Basic odd rhythm patterns in Serbian songs (Balkan songs tutorials)

[@jokervienna6433]

Thank you for posting this! I grew up playing the drums, but as a westerner I learned 4/4 and those rythms. Some 35 years ago, my drum teacher presented me Balkan folk music in 13/8. I never got it but I also never stopped thinking about it. With your help, I can now see some patterns. Thank you again - I will not have to die not knowing this.

[@musicavivaserbia]

I am really glad this helped! In classical music schools here in Serbia, we learn those rhythms from the first day, as well as western rhythms. To me it seems so simple. I thought it is the same everywhere.

[@jokervienna6433]

@@musicavivaserbia it might be simple if you go to music school in Serbia. There are (for me) strange rythms from all over Balkan, to the middle east and then to India. I basically only had a few private teachers, most of what I know I simply played (or tried to). Your video helped me a lot, so thanks again!

[@StrawDogsPu]

@@musicavivaserbiaone thing I’ve noticed from music school in America is the lack of odd time signatures using an 8th note grouping instead of quarter. It seems much more common that I come across music in 5/4 or 7/4 than I do 5/8 or 7/8, and a lot of people would count 5/4 as “1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 +”. My brain has always clicked more with strings of note groupings that alternate between 2 and 3, like you’re using to explain in this video. Thanks for the lesson, I’ve been listening to a Bulgarian folk-fusion group called Farmer’s Market and this video certainly helped me make sense of some of the more esoteric rhythms from a German-classical sense. As I get more into music from around the world I’ve been realizing that 9/8 is one of my favorite time signatures, it has so much possibility.

[@musicavivaserbia]

@ thank you for your comment. I’ve noticed that many people in the west have some kind of misunderstanding of odd rhythms in general, but in fact these rhythms are easy and natural. That’s the aim of this video. And yes, 9/8 is so reach in possibilities!

[@fuma4211]

thankyou! I am japanese and I have wanted to learn balkan rhythm.

[@musicavivaserbia]

I'm glad!

[@eeyorehaferbock7870]

Honestly, I really like how you made all these rhythms easier to understand by subdividing them into 2’s and 3’s. It’s interesting how, generally speaking, an odd time signature is essentially created by taking an even number of beats and then adding one extra beat to throw off the rhythm just a little.

[@musicavivaserbia]

You're absolutely correct!

[@SamChaneyProductions]

Not always a good way to think about it. For instance, 9/8 is most often felt as 3 sets of 3, so basically like 3/4 with triplet feel. Thinking about it as an even number of beats plus an extra one extra beat at the end would give you a completely different time feel

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@SamChaneyProductions of course! When 9/8 is divided in triplets, it is not an ‘odd’ pattern at all. It is uneven only when it’s divided in 3+2+2+2… or similarly.

[@eeyorehaferbock7870]

@@musicavivaserbiaif anything, wouldn’t an unevenly subdivided 9/8 usually be seen as 9/4? I know of a song by the American alternative/progressive metal band Mudvayne that does the latter by alternating between 5/4 and 4/4 bars.

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@eeyorehaferbock7870 Yes, 9/8 and 9/4 may sound very similar.

[@SAZIZMUSIC]

Thank you very much ... i love Balkan music ... and i am from India 😃🇮🇳 .. yes you are right .. our traditional rhythm is very complex.

[@musicavivaserbia]

Thank you! Yes Indian rhythms are beyond my knowledge.

[@SAZIZMUSIC]

@@musicavivaserbia Ha ha even i don't understand much :) :)

[@enozmah6081]

@@musicavivaserbia I'm from the Balkans and I love indian music ☺

[@eeyorehaferbock7870]

Bit of a funny anecdote: so my dad used to be a professional drummer playing in all sorts of obscure bands, and he actually went to India for a while to learn tabla drumming at one point. So he knows about the extreme rhythmic complexities of Indian music in spite of not being Indian himself. With that being said, I do remember him saying at one point that Indians he met actually somehow had a harder time comprehending 4/4 signatures in spite of those being considered the default straightforward rhythm in western music. So make of that what you will!

