Tresillo (rhythm) - Knowledge

915: 1737: 873: 1494: 1212: 1001: 1654: 1879:(Spanish tres = three). This rhythmically syncopated part of the clave is called the three-side or the strong part of the clave. The second cell has two strokes and is called the two-side or the weak part of the clave... The different accent types in the melodic line typically encounter with the clave strokes, which have some special name. Some of the clave strokes are accented both in more traditional tambores batá music and in more modern salsa styles. Because of the popularity of these strokes, some special terms have been used to identify them. The second stroke of the strong part of the clave is called 1535: 1458: 1489:) to be an essential ingredient of jazz. Morton stated, "Now in one of my earliest tunes, "New Orleans Blues", you can notice the Spanish tinge. In fact, if you can't manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz." An excerpt of "New Orleans Blues" is shown below. In the excerpt, the left hand plays the tresillo rhythm, while the right hand plays variations on cinquillo. 968: 1575: 746: 1385: 718: 1032: 789: 1891:. In Cuban popular genres, this stroke is often accented in unison breaks that transition between the song sections (Peñalosa 2009, 95; Mauleón 1993, 169). The third typical way to accent the clave strokes is to play a rhythm cell, which includes both bombo and ponche accents. This rhythm cell is called 1530:, the first known jazz musician, is credited with creating the big four, a tresillo/habanera-based pattern. The big four was the first syncopated bass drum pattern to deviate from the standard on-the-beat march. As the example below shows, the second half of the big four pattern is the habanera rhythm. 1644:

Fats Domino's "Blue Monday", produced by Bartholomew, is another example of this now classic use of tresillo in R&B. On Bartholomew's 1949 tresillo-based "Oh Cubanas" we clearly hear an attempt to blend African American and Afro-Cuban music. In his composition "Misery" (1957), New Orleans pianist

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of the hemiola are generated by grouping triple pulses in twos: 6 pulses ÷ 2 = 3 cross-beats. Tresillo is generated by grouping duple pulses in threes: 8 pulses ÷ 3 = 2 cross-beats (consisting of three pulses each), with a remainder of a partial cross-beat (spanning two pulses). In other words, 8 ÷ 3

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I heard the bass playing that part on a 'rumba' record. On "Country Boy" I had my bass and drums playing a straight swing rhythm and wrote out that rumba bass part for the saxes to play on top of the swing rhythm. Later, especially after rock 'n' roll came along, I made the 'rumba' bass part heavier

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the beats. From a metrical perspective then, the two ways of perceiving tresillo constitute two different rhythms. On the other hand, from the perspective of simply the pattern of attack-points, tresillo is a shared element of traditional folk music from the northwest tip of Africa to southeast tip

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It is probably safe to say that by and large the simpler African rhythmic patterns survived in jazz ... because they could be adapted more readily to European rhythmic conceptions. Some survived, others were discarded as the Europeanization progressed. It may also account for the fact that patterns

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Although the difference between the two ways of notating this rhythm may seem small, they stem from fundamentally different conceptions. Those who wish to convey a sense of the rhythm's background , and who understand the surface morphology in relation to a regular subsurface articulation, will

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and is played on a drum of the same name. The drum is played by two performers: one straddles the drum, playing on the drumhead with both hands and a foot (which is used to dampen and undampen the drumhead in order to produce different pitches); the other performer uses a pair of sticks (called

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refers to a subdivision of the beat that does not normally occur within the given structure. Therefore, it is indicated by the number 3 between the halves of a horizontal bracket over the notes, as shown below. The first measure divides each beat in three: one, and, ah, two, and, ah. The second

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Schuller, Gunther (1968: 19) "It is probably safe to say that by and large the simpler African rhythmic patterns survived in jazz ... because they could be adapted more readily to European rhythmic conceptions. Some survived, others were discarded as the Europeanization progressed. It may also

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would take the twice-daily ferry between both cities to perform and not surprisingly, the habanera quickly took root in the musically fertile city of New Orleans. The habanera was the first of many Cuban music genres which enjoyed periods of popularity in the United States, and reinforced and

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and others, Bartholomew assigned this repeating three-note pattern not just to the string bass, but also to electric guitars and even baritone sax, making for a very heavy bottom. He recalls first hearing the figure – as a bass pattern on a Cuban

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extensively. With Gottschalk, we see the beginning of serious treatment of Afro-Caribbean rhythmic elements in New World art music. Tresillo and the habanera rhythm are heard in the left hand of Gottschalk's salon piano compositions such as

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Tresillo in African American music is one of the clearest examples of African rhythmic retention in the United States. There are examples of tresillo-like rhythms in a few African American folk musics such as the foot stomping patterns in

834:. Every triple-pulse pattern has its duple-pulse correlate; the two pulse structures are two sides of the same coin. Cross-beats are generated by grouping pulses contrary to their given structure, for example: groups of two or four in 766: 778: 1054:

Although the triplet divides the main beats by three pulses (triple-pulse) and tresillo divides them by four pulses (duple-pulse), the two figures share the same pulse names: one, one-ah, two-and. The common figure known as the

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as fortuitous, a product of grouping rather than of metrical structure. They will be tempted to deny that African music has a bona fide metrical structure because of its frequent departures from normative grouping

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postulates that the habanera rhythm "found its way into ragtime and the cakewalk", while Roberts suggests that "the habanera influence may have been part of what freed black music from ragtime's European bass."

