in the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.{{cite web |title=In Nomine à 4, FVB 119 (Bull, John) - IMSLP |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/In_Nomine_%C3%A0_4,_FVB_119_(Bull,_John) |website=imslp.org}}
= 19th century =
In his analysis of the rhythms found within the music of Ravel, French philosopher and musicologist Vladimir Jankélévitch notes in a surprised manner that Rimsky-Korsakov uses the {{music|time|11|4}} time signature in the final song of his opera The Snow Maiden, as well as the first song in his opera Sadko.{{cite book |last1=Jankélévitch |first1=Vladimir |title=Ravel |date=1995 |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-02-023490-0}} In the former piece—"Hymn to Yarilo"—the composer innovated by composing in a way that contrasted the meter's complex, unbalanced feeling with major chords and a majestic Allegro maestoso tempo.{{cite book |last1=Rimski-Korsakov |first1=Nikolaï Andreïvitch |last2=Lischke |first2=André |title=Chronique de ma vie musicale |date=2008 |publisher=Fayard |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-213-63546-0}}
= 20th century =
Characteristics
= Structure =
As a complex time signature, undecuple time is frequently subdivided into smaller groupings of two and three beats. In his book A Funky Thesaurus for the Rock Drummer, Charles Dowd notes that the time signature offers more combinations of groupings than smaller complex time signatures.{{cite book |last1=Dowd |first1=Charles |title=A Funky Thesaurus for the Rock Drummer: Features Afro-Cuban Rhythms & Odd-Meter Rock Beats for Drum Set |date=2005-05-03 |publisher=Alfred Music |isbn=978-1-4574-3457-0}} Undecuple time can be subdivided into nine unique groupings of two and three beats.
Example subdivisions demonstrated in Dowd's work include groupings such as {{serif|2+2+2+3+2}}, {{serif|2+2+3+2+2}}, and {{serif|2+3+2+2+2}}.
= Difficulty =
Due to its inherent uneven feeling, undecuple time can be a difficult meter to perform and conduct in. Conductor Nicolas Slonimsky once wrote in his autobiography Perfect Pitch: "I was used to compound measures like the one to {{music|time|11|4}}, in Rimski-Korsakov's opera, Sadko, which was an awkward obstacle for the choirs, and sometimes for the conductor. In fact, the students of the Conservatory had developed a little tune on eleven syllables to practice this section of the score, with very unrespectful lyrics towards the great master of Russian music, Rimsky-Korsakov is completely insane."{{cite book |last1=Slonimsky |first1=Nicolas |title=Perfect pitch: a life story |date=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-315155-3}}
List of compositions wholly or partially in undecuple meter
{{Main|List of musical works in unusual time signatures#Upper number of 11}}{{time signature|11|4}}
- "Awaken" by Yes (first section only){{Cite web |last= |date=2013-04-29 |title=Ask YES – Friday 26th April 2013 – Chris Squire |url=https://www.yesworld.com/2013/04/ask-yes-friday-26th-april-2013-chris-squire/ |access-date= |website=Yesworld |language=en-US}}
- Concertino by Igor Stravinsky (before rehearsal mark 15){{Cite web |title=Concertino, K035 (Stravinsky, Igor) - IMSLP |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Concertino,_K035_(Stravinsky,_Igor) |access-date= |website=imslp.org}}
- Concerto in E-flat by Igor Stravinsky (before rehearsal mark 25){{Cite web |title=Concerto in E-flat major, K060 (Stravinsky, Igor) - IMSLP |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Concerto_in_E-flat_major,_K060_(Stravinsky,_Igor) |access-date= |website=imslp.org}}
- "Eleven Four" written by Paul Desmond and recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet{{Cite book |title=Dave Brubeck Deluxe Piano Album |publisher=Derry Music Co. |year=1965 |location=San Francisco |pages=22–28}}
- The intro of "Whipping Post" by the Allman Brothers Band{{Cite book |last1=Poe |first1=Randy |title=Skydog: the Duane Allman story |last2=Gibbons |first2=Billy F. |date=2006 |publisher=Backbeat Books |isbn=978-0-87930-891-9 |location=San Francisco, CA}}
{{music|time|11|8}}
- The verse section of "Blockhead" by Devo{{Cite web |title=Devo: Daily Vault |url=http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=1171 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814062500/http://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=1171 |archive-date=14 August 2011 |access-date= |website=dailyvault.com}}
- "The Eleven" (1969) by the Grateful Dead{{Cite web |date=2020-08-06 |title="St. Stephen/The Eleven," 'Live/Dead' (1969) |url=https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/jerry-garcia-grateful-dead-greatest-songs-15273/st-stephen-the-eleven-live-dead-1969-15317/ |access-date= |website=Rolling Stone Australia |language=en-AU}}
- "Eleven" by Primus{{Cite book |title=Primus Anthology: A thru N: For Guitar and Bass |publisher=Cherry Lane Music |year=2000 |isbn=1575601540 |location=New York |pages=17–20}}
- "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles (during the bridge section){{Cite book |last=Pedler |first=Dominic |title=The songwriting secrets of The Beatles |date=2003 |publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=978-0-7119-8167-6 |location=London New York Paris Berlin}}
- The race results screen from Mario Kart 64{{Cite web |date=2021-01-16 |title=14 Musical Works In The Most Unusual Time Signatures - CMUSE |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116033928/https://www.cmuse.org/14-musical-works-in-the-most-unusual-time-signatures/ |archive-url=https://www.cmuse.org/14-musical-works-in-the-most-unusual-time-signatures/ |archive-date=16 January 2021 |access-date= |website=web.archive.org}}
- "Skrting on the Surface" by the Smile{{Cite web |last=Boilen |first=Bob |date=22 March 2022 |title=New mix: Arcade Fire, Valerie June, the Smile, Andrew Bird, more |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/03/21/1087852135/new-mix-arcade-fire-valerie-june-the-smile-andrew-bird-more |website=NPR}}
See also
References
External links
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180201/http://www.dunav.org.il/music/254_Gankino_Horo.mp3 |date=March 3, 2016 |title=Audio file of gankino horo}}
- [https://soundcloud.com/fandujo/04-gankino-horo Gankino horo performed by Fandujo, an Italian acoustic trio]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQzzoPh3_tc Gankino horo performed by the Barcelona Gipsy balKan Orchestra]
{{Musical meters}}
{{Rhythm and meter}}
{{Musical notation}}