[@juliancochran]

Excellent teaching. Thank you for creating this.

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@juliancochran I’m glad it’s usefull. 🙏

[@Markry-if9ex]

I first stumbled upon kad sam bio Mali and many other Baja Mali knindza songs when living in Serbia and realised many krajiske pjesme are in 7/8

[@SevenRavens007]

Very good teaching. Thank you, I will be practicing these rhythms in my mind while on the train to work today.

[@musicavivaserbia]

Thank you for your comment. Good idea!

[@SevenRavens007]

@@musicavivaserbiapeople looked at me while I was quietly practicing these rhythms on the train, but I just smiled back. It was fun, and thank you for posting!

[@Davidbuzz79]

Thanks!! exactly what i need!!!! thanks a lot,nice explaining with much heart and talent!!!

[@musicavivaserbia]

I'm glad.

[@eli_liguz]

This is the best and most clearly explained and calming video on rhythm I’ve ever seen, thanks for sharing!

[@musicavivaserbia]

Oh, thank you Eli! I am really glad it helped.

[@jeffrogers210]

Thanks for sharing these cool time signatures and rhythms!

[@FilipPivec]

Hvala Vam puno Marita, video sa objasnjenjima je odličan. 👏🙂 Svako dobro, Filip

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@FilipPivec Hvala i Vama na komentaru.

[@robertb8673]

I want her to analyse lateralus by tool.😏 Dobra lekcia ,hvala za pomoć i pozdrav iz nemačke od jednog giratista srbskom poreklu. 👋

[@musicavivaserbia]

Hvala. That Lateralus thing is not for me. Too many notes. ;)

[@scholezbeats]

love your videos, been struggling with these odd time signatures. Your videos really helped me out🙌🙌🙌

[@musicavivaserbia]

I'm really glad they helped you. Thank you for the comment.

[@Vuavua91]

I appreciate the knowledge!!! 👋

[@darbrooklyn]

Thank you Marita! You're great teacher!

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@darbrooklyn Thank you! I’m glad it helped.

[@squids]

Amazing!

[@lukeg2091]

you're quite good at explaining these concepts

[@Susanzakho]

You are the best teacher thank youuuuuuu very much for this beautiful video.

[@musicavivaserbia]

I'm glad it was useful for you!

[@alysmorais]

Thanks!!!

[@jasminv8653]

Very cool video! I'm from finland where we have nothing like this in our traditional music (it's very much an even 8-beat rhythm in pre-western traditional music or then entirely freeform herding calls and such, and with more western influence the typical waltzes and marches). Today's balkan music is so interesting to listen to, and this made it a little bit more approachable! Thank you ❤

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@jasminv8653 thank you for your kind comment! Oh, I like herding calls from northern Finland, and shamanic songs from that area.

[@godblessourdeadkotatsu8331]

This is beautiful, thank you!

[@musicavivaserbia]

I made it to be useful and simple as it is. Thank you. :)

[@guillermoluque6463]

Graciaaas, desde españa. You are the best!!

[@veliborivezic4211]

Super hvala puno.

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@veliborivezic4211 ❤️

[@Behel1t]

Tool brought me here

[@АкимовДаниил]

Thank you!

[@pablocruzdrums]

So useful, thanks... I have a doubt in a Bulgarian song called "pohvalila sei mariyka" by Kalinka Zgurova ... If you help me with this, I'll be grateful, if you don't have time, don't worry, your video was good!!! Thanks

[@musicavivaserbia]

Great question! I didn't know this beautiful Bulgarian song. What I hear when she starts singing is this pattern: 2 3 3 / 2 3 3 / 2 2 3 / 2 3 3 / 2 3 / 2 2 3 2 2. This is one sentence. Every sentence is in this same pattern. The end is a bit challenging because of the speed, but I think this is it. I will check it again.

