Topic
Rhythmic mode
About: Rhythmic mode is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15 publications have been published within this topic receiving 123 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Agawu's African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective as mentioned in this paper presents a model of rhythm in northern Ewe (Ewedome) music from seven Ghanaian towns and in the music of their Akpafu neighbors.
Abstract: African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective. By Kofi Agawu. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. [xx, 217 p. and 1 compact disc. ISBN 0-521-48084-1. $64.95.] Kofi Agawu's stimulating and provocative book African Rhythm: A Northern Ewe Perspective, presents a model of rhythm in northern Ewe (Ewedome) music from seven Ghanaian towns--Peki, Matse, Ziavi, Klefe, Avenut, Kpando, and Ho--and in the music of their Akpafu neighbors. Juxtaposed with a "fictionalized ethnography," the model appears at the end of chapter 1, "Rhythms of Society," and argues that the primordial, originary, rhythmic event is gesture. It lies at the base of four other aspects of rhythmic expression, each generated by the preceding one: (1) the spoken word, having tone and rhythm: (2) vocal music in free and strict rhythm, as is the case with speech and stylized speech; (3) instrumental music, embracing drum language in speech rhythm and dance music in stylized speech rhythm; and (4) dance. In subsequent chapters--"Rhythms of Language," "Rhythms of Song," "Rhythms of Drumming and Dancing," "Rhythms of Musical Performance,"--"Rhythms of Folktale Performance"--Agawu's attempts to demonstrate the model are subverted by claims of a purely musical impulse, rhythm for rhythm's sake (p. 106), purely musical thinking lacking constraints of speech-tone patterns (p. 176), the nonverbal descending melodic line as originary musical element (p. 181), and processual factors, some of which he acknowledges (pp. 182, 183, 184), and others that will he clear to the reader. Agawu defines rhythm as "stress, quantity and resultant pattern" (p. 34) and, by starting with speech acts in chapter 2, gives careful attention to the lone levels and accentual schemes embedded in greetings, announcements, riddles, and prayers. This is a strength of the book, along with its exposition of the musical categories that the Ewedome and Akpafu share with other Ghanaian musical cultures. Among these categories is music for funerals, children, occupational groups, religious practices, recreation, and storytelling. Each adds new information of comparative value, which is enhanced by the accompanying nineteen photographs and compact disc. Agawu emphasizes, however, that the book was not conceived to be a contribution to ethnomusicology (p. 3). In chapter 3 Agawu describes his analytical stance: "The particular generative musical structure developed here, draws on the work of Heinrich Schenker" (p. 201). This frame of reference, along with other tools from music theory, enable him to show the ways in which the recurring patterns of Northern Ewe music are like the rhythmic modes of medieval Europe (p. 34), and how parts of the funeral dirge are sung in a Schoenbergian Sprechstimme (p. 77), the performer highlighting the transformation of "recitative" into "aria" (p. 83, see also p. 171). Upon examination of the Ziavi Zigi group in performance, Agawu asserts in chapter 5, that "the strophic impulse is everywhere in evidence" (p. …
93 citations
Book•
27 Aug 1973
TL;DR: The achievements in musical art in the 12th century and especially those of the Notre Dame composers Leoninus and Perotinus, as seen through an exploration of polyphonic rhythm and modal notation, are discussed in this article.
Abstract: The achievements in musical art in the 12th century and especially those of the Notre Dame composers Leoninus and Perotinus, as seen through an exploration of polyphonic rhythm and modal notation.
19 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, Lysbeth Ford discusses a set of lirrga songs performed for Allan Marett in I998 at Wadeye in Australia's Northern Territory by a group of senior Marn Ngarr men comprising the singers and composers Pros Luckan and Clement Tchinburur, the ritual specialist John Nummar and the karnbi (didjeridu) player Benedict TchinBurur.
Abstract: This essay discusses a set of lirrga songs performed for Allan Marett in I998 at Wadeye in Australia’s Northern Territory by a group of senior Marn Ngarr men comprising the singers and composers Pros Luckan and Clement Tchinburur, the ritual specialist John Nummar and the karnbi (didjeridu) player Benedict Tchinburur. The texts of these songs and information about Marri Ngarr language are presented in the companion essay by Lysbeth Ford in this volume. The song session was performed for Marett to teach him about Marri Ngarr songs, and to document lirrga songs for future generations. After chscussion of the historical origins of the lirrga genre and metaphors ofhminality presented in the song texts, the essay attempts to understand the aesthetic intentions of the composers and performers through analysis of the musical conventions used in the genre and the performers’ shaping of the session by juxtaposition of contrasting rhythmic modes and song subjects.
16 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the gradual dissolution of the modal system and its replacement by the mensural system of Franco of Cologne, attributed to the Notre Dame composers, Leonin and Perotin.
Abstract: system of rhythmic modes, attributed to the Notre Dame composers, Leonin and Perotin, is a moment of inestimable importance in the development of Western music, for the establishment of a rational system of rhythm with its concomitant notation revealed new possibilities of musical growth. The possibilities were soon realized, and the 13th century saw the gradual dissolution of the modal system and its replacement by the mensural system of Franco of Cologne. To keep pace with these manifold activities the theorists of music were forced to turn their attention from
14 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary (VTMMD) as mentioned in this paper is a very respectable music dictionary of terms with the helpful addition of sound samples of the pronunciation of terms, which is used for music annotation.
Abstract: Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. http://www.music .vt.edu/musicdictionary/ (Accessed May-December 2008). [Requires a Web browser and an Internet connection. Sound and video adjuncts may require a media player.] The Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary (VTMMD) is a very respectable music dictionary of terms with the helpful addition of sound samples of the pronunciation of terms. The credits section of the dictionary lists over twenty people who have contributed to the project, led by co-editors Richard Cole and Ed Schwartz, of (respectively) the music and technology departments at Virginia Tech. The dictionary of several thousand words concentrates on terminology. There are no entries for persons or places, although many instruments are represented, and there are a few anomalies such as "American nationalism: Music celebrating the United States of America through the use of patriotic and programatic devices." For the most part, though, the headings here are those one might find in a good pocket dictionary of musical terms. The dictionary is updated frequently, and the last two years of updates are tracked on the Additions and Updates page. According to that page, there were 248 new or updated entries in 2008, between 10 January and 6 November. The definitions are very concise, with few running longer than a couple of sentences, but they are generally accurate and helpful, if not always as complete as the Dolmetsch and Grove sources. Specialized knowledge is not generally required, and when a term is defined in reference to another, the other term is often linked to in the entry. Etymology is not included, but country of origin is generally given. The definition of "Mode" here is itself rather brief, just three sentences, however, links to "Gregorian modes" and "Rhythmic modes" provide easy access to expanded definitions. Foreign-language words are often defined twice, once as they might be in a general dictionary, with a literal translation, and again with an expanded, contextual definition. For example, "A punta d'arco" is "translated" as "[It., point of the bow]", and then defined in context as "a directive to string instrument musicians to perform the indicated passage with the tip of the bow." This definition is further enriched by a photograph and a very brief video example of the technique. Indeed, as its name implies, VTMMD is one of the most mediarich sources reviewed here. …
7 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2009 | 2 |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2005 | 1 |
| 1997 | 1 |