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first employed this figure (as a saxophone-section riff) on his own 1949 disc "Country Boy" and subsequently helped make it the most over-used rhythmic pattern in 1950s rock 'n' roll. On numerous recordings by

982:" (1863) is one of the most popular habaneras, having been produced and reinterpreted in diverse cultures, settings, arrangements, and recordings over the last 140 years. The song was composed and written by 1855:

of Asia. Today, through the global spread of hip-hop music, we hear the tresillo bass drum superimposed over traditional genres in dance clubs across the vast Africa–Asia "tresillo-belt".

1912:"-Latin rhythms have been absorbed into black American styles far more consistently than into white popular music, despite Latin music's popularity among whites." (Roberts 1979: 41). 788: 952:}} Because of the habanera's global popularity, tresillo and its variants are found in popular music in nearly every city on the planet. Later, Cuban musical exports, such as the 748: 1709:, the bass switches to tresillo at 2:20. This type of African-based rhythmic interplay between the two pulse (subdivision) structures, was explored in the 1940s by 1641:, a common practice of that time. On Bartholomew's 1949 tresillo-based "Oh Cubanas", we clearly hear an attempt to blend African American and Afro-Cuban music. 2182: 764: 1887:

2009, 93-94). The second common clave stroke accented among these improvisations is the third stroke of the strong part of the clave. This stroke is called

868:, is known in Afro-Cuban music as tresillo. The pulse names of tresillo and the three cross-beats of the hemiola (3:2) are identical: one, one-ah, two-and. 776: 2216: 1471:

bands had habaneras in their repertoire and the tresillo/habanera was a rhythmic staple of jazz at the turn of the 20th century. For example, "

1924: 1883:. It is the most often accented clave stroke in my research material. Accenting it clearly identifies the three-side of the clave (Peñalosa 1835:

prefer the divisive format. Those who imagine the addition of three, then three, then two sixteenth notes will treat the well-formedness of

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In the example below, the main beats are indicated by slashed noteheads. They are shown here for reference and do not indicate bass notes.

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pattern is another common embellishment of tresillo. Cinquillo is used frequently in the Cuban contradanza (the "habanera") and the

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clave pattern has two opposing rhythm cells: the first cell consists of three strokes, or the rhythm cell, which is called

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From the perspective of African American music, the habanera rhythm can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the

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account for the fact that patterns such as ... remained one of the most useful and common syncopated patterns in jazz."

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during the Colonial period. The pattern is also the most fundamental and most prevalent duple-pulse rhythmic cell in

600: 2175: 1518:" rhythm is based on the first two strokes of tresillo. Johnson said he learned the rhythm from dockworkers in the 1792:. Tresillo is used in many different types of music across the entire continent of Africa. Use of the pattern in 1653: 1615: 800:

In sub-Saharan rhythm, the four main beats are typically divided into three or four pulses, creating a 12-pulse (

431: 1364:). The habanera was the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African motif (1803). Musicians from 1726: 481: 2208: 948:

figure in the left hand. The habanera was the first dance music from Cuba to be exported all over the world.{{

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In divisive form, the strokes of tresillo contradict the beats. In additive form, the strokes of tresillo

1774: 1771: 1736: 1729:. Throughout the piece, the four beats, whether sounded or not, are maintained as the temporal referent. 1223: 1031: 1000: 940:, was the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African motif (tresillo and its variants).{{ 914: 872: 535: 511: 416: 2523: 2484: 1660: 1541: 1500: 1391: 1165: 1106: 1072: 724: 643: 1023:

As used in Cuban popular music, tresillo refers to the "three-side" (first three strokes) of the son

1960:. Shown in common time and then in cut time with tied sixteenth & eighth note rather than rest. 1696: 1493: 1449:

were forming and developing, the habanera was a consistent part of African American popular music.

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Because of the popularity of the Cuban contradanza (habanera), the tresillo variant known as the

1038: 1007: 910:= 2, r2. Tresillo is a cross-rhythmic fragment. It contains the first three cross-beats of 4:3. 2580: 1515: 1472: 1351: 681:

pattern is another common embellishment of tresillo. Cinquillo is used frequently in the Cuban

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may never be known, there is evidence that the habanera/tresillo was there at its conception.

