View source for Aksak

{{Use shortened footnotes|date=November 2020}}
In [[Ottoman music|Ottoman musical theory]], '''''aksak''''' ({{Langx|ota|آغساق|aġsak}}) is a rhythmic system in which pieces or sequences, executed in a fast tempo, are based on the uninterrupted reiteration of a matrix, which results from the juxtaposition of [[rhythmic cell]]s based on the alternation of binary and ternary quantities, as in {{serif|'''2+3'''}}, {{serif|'''2+2+3'''}}, {{serif|'''2+3+3'''}}, etc. The name literally means "limping", "stumbling", or "slumping", and has been borrowed by Western ethnomusicologists to refer generally to irregular, or [[additive meter]]s.{{sfn|Brăiloiu|1951}}{{sfn|Fracile|2003|loc=198}}{{sfn|Reinhard|Stokes|Reinhard|2001|loc=§II, 4}}

In [[Turkish folk music]], these metres occur mainly in vocal and instrumental dance music, though they are found also in some folksongs. Strictly speaking, in Turkish music theory the term refers only to the grouping of nine pulses into a pattern of {{serif|'''2+2+2+3'''}}.{{sfn|Reinhard|Stokes|Reinhard|2001|loc=§II, 4}} Some examples are shown below.{{Additional citations needed|date=April 2012|reason=The Turkish names for the first three are found in Reinhard, Stokes, and Reinhard, but where do the Bulgarian names and the other five patterns come from?}}

{| class=wikitable
!Units
!Subdivision
!Name(s)
|-
| rowspan="2" | 5
| {{serif|'''2+3'''}}
| ''Türk Aksağı'' [Bulg: ''[[Paidushko horo|Paidushko]]'']
|-
| {{serif|'''3+2'''}}
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 7
| {{serif|'''2+2+3'''}}
| ''Devr-i Turan'' {{Citation needed|date=October 2014|reason=Reinhard, Stokes, and Reinhard give the name "devr-i hindi" for septuple meters generally, but do not clearly say whether the subdivisions may make a difference, as they do clearly state is the case for "aksak". Bektaş gives examples of devr-i hindi, but not of devr-i turan.}} [Bulg. ''[[Račenica]]'']
|-
| {{serif|'''2+3+2'''}}
|
|-
| {{serif|'''3+2+2'''}}
| ''Devr-i Hindi'' {{sfn|Bektaş|2005|loc=6–7}} [Bulg. ''[[Lesnoto]]'', ''Četvorno'']
|-
| rowspan="4" | 9
| {{serif|'''2+2+2+3'''}}
| ''Aksak'' [Bulg. ''[[Daychovo horo|Daychovo]]'']
|-
| {{serif|'''3+2+2+2'''}}
| 
|-
| {{serif|'''2+2+3+2'''}}
| 
|-
| {{serif|'''2+3+2+2'''}}
| [Bulg: ''[[Grancharsko horo|Grancharsko]]'']
|-
| rowspan="2" | 11
| {{serif|'''2+2+2+2+3'''}}
|
|-
| {{serif|'''2+2+3+2+2'''}}
| [Bulg. ''[[Gankino]]'']
|-
| rowspan="3" | 13
| {{serif|'''2+2+2+2+2+3'''}}
| [Bulg. ''Elenino horo'']
|-
| {{serif|'''2+2+2+3+2+2'''}}
| [Bulg. ''Krivo Sadovsko horo'']
|-
| {{serif|'''3+4+4+2'''}}
| ''Şarkı Devr-i Revâni''
|-
| 15
| {{serif|'''2+2+2+2+3+2+2'''}}
| [Bulg. ''Bučimiš'']
|-
| 18
| {{serif|'''(3+2+2) + (2+2+3+2+2)'''}}
| [Bulg. ''Jove Malaj Mome'']
|-
|22
|{{Serif|'''(2+2+2+3) + (2+2+2+3) + (2+2)'''}}
|[Bulg. ''Sandansko Horo'']
|-
| 25
| {{serif|'''(3+2+2) + (3+2+2) + (2+2+3) + (2+2)'''}}
| [Bulg. ''Sedi Donka'']
|}

==In jazz==
The ''aksak'' rhythm {{music|time|2+2+2+3|8}} is prominently featured in the [[jazz standard]] "[[Blue Rondo à la Turk]]" by [[Dave Brubeck]].{{sfn|User|2015}}

==In rock==
The Belgian experimental rock group [[Aksak Maboul]] take their name from this rhythm.

==See also==
*[[Additive rhythm and divisive rhythm]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Works cited===
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Bektaş|2005}}|reference=Bektaş, Tolga. 2005. "Relationships between Prosodic and Musical Meters in the Beste Form of Classical Turkish Music". ''Asian Music'' 36, no. 1 (Winter–Spring): 1-26.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Brăiloiu|1951}}|reference=Brăiloiu, Constantin. 1951. "Le rythme Aksak" ''Revue de Musicologie'' 33, nos. 99 and 100 (December): 71–108.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Fracile|2003}}|reference=Fracile, Nice. 2003. "The 'Aksak' Rhythm, a Distinctive Feature of the Balkan Folklore". ''Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae'' 44, nos. 1 and 2:197–210.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Reinhard|Stokes|Reinhard|2001}}|reference=[[Kurt Reinhard (musicologist)|Reinhard, Kurt]], Martin Stokes, and Ursula Reinhard. 2001. "Turkey". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]. London: Macmillan Publishers.}}
*{{wikicite|ref={{harvid|User|2015}}|reference=User. 2015. “[https://web.archive.org/web/20160916170452/http://academy.jazz.org/the-music-of-dave-brubeck/ The Music of Dave Brubeck]”. Jazz Academy website (accessed 16 September 2016).}}

==Further reading==
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Arom|2004}}|reference=Arom, Simha. 2004. "L'aksak: Principes et typologie". ''Cahiers de Musiques Traditionnelles'' 17 (Formes musicales): 11–48.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Cler|1994}}|reference=Cler, Jérôme. 1994. "Pour une théorie de l'aksak". ''Revue de Musicologie'' 80, no. 2:181–210.}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Tanrikorur|1990}}|reference=Tanrikorur, Cinugen. 1990. "Concordance of Prosodic and Musical Meters in Turkish Classical Music". ''Turkish Music Quarterly'' 3, no. 1: 1–7.}}

[[Category:Rhythm and meter]]
[[Category:Music of Turkey]]