Bulgarian Dances - Background

Background

The proportions of the beats do not follow any exact rational proportions. For example, the well known tune Eleno Mome (Елено Моме) exists written in 7=2+2+1+2, 13=4+4+2+3, and 12=3+4+2+3 times. Here, the forms 4+4+2+3 and 3+4+2+3 exist both as a musicologist's way to attempt to indicate the tendency of speeding up the last and first beats, as well in formal version, where the musician plays 3 or 4 about equal length notes on the beat. In music band playing, the meter 7=2+2+1+2 seems favored, thus skipping some of the time-bending subtleties. Given this fact, though, some meters are more common or popular; but there is a wide variation of less frequent combinations, as well. There is also disagreement about whether one should use 1/8 or 1/16 as meter denominator, but this is just a notational convenience. In the list below, the denominator follows in part notational practice of the region, and in part the speed of the type of tune, giving the 1/4 note a reasonable number of beats per minute (as on a metronome).

Folk dancers often speak in terms of "quick" and "slow" instead of a steady meter "1, 2, 3," etc. These dance rhythms may not agree with the rhythms and meters performed by the musicians. For example, a kopanitsa dance rhythm may be described as slow-slow-quick-quick, whereas the tune may be played in what may be written as (2+2)+(2+1)+(2+2), i.e., an 11 time with primary accent at 1, secondary accents at 5 and 8, and ternary accents at 3, 7, and 10; the dancers thus dance to a meter composition 4+3+2+2, which may also be played by the musicians, e.g., in Traichovo horo (Трайчово хоро). In addition, some tunes may have considerable time bends, such as the Macedonian Žensko Beranče and Bajrače, though viewed as and written in 3+2+2+3+2. Therefore, in dance instruction, quick and slow beat descriptions, in combination with intuition and careful listening, may be a good approach, though not suitable for performing and notating the music. In addition, a dance instructor not familiar with the exact musical rhythms should not demonstrate these dance rhythms without music. It would be best to use a slowed-down playback, lest the dancers become confused at full speed.