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and the post-Civil War drum and fife music. Tresillo is also heard prominently in New Orleans

905:. The habanera rhythm is the duple-pulse correlate of the vertical hemiola (above). The three 717: 636: 78: 2412: 1691:

composed by a non-Latin to play off of the correlation between tresillo and the hemiola, was

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began incorporating Afro-Cuban rhythmic motifs in the 1800s with the popularity of the Cuban

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In bélé, the cinquillo-tresillo is beat out by the tibwa, but it translates very well to the

1901:"The Relation Between clave Pattern and Violin Improvisation in Santería's Religious Feasts" 1813: 1122:

Tresillo is the rhythmic basis of many African and Afro-Cuban drum rhythms, as well as the

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and heavier. I'd have the string bass, an electric guitar and a baritone all in unison.

1422: 516: 461: 139: 1800:. This pattern may have migrated east from North Africa to Asia through the spread of 1679:" is perhaps the most well known rock 'n roll example of the tresillo rhythm pattern. 1099: 338: 2427: 2279: 2094: 2031: 2011: 1977: 1953: 1796:

can be traced back to slaves brought north across the Sahara Desert from present-day

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such as ... remained one of the most useful and common syncopated patterns in jazz.

1754: 1676: 1591: 1557: 1511: 1359: 1151: 935: 889: 884: 619: 614: 568: 456: 436: 411: 406: 182: 1457: 1437:" (1909) is considered a habanera. For the more than quarter-century in which the 1266:) to beat out characteristic and intricate cross-rhythms on the side of the drum. 2544: 2419: 1821: 1809: 1434: 1412: 1204: 446: 265: 194: 119: 83: 53: 1150:. The example below shows a tresillo-based tumbao from "Alza los pies Congo" by 1793: 1600: 1519: 1416: 1024: 983: 451: 311: 296: 2517: 2478: 1808:, the Tresillo pattern is referred to as "Malfouf". African-based music has a 1425:

states that "the habanera reached the United States 20 years before the first

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on the snare while the chacha or hi-hats play the cinquillo-tresillo rhythm.

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Dave Bartholomew quoted by Palmer, Robert (1988: 27) “The Cuban Connection”

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singing and by dancing. The tibwa rhythm also provided inspiration for the

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The 3:2 Relationship as the Foundation of Timelines in West African Musics

178: 104: 1714: 1706: 1596: 1523: 1369: 1355: 1286: 1207:" based on a habanera pattern. The first seven measures are shown below. 1135: 1131: 957: 931: 682: 627: 363: 210: 204: 200: 174: 144: 93: 2052:

The Latin Tinge: The Impact of Latin American Music on the United States

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in 1861. In the excerpt below, the left hand plays the tresillo rhythm.

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The Clave Matrix: Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins

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The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins

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Struggling to Define a Nation: American Music and the Twentieth Century

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inspired the use of tresillo-based rhythms in African American music.

1331: 73: 1789: 1758: 1335: 1248: 1228: 1186: 1084: 979: 678: 663: 1649:(Henry Roeland Byrd) plays a habanera-like figure in his left hand. 1574: 1088: 967: 686: 245: 159: 109: 1618:, Bartholomew revealed how he initially superimposed tresillo over 1438: 1123: 986: 945: 149: 124: 114: 2562:

Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions

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Tresillo written in divisive form (top) and additive form (bottom)

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continued to reinforce the use of tresillo bass lines and vamps.

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Tresillo is found within a wide geographic belt stretching from

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This article is about the rhythmic pattern. For the letter, see

1984:. Shown with tied sixteenth & eighth note rather than rest. 1805: 1583: 1365: 1195: 1127: 63: 1903:. Department of Musicology, University of Turku, Finland. Web. 1296:

In zouk, the rhythm is often simplified to an almost-constant

864:. The duple-pulse correlative of the three cross-beats of the 626:. It is a more basic form of the rhythmic figure known as the 586: 1801: 1281:

music. The biguine, a modern form of bélé, is accompanied by

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Morton, “Jelly Roll” (1938: Library of Congress Recording)

1899:, 277; Mauleón 1993, 169-170). Iivari, Ville (2011: 1, 5). 1797: 1468: 1446: 1419:", although technically, the pattern is only half a clave. 1327: 1200: 993: 659: 592: 577: 2519:

Arab Rhythmology / Mizan Project – Malfouf Egyptian rhythm

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structure. Tresillo is generated through cross-rhythm. In

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used the tresillo bass pattern in his 1958 jazz standard “

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city of the same name. Although the exact origins of jazz

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