rhythm and metre

Question 1

tempo

Answer 1

is fast and the metre is 12/8, compound quadruple

Question 2

the gankogui

Answer 2

plays a rhythmic ostinato throughout the performance which serves as a time line and acts as a reference point for the other performers

Question 3

despite the time sig

Answer 3

the gankogui part consists of an additive rhythm of 2+3+2+2+3, which gives it a syncopated effect

Question 4

concept of a main beat

Answer 4

is fundamental to this music; additionally the gankogui helpfully emphasises the first beat of each four-beat pattern by playing the sole lower octave note in its ostinato

Question 5

the music is

Answer 5

polyrhythmic throughout

Question 6

cross-rhythms

Answer 6

are common - bar 14

Question 7

the atsimevu part

Answer 7

contains the greatest rhythmic interest and complexity including double dotting, bar 8, triplets, bar 14, unusual accents, bar 14, many irregular rhythms, bar 38 and ties, bar 44

Question 8

syncopation

Answer 8

is a permanent feature because of the gankogui pattern but also appear regularly in the atsimevu part

Question 9

the sogo part

Answer 9

from bar 3 plays a simple three quaver pattern but it is rhythmically displaced to start one quaver after each main beat - gives it an anapaestic effect throughout the piece

Question 10

the master drummer

Answer 10

reacts to the playing of the sogo later on in the piece, after bar 14, by displacing his rhythm to be one quaver before each main beat

Question 11

metrical disruption

Answer 11

is a common feature in the atsimevu part, bar 35- the first half of the bar seems to sub-divide into three creating a hemiola-like effect

Question 12

homorhythm

Answer 12

at close

Question 13

varied rhythmic pattern

Answer 13

dotted rhythms bar 26