Idiomatic rhythms around the world

Hello, and welcome to today's music lesson. I'm Miss Menzel, and I'm gonna be your teacher for today. Let's get started. Today's lesson outcome is, "I can identify "idiomatic rhythmic features of key Western "and non-Western styles." Let's look at some of today's keywords. "Driving rhythms: fast, repeated rhythms that create a sense of energy." "Clave: "a five-note syncopated rhythm with various forms; "the most common form is the so son clave." "Tresillo: a three-note rhythm that is the same "as the '3' of the son clave." "Chaal: the name commonly given "to a particular distinctive rhythm "played on the dhol in bhangra." "Free rhythms: when free rhythms are played, "they create no clear sense of pulse." Today's lesson on idiomatic rhythms around the world has two parts. Part one is idiomatic rhythms in Western styles, and part two is idiomatic rhythms in non-Western styles. So, let's get started with part one, idiomatic rhythms In Western styles. "Many styles use idiomatic rhythms. "Can you think of any styles "that have very typical rhythms?" Have a think. You might have said: jazz, which uses swing rhythms, rock, which can use driving rhythms, reggae, using offbeat rhythms, or Latin styles, which use syncopated rhythms. "Driving rhythms are repeated rhythms that use fast notes, "usually quavers or semiquavers. "Often they're used in the accompanying parts. "Some key styles that use driving rhythms are: "Rock 'n' roll." Have a listen. "Rock." Have a listen to that example. "Pop." Have a listen to the pop example. And "Electronic dance music." So, have a listen to that example. All of those use driving rhythms. "Driving rhythms affect the mood and energy of the music. "How would you describe the mood created "by these driving rhythms?" Have a listen to the clip. You might have said something like, "They give the music "a sense of excitement and high energy." "We can use driving rhythms to develop ideas "in a composition. "The accompaniment in this clip here "is developed with driving rhythms." Have a listen. (energetic music) "Jazz uses idiomatic rhythms. "Swing quavers are a defining feature "of many types of jazz." Have a listen to the swing quavers in this melody. Have a listen to the clip. "Swing quavers and the similar shuffle rhythm "are also typical in some other styles. "Do you recognize these two styles?" Have a listen to them both. Did you recognize the styles? First one was blues and the second one was rock 'n' roll. "Reggae has its own distinctive recognizable rhythm, "the skank rhythm. "How would you describe the rhythm played "on the electric guitar?" Have a listen to the clip. "The rhythm's offbeat. "It's often emphasized by: "the drum kit," particularly the hi-hat, and "the organ." So, you can have a listen to both those examples. "The skank rhythm is so recognizable that it's often used "when musicians want to create reggae fusion." Have a listen to this example of skank rhythm being used to create a fusion of reggae and EDM. "The scotch snap is a rhythm typically associated "with Celtic, mostly Scottish and Irish folk music, "consisting of a short accented note "followed by a longer unaccented note." Have a quick listen to a scotch snap. (metronome ticking) (note chimes) Now have a listen to this melody. How many scotch snaps can you count? There were 17 scotch snaps in that melody. Let's do a check for understanding. "What rhythmic feature is associated with jazz?" Is it a, driving rhythms, b, skank, c, swing, or d, scotch snap? Which do you think? Well done if you've got c. Swing is associated with jazz. "What phrase refers to repeated fast rhythms, "often used to create an energetic accompaniment?" What phrase do you think? You should have said driving rhythms. Well done if you did. Let's do Task A. We want you to "write a paragraph "describing the rhythmic features in each excerpt. "Consider the types of note used, repetition and variety, "rhythmic devices and idiomatic rhythms." Pause the lesson video and listen to the three excerpts, and have a go at writing a paragraph for each. How did you get on? You might have written a response something like this. So, for excerpt 1, "This clip features a repeated offbeat skank rhythm "on the electric guitar, which is typical of reggae. "The vocal hook repeats a rhythm every 2 bars. "The bass plays a varied rhythm with some syncopation "and some notes that emphasize the strong beats. "The drum kit plays a simple groove, "which emphasizes beats 2 and 4, "with some fast semiquaver phrases "and some added other percussion "playing additional rhythms." For excerpt 2, you might have said something like, "This clip uses swing quavers, which is typical of jazz. "The soloist," who is playing a "vibraphone, plays fast, "varied rhythms. "The rhythm section plays repeated rhythms "in the background. "The piano plays syncopated off-beat chords "and the double bass plays constant crotchets," which is a walking base. "The drum kit plays a swing groove based on swing quavers, "a strong pulse and accented offbeat 'stabs. '" Except 3 "features repeated quavers in the bass guitar "and rhythm guitar. "These driving rhythms create a sense of energy, "and are typical of rock music. "The drum kit plays a simple repeated groove, "which also plays repeated quavers "with a strong kick-snare pulse. "The lead guitar plays long, sustained notes above them, "which are syncopated." I hope you identified a lot of the same features as we did. Let's move on part two of our lesson, idiomatic rhythms in non-Western