Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with 3 4, 3 8 and 9 8 being the most common examples. In these signatures, beats form groups of three, establishing a triple meter feel in the music or song.The upper figure being divisible by three does not of itself indicate triple metre; for example, a time signature of 6 8 usually indicates compoundduple metre, and similarly 12 8 usually indicates compound quadruple metre.
In popular music, the metre is most often quadruple,[1] but this does not mean that triple metre does not appear. It features in a good amount of music by artists such as The Chipmunks, Louis Armstrong or Bob Dylan.[2]
The term " three-step" to refer to music was initially coined in the mid-2010s by gqom record producers (Sbucardo and Citizen Boy) to describe as well as another name for the South African genre, gqom due to its beat structure associated with triple metre. As the genre gained mainstream popularity and evolved, incorporating a wide range of music production techniques and more styles, other gqom record producers (Emo Kid, DJ Lag, Ben Myster and Menzi) introduced, pioneered and developed a distinct variation of gqom music between the late 2010s and early 2020s known as "3-step" (also referred to as 3 step, three-step, and other variants). The gqom subgenre is characterized by its gqom elements combined with triple metre and broken beat features. Producers frequently blend 3-step with other production styles and musical genres.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
In Yoruba music, triple metre amongst other rhythms, creates a distinctive, flowing quality through a recurring cycle of three beats per measure. The rhythmic structure is commonly found in traditional Yoruba drum music and plays a significant role in shaping dance movements and ceremonial performances. Additionally, triple metre is evident in oríkì chants, where it enriches lyrical expression. Triple metre, in Yoruba music plays a crucial role in cultural and ceremonial contexts.[16][17][18][19][20][21]
↑ Schroedl, Scott (2001). Play Drums Today!, p. 42. Hal Leonard. ISBN0-634-02185-0.
↑ Everett, Walter (2008). "Musical time: rhythm, metre, and tempo". The Foundations of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. p.306. ISBN9780190294977. Despite the great preponderance of quadruple meter, triple time is heard in a good deal of pop music. [...] David Seville [...] The Chipmunks [...] Bob Dylan [...] Louis Armstrong [...] Tom Jones [...]
↑ Kubik, Gerhard (2010-08-27). Theory of African Music, Volume II. University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0-226-45695-9.
↑ Liverpool, Hollis (2001). Rituals of Power and Rebellion: The Carnival Tradition in Trinidad and Tobago, 1763-1962. Research Associates School Times. ISBN978-0-948390-80-7.
↑ Waterman, Christopher Alan (1990-06-15). Juju: A Social History and Ethnography of an African Popular Music. University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0-226-87465-4.
↑ Roberts, John Storm (1998). Black Music of Two Worlds: African, Caribbean, Latin, and African-American Traditions. Schirmer Books. ISBN978-0-02-864929-0.
↑ Feldman, Heidi Carolyn (2006). Black Rhythms of Peru: Reviving African Musical Heritage in the Black Pacific. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN978-0-8195-6814-4.
↑ Chernoff, John Miller (1979). African Rhythm and African Sensibility: Aesthetics and Social Action in African Musical Idioms. University of Chicago Press. ISBN978-0-226-10344-0.
A time signature is a convention in Western music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type are contained in each measure (bar). The time signature indicates the meter of a musical movement at the bar level.
In music, metre or meter refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the performer and expected by the listener.
Polyrhythm is the simultaneous use of two or more rhythms that are not readily perceived as deriving from one another, or as simple manifestations of the same meter. The rhythmic layers may be the basis of an entire piece of music (cross-rhythm), or a momentary section. Polyrhythms can be distinguished from irrational rhythms, which can occur within the context of a single part; polyrhythms require at least two rhythms to be played concurrently, one of which is typically an irrational rhythm. Concurrently in this context means within the same rhythmic cycle. The underlying pulse, whether explicit or implicit can be considered one of the concurrent rhythms. For example, the son clave is poly-rhythmic because its 3 section suggests a different meter from the pulse of the entire pattern.
In music theory, the pulse is a series of uniformly spaced beats—either audible or implied—that sets the tempo and is the scaffolding for the rhythm. By contrast, rhythm is always audible and can depart from the pulse. So while the rhythm may become too difficult for an untrained listener to fully match, nearly any listener instinctively matches the pulse by simply tapping uniformly, despite rhythmic variations in timing of sounds alongside the pulse.
Duple metre is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples (simple) or 6 and multiples (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with 2 2, 2 4, and 6 8 being the most common examples.
