ABSTRACT
Given that the number of possible rhythms with ve onsets and 16 pulses is 4368, a natural question that arises is: how many of these rhythms are used as timelines in traditional music practice around the world? In other words, what is the competition? Naturally, many of the rhythms in this family, such as [x x x x x. . . . . . . . . . .] and [. x x x x x. . . . . . . . . .], for example, do not appear to be very interesting as timelines. erefore, one might venture a guess of perhaps a number between 50 and 100. However, even this number is too large. In the ethnomusicology literature, it is di cult to nd more than a dozen traditional 5-onset, 16-pulse timelines. Of these, six have made a signicant mark as timelines in the music of the world. ese distinguished rhythms are shown in box notation in Figure 7.1, and for pedagogical reasons I have chosen them to illustrate many of the concepts explored in this book. is list is in no way suggestive that the other 4362 rhythms are not good for some function in music. For example, by permuting the durations in these six rhythms, one may obtain other rhythms that could serve quite well as timelines in some contexts. Many more could be used as rhythmic solos and variations in a large variety of music, and would sound attractive to the modern ear. However, these six are the rhythms that have been adopted over vast expanses
of historical time to serve as timelines in traditional music. Because they are distinguished in this sense, they are worthy to be studied in depth. When a rhythm is described as “good” in this book, the word is intended to denote that it is eective as a timeline, as judged by cultural traditions and the test of time.