[@pablocruzdrums]

@@musicavivaserbia thank you very much!! I also asked for a friend in BG, musician, and it's agree with your counting, just a little difference in the lasts... I can't send here the paper that I sent me, but I'll write as you did.

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@pablocruzdrums Yes, please do send it. I wasn't sure about the end.

[@robabnawaz]

Most serbian (narodni) songs that I know are 4/4 or 7/8. 6/8 is rare. But I do not know 5/8 songs in serbian, only (north-)makedonian song. Or do u have any example for a 5/8 serbian song?

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@robabnawaz there are songs in 4/8, 5/4, 5/8, 6/8, 8/8, 9/8, 10/8, 11/8, 12/8, even 16/8 and 7/16, collected and published in the book Jugoslovenski muzički folklor, songs from Kosovo, by M. A. Vasiljević. There are 400 songs, and among them 5/8, 5/4 and 6/8 are common. Of course these songs are not popular, they are studied in ethnomusigology classes.

[@cryptoinvader3161]

Bulgarians invented all the rhythms in the music all that is music is Bulgarian, there wasn't any music in the universe, there wasn't any rhythm in the world before Bulshitgarians came to existence.

[@elainemoisan385]

This is perfect, thank you Marita. Everyone should please look at what Bela Bartok reported about Balkan rhythms many many years ago - same musical lesson, no political issues. Thank you for this.

[@musicavivaserbia]

Yes, Bartok did amazing work with his multiethnic musical studies. I admire his contribution and work, as well as Kodaly's. Although I know many beautiful Hungarian songs that both of them gathered, I know my knowledge of Hungarian musical heritage is insufficient, so I leave it to many experts in that field to spread it.

[@Axacqk]

King Kong could learn a thing or two about chest thumping from this lady!

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@Axacqk 😀

[@hardgainer7396]

nice video but what it would put it on the next level would be to play actual audio examples of folk songs to give viewer more specific idea how it sounds in practice

[@musicavivaserbia]

Thank you for your comment. There is a playlist on my channel with Balkan songs tutorials. Most of them are in odd rhythmic pattern.

[@Geva555]

The 7/8 balkan (123 12 12) has a name?

[@musicavivaserbia]

Hello, as far as I know, I've never heard of a name for 7/8.

[@danielborimirov9418]

This is the Bulgarian "Ruchenitza" (originally spelled in Bulgarian: "Ръченица").

[@buddyholly9538]

Not as complex as Indian rhytms yeah happy happy ;-) loved your video as it all looks very obvious haha but it will take me hours and hours to get one right ;-)

[@musicavivaserbia]

Thank you for your comment. Practice as much as you need, and it will come naturally. I also practiced a lot many years ago, and now it's the simplest thing. Try with some song first and then go with rhythm alone. Ajde Jano, or Što mi e milo, in 7/8. I also have tutorials for these. :)

[@marcogerosa3044]

what's the title of the first song you sing for 7/8? thank you

[@musicavivaserbia]

It is Ajde, Jano, a Serbian song. I have a tutorial in English for that one. :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/hofNf4WnpMeIjas

[@CesarSandoval024]

Animals as Leaders drummer somewhere around here

[@madlenestewart9413]

What a blackboard..

[@boskonikolov7955]

Macedonian 7/8

[@skladzasnimki6th818]

North Macedonian? Greeks (incl. Macedonians) do not use these rythms.

[@danielborimirov9418]

Не само в македонската фолклорна област има 7/8 - в цяла България има неравноделни ритми. 😃

[@Rai-Bulgaria]

Nice to see serbs doing pale imitations of Bulgarian music.

[@cryptoinvader3161]

Ah here is the bulgarian OG, Bulgarians older than the universe itself. All things that are music related where invented by Bulgarians. People didn't even know that music exists before mighty Bulshitgarians came to be.

[@ADPproductionsGR]

Using music to push political agendas of Turkey and Vardaska.