styles. "Can you think of any styles from around the world which use idiomatic rhythms?" You might have said bhangra, which uses chaal, reggaeton, using tresillo, or dembow. Many West African styles use polyrhythm and cross rhythms. Or, North Indian classical music often features free rhythms. Did you get any of those or any different ones? "The clave rhythm is often linked with Cuban music, "although its roots are West African. "The son clave is the most common version of the clave. "This is a syncopated five-note rhythm, "grouped 3-2 or 2-3. So here you can see an example of 3-2, and you can have a listen to that. (rhythmic music) And here's 2-3, and you can listen to that version. (rhythmic music) "It is typical in many Latin American styles, "such as salsa, bossa nova, and samba. "Which instrument is playing the son clave here?" Have a listen to the clip. What did you think? Could you pick it out? It was the claves. "The '3' of the clave is called the tresillo rhythm." Have a listen to it. (rhythmic music) "This is commonly used in a range of styles. "Can you identify this style that commonly uses tresillo?" Have a listen. That's reggaeton. "Both the tresillo and clave "have influenced Western pop music. "Can you identify which rhythm is used "in this Beyonce song?" Have a listen to it. Well done if you spotted it's using the clave. That's the 3-2 son clave. And, "which famous pop artist "has used the tresillo rhythm here?" Have a listen. Well done if you spotted that was an Ed Sheeran song. "Tresillo and clave are common in West African styles, "such as Kpanlogo from Ghana. "Which instrument plays he clave here?" Here have a listen to the clip. "A cowbell playing the clave. "They can also be used within polyrhythms, "which is typical in many traditional styles "from the region." What other rhythmic feature is used in this clip? This was a cross rhythm. "Style with roots in the Indian subcontinent "also use idiomatic rhythms. "What the iconic rum rhythm is used in this bhangra clip?" Well done if you've got chaal. Chaal has a strong pulse and can be repeated over and over again, making it suitable to dance to. You can see it notated there, and have a listen to the chaal rhythm. (energetic music) "Chaal is typically played on a dhol drum, "with its two distinct pictures. "A feature of North Indian classical music "is the use of free rhythm. "Free rhythm means playing with no clear sense of pulse, "and the rhythms feel very fluid and free. "In North Indian classical music, "the first section of a composition, "the alap, often uses free rhythm." Have a listen to this example in the sitar. "Free rhythm can be confused with rubato." Remember that, "In rubato the performer "has a defined rhythm, "but they perform it with a flexible tempo." So, you make it feel slightly freer. "Free rhythm is usually used during improvisation, "meaning that there is no specific rhythm "that should be used. "The performer freely plays notes in a very fluid rhythm." Let's do a check for understanding. "What is the name of the iconic rhythm in bhangra, usually played on the dhol?" Is it: a, tresillo, b, clave, or c, chaal? Well done if you've got c, chaal. Chaal is the iconic rhythm in bhangra. "What is the name of the syncopated rhythm "played here on the claves that has different variations "and is often heard in West African and Latin music?" Have a listen to the clip. It's the clave rhythm. In this particular example, it's a 3-2 rumba clave. Let's move on to Task B. We want you to, "Write a paragraph "describing the rhythmic features in each excerpt. "Consider the types of note used, "repetition and variety, "rhythmic devices and idiomatic rhythms." So, pause the lesson video now and listen to the three excerpts and write a paragraph describing the rhythmic features. How did you get on? For excerpt 1, you could have written something like, "This clip features many long sustained notes. "It uses free rhythm, where there is no clear pulse, 'which is common in North Indian classical music. "There are no repeated rhythms. "Instead, the rhythms are varied." For excerpt 2, you might have written something like, "This clip is based on many syncopated rhythms. "It features a repeating poly rhythm "played on percussion instruments. "The woodblock plays the clave rhythm, a 3-2 son clave, "and the double bass uses the tresillo rhythm. "These are both typical of many Latin styles." This is an example of salsa. "The vocalists sing short phrases "with long rests in between, "with other instruments filling in the rhythmic space: "flute, violin, piano, other singers." For excerpt 3, you might have written something like this paragraph. "The wrapping is mostly based on repeated quavers. "The hook in the synthesizer "is based on a repeated 4-beat rhythm. "The accompaniment uses the tresillo rhythm "in the kick and snare drums, which is typical of reggaeton. "There are some very fast drum rolls "at the end of each bar." Well done if you identified a lot of those rhythmic features. Let's summarize today's lesson on idiomatic rhythms around the world. "Many styles around the world "are defined by idiomatic rhythms. "Some of these are linked with specific styles, "such as skank, reggae, chaal in bhangra, "and scotch Snap in Celtic folk. "Others have their roots in specific regions, "but are used in many styles, "such as the clave and tresillo rhythms. "Some are not specific rhythms, but types of rhythms, "such as swing, free rhythms and driving rhythms." I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.