davidpenalosa wrote:Hemiolas can be heard in French baroque music, and the music of Mozart, Handel, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky. 6/8 and hemiolas are not foreign to our Euro ears.
The challenge is to hear the two beats as the main beats when there are three crossbeats being sounded. Most often in African music, the three beats are emphasized by the music, while the dancer's feet mark the two main beats.
Mongo Santamaria's original recording of "Afro Blue" begins with the bass playing three crossbeats per measure (or six crossbeats per clave). The cool thing is that the soloists emphasize the main beats. Improvising on a simple pentatonic blues with an onbeat emphasis, creates the complete crossrhythm in a very satisfying way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbE7jf_Hp5w
davidpenalosa wrote:You are very welcome Johnny. More on hemiola:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemiola
Jorge, I hear ya. The original version is my favorite. I especially like Francisco Aguabella's bonkó-like solo.
Mike wrote: Thanks very much for clarifying this, David, very precise as always.
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