Venezuelan Merengue - Rhythmic Structure

Rhythmic Structure

There is no agreed way to properly notate the lilt of the Venezuelan Merengue. There are two main camps, or schools of thought, neither of which represents it properly:

The most frequently used option is to designate a 2/4 rhythm. The first half of the bar is written as an eighth-note triplet. The second half of the bar is written as two eighth notes. The unique swing in the second half is what gives Venezuelan merengue its lilt.

Another approach is to notate the Venezuelan merengue as 5/8. This is the way that traditional musicians used to prefer it as the notation is less busy, but it assumes familiarity with the unique swing of Venezuelan merengue.

Fredy Reyna proposed a third way in his cuatro method, Alfa Beta Cuatro, which consists of a 1/5 bar. It has not been widely adopted.

Regardless of notation, the juxtaposition of 3 against 2 is a very common theme that pervades Venezuelan music and is found in most of its forms, from joropo, to the myriad of Afro-Venezuelan drumming patterns.