[@arbengjocaj8363]

No they did not come with ottoman empire they found these rithms here in balcans

[@musicavivaserbia]

It may be as you say. I was referring to Slavic tradition, where these rhythms blossomed after Ottoman empire.

[@RositsaPetrovarjp7]

​@musicavivaserbia B.s. they didn't flourish. We barely survived the Ottomans. Islam dislikes music. Get hoir facts straight. This is our music. Nothing to do with the Ottomans. This us why they brought the GyosybRoma from Asua so that someone can play their Ottoman music

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@RositsaPetrovarjp7 Since some of the viewers were offended by this video, I want to be clear that in no way I'm referring to Greek, Romanian, Bulgarian, or Albanian etc. traditional music. All of the songs I'm referring to in this video are from Serbian and N. Macedonian (shoot me for this, also!) heritage. And these odd rhythms, as well as oriental melodic influences such as oriental minor scale, ARE influences that came to Serbia with Ottoman occupation. Older Serbian traditional music is not characterized by odd rhythms and oriental scales. There are books and studies about this, published throughout the past 100 years, you may check them out.

[@ZokiDobrojevic]

@@musicavivaserbia А ти поуздано знаш каква је била музика пре и после отомана . Препоручи ми , молим те неке од тих многих књига (задњих 100г.

[@musicavivaserbia]

@@ZokiDobrojevic Hvala na komentaru i interesovanju za temu! Kao što je navedeno u opisu, izvori literature su: M. A. Vasiljević: Jugoslovenski muzički folklor, 1950, P. Konjović: Ogledi o muzici, 1965, radovi Roksande Pejović i Bele Bartoka (objavljeni kao radovi, ne kao monografske publikacije, tj.knjige).

[@delmisoo]

At 2:45 you talk about "Macedonia", even though you are referring to "The Republic of North Macedonia". There is no Macedonia outside of Greece since the "Prespa Accord" of 2018, following 27 years of organized deceit, misinformation, propaganda, and false claims of Slavs trying to rewrite World History to their advantage, and insighting terrorism in an already incredibly volatile part of the world. In your bio you claim to be an "educator and tutor. I use and combine my knowlwdge and experience as a musician, teacher and culturologist", which, if correct, means that you are promoting a very dangerous national agenda. You must be defining CULTUROLOGY in an incredibly narrow segment. Hopefully, you are not what you claim, but simply ignorant. Please, correct the misinformation in this video, do your research BEFORE posting, and stick to the truth and what you know, music.

[@musicavivaserbia]

Omg! I'm sure you always use these titles: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as The United States of America in everyday speech, unrelated to politics.

[@delmisoo]

@@musicavivaserbia Sure, who doesn't? "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", as well as "The United States of America", are actual, real places, they are formally recognized countries, just like the "Republic of North Macedonia", that we, in all of the remaining countries of the world, have collectively agreed to recognize as such. What you call "Macedonia" simply is not a country that exists in this Universe, and regrettably, that fact, that you have chosen to ignore even after it was brought to your attention, and you continue to insist on spreading hateful misinformation, precisely proves my point and the need to raise our hand and offer to open your eyes to the truth, before you cause any more damage than you already have. After all, if you do not aspire to be educated, why would you dare to educate others, and all, while you dress yourself in those fake titles that YOU gave yourself? Invest in yourself and earn some titles, like the rest of us have. One can only hope that you are an exception to this detrimental, faulty mentality, I for one, have faith that you too, like the names of countries, can change and make an effort to keep up with the times. Please, feel free to join the rest of us (you are welcome here with us in this Universe), after you finally educate yourself, hopefully, before you continue pretending to educate others. GOOGLE owns KZbin, and they'll be happy to set you straight; here's a little more help from me, to get you started, there is tons more out there: history.state.gov/countries/macedonia#:~:text=Macedonia%20and%20Greece%20signed%20the,the%20Republic%20of%20North%20Macedonia.

[@