In music, a tuplet is "any rhythm that involves dividing the beat into a different number of equal subdivisions from that usually permitted by the time-signature " This is indicated by a number, or sometimes two indicating the fraction involved. The notes involved are also often grouped with a bracket or a slur.
Triple step is a generic term for dance step patterns that describes three steps or rhythms for instance done on two or four main beats of music. Usually they are two quick steps and one slow one, i.e., often they are counted as "quick-quick-slow", "one-and-two", "three-and-four", etc.
Four-on-the-floor is a rhythm used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4 4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat . This was popularized in the disco music of the 1970s and the term four-on-the-floor was widely used in that era, since the beat was played with the pedal-operated, drum-kit bass drum.
"Take Five" is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond. It was first recorded in 1959 and is the third track on Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Frequently covered by a variety of artists, the track is the biggest-selling jazz song of all time and a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee.
Time Out is a studio album by the American jazz group the Dave Brubeck Quartet, released in 1959 on Columbia Records. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studio in New York City, it is based upon the use of time signatures that were unusual for jazz such as 9 8, 6 4 and 5 4. The album is a subtle blend of cool and West Coast jazz.
The Zulu people are a South African ethnic group. Many Zulu musicians have become a major part of South African music, creating a huge influence in the music industry. A number of Zulu-folk derived styles have become well known across South Africa and abroad. Zulu music has dominated many genres in South Africa, especially house music, folk music, acapella, choral music and gospel. In fact, some of the most popular songs from South Africa are in isiZulu.
Sextuple metre or sextuple time is a musical metre characterized by six beats in a measure. Like the more common duple, triple, and quadruple metres, it may be simple, with each beat divided in half, or compound, with each beat divided into thirds. The most common time signatures for simple sextuple metre are 6 4 and 6 8, and compound sextuple metre is most often written in 18 8 or 18 16. A time signature of 18 8 or 18 16, however, does not necessarily mean that the bar is a sextuple metre with each beat divided into three. It may, for example, be used to indicate a bar of triple metre in which each beat is subdivided into six parts. In this case, the metre is sometimes characterized as "triple sextuple time". Such a division of time may be encountered more frequently in the Baroque period: for example, variation 26 of the Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach has 18 16 in one hand against 3 4 in the other, exchanging hands at intervals until the last five bars where both hands are in 18 16. Using 3 4 for both hands would result in continuous sextuplets.
A bell pattern is a rhythmic pattern of striking a hand-held bell or other instrument of the idiophone family, to make it emit a sound at desired intervals. It is often a key pattern, in most cases it is a metal bell, such as an agogô, gankoqui, or cowbell, or a hollowed piece of wood, or wooden claves. In band music, bell patterns are also played on the metal shell of the timbales, and drum kit cymbals.
In music, a cross-beat or cross-rhythm is a specific form of polyrhythm. The term cross rhythm was introduced in 1934 by the musicologist Arthur Morris Jones (1889–1980). It refers to a situation where the rhythmic conflict found in polyrhythms is the basis of an entire musical piece.
Tresillo is a rhythmic pattern used in Latin American music. It is a more basic form of the rhythmic figure known as the habanera.
Countdown—Time in Outer Space is a studio album released by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1962 on Columbia LP record CS 8575 (stereo) and CL 1775 (mono). The front cover features the 1959 painting Orange and Black Wall by Franz Kline. In Australia the album appeared on the Coronet label. It was re-released, for the first time in digital format, in 2004 as part of a compact disc collection titled Dave Brubeck: For All Time. It was again released as part of the box set The Dave Brubeck Quartet: the Columbia Studio Albums Collection 1955-1966. Both CD re-releases feature a bonus track titled "Fatha".
Gqom, gqom tech, sgubhu, 3-Step or G.Q.O.M) is an electronic dance music genre and subgenre of house music that emerged in the early 2010s from Durban, South Africa, pioneered and innovated by music producers Naked Boyz, Rudeboyz, Sbucardo, Griffit Vigo, Nasty Boyz, DJ Lag, Menzi Shabane, Distruction Boyz and Citizen Boy.
Amapiano, a South African music genre taken from the Zulu word for "pianos", is a subgenre of kwaito and house music that emerged in South Africa in the mid-2010s. It is a hybrid of deep house, gqom, jazz, soul and lounge music characterized by synths and wide, percussive basslines.
Undecuple meter or undecuple time is a musical meter in which each measure is divided into 11 equally spaced beats, usually notated as either 11 4 or 11 8. It is usually subdivided into groupings of two or three beats.
Triple step, in music, represents a rhythmic pattern covering three dance steps done on music.
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