Such a great essay. I'll be listening to the material from the jazz interlude all weekend I think ;-)
"We need more music in three all year long."– I'm working on it. West-African music splits its time much more evenly between 3s and 4s (I'd be hard pressed to argue a percentage, but certainly for some regions/styles/musicians, 3s are MORE common than 4s)...and unlike Cuban music, where straight 4 slow-to-mid tempo feels are relatively common, in the Manding world at slower tempos they really do tend to lean into a swinging 3 feeling more (implying 12), straightening out into a clearer duple feeling (think the classic afrobeat rhythm) only at faster tempos. And then there's the huge repertoire of what I would call 6/4 or 3/2 rhythms....anyway. Here's a track by Oumou Sangare that can be heard both as 3/4 and 12/8.
I'm a sucker for jazz waltzes -- I hadn't even realised, till a musician friend made fun of me for it. My favourite is probably Chick Corea's 'Windows' (the version with Hubert Laws on the flute)
Jun 12, 2023·edited Jun 12, 2023Liked by Michelle Mercer
Beautiful and informative. Thanks for this! I read somewhere that the Beatles went on in rehearsal about if "All You Need I Love" should have been in 3 or 4. After some deliberation they stuck with a bar of 4 followed by a bar of 3. Whatever works! It worked. I think it might have been a George Martin interview. Waltz on Michelle!
Thank you! "All You Need Is Love" is an interesting case of mixed meter. Often songs decide on their meter themselves. I wish they'd decide in favor of triple meters a little more often. ;-)
Thanks for your wide-ranging consideration of the "power of 3"! I'll toss two more facets into the mix: [1] the rich, suave and powerful drumming approach that Elvin Jones brought to triple meters. Every decent jazz drummer of my generation knows what's meant if you say "an Elvin 3" -- or, for that matter, a (Bernard) Purdue shuffle; [2] as I understand it, the Cameroon groove called "bikutsi" is commonly a type of 12/8 feel (four triplet quarter-notes per bar, a cousin of swing and shuffle feels). But check out what virtuoso Cameroonian drummer Brice Wassy (credits include Salif Keita and Jean-Luc Ponty) created in his piece "Flip Stories", which is a "bikutsi in 3" (three triplets per bar)!: https://youtu.be/E8z5eaxQtIs
We need way more writing on drummers working with 3, for sure. That bikutsi in 3 is one of the hippest meters I've ever heard that also feels perfectly natural! Thanks for sharing, Jerome!
Jun 12, 2023·edited Jun 12, 2023Liked by Michelle Mercer
Great article! I would like to contribute, many of the songs on Sting's wonderful "Last Ship" album are in 3 (the album came out before the Broadway show). He told me when he was writing the music for the album that he was "bringing back the waltz", so it was a conscious effort to write songs in triple meter.
Such a great essay. I'll be listening to the material from the jazz interlude all weekend I think ;-)
"We need more music in three all year long."– I'm working on it. West-African music splits its time much more evenly between 3s and 4s (I'd be hard pressed to argue a percentage, but certainly for some regions/styles/musicians, 3s are MORE common than 4s)...and unlike Cuban music, where straight 4 slow-to-mid tempo feels are relatively common, in the Manding world at slower tempos they really do tend to lean into a swinging 3 feeling more (implying 12), straightening out into a clearer duple feeling (think the classic afrobeat rhythm) only at faster tempos. And then there's the huge repertoire of what I would call 6/4 or 3/2 rhythms....anyway. Here's a track by Oumou Sangare that can be heard both as 3/4 and 12/8.
https://youtu.be/TbbSDBx_LeM?si=iODEew6T_i6V9dUv
I'm a sucker for jazz waltzes -- I hadn't even realised, till a musician friend made fun of me for it. My favourite is probably Chick Corea's 'Windows' (the version with Hubert Laws on the flute)
"Better off Dead," Elton John
"Half a World Away," R.E.M.
"Chorégraphie des âmes," Klô Pelgag
https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Story%2C+dog+dreams&rlz=1CAYGYA_enUS831US831&oq=The+Story%2C+dog+dreams&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i64.12258j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:caf51353,vid:U5jVxRc6l_Y
Early Jonatha Brooke, yes! I was obsessed with her Woody Guthrie tribute album a while back.
Thanks for this very informative and inspiring article !!!
Some of my favorites :
„Emily“ - Johnny Mandel
„Sno Peas“ -Bill Evans
„Cravo e canela“ - Milton Nascimento - a different treatment, brazilian style !
„Fly me to the moon“ - Bart Howard , originally in 3/4 time
„Answer me“ - Keith Jarrett version
Christian, all strong songs! But I've always had a special love for Milton's "Cravo e Canela." Milton forever.
Beautiful and informative. Thanks for this! I read somewhere that the Beatles went on in rehearsal about if "All You Need I Love" should have been in 3 or 4. After some deliberation they stuck with a bar of 4 followed by a bar of 3. Whatever works! It worked. I think it might have been a George Martin interview. Waltz on Michelle!
Thank you! "All You Need Is Love" is an interesting case of mixed meter. Often songs decide on their meter themselves. I wish they'd decide in favor of triple meters a little more often. ;-)
Thanks for your wide-ranging consideration of the "power of 3"! I'll toss two more facets into the mix: [1] the rich, suave and powerful drumming approach that Elvin Jones brought to triple meters. Every decent jazz drummer of my generation knows what's meant if you say "an Elvin 3" -- or, for that matter, a (Bernard) Purdue shuffle; [2] as I understand it, the Cameroon groove called "bikutsi" is commonly a type of 12/8 feel (four triplet quarter-notes per bar, a cousin of swing and shuffle feels). But check out what virtuoso Cameroonian drummer Brice Wassy (credits include Salif Keita and Jean-Luc Ponty) created in his piece "Flip Stories", which is a "bikutsi in 3" (three triplets per bar)!: https://youtu.be/E8z5eaxQtIs
We need way more writing on drummers working with 3, for sure. That bikutsi in 3 is one of the hippest meters I've ever heard that also feels perfectly natural! Thanks for sharing, Jerome!
Great article! I would like to contribute, many of the songs on Sting's wonderful "Last Ship" album are in 3 (the album came out before the Broadway show). He told me when he was writing the music for the album that he was "bringing back the waltz", so it was a conscious effort to write songs in triple meter.
Thanks, Geoff! Heading over to listen to the whole album, so I can hear how the waltzes fit in. Appreciate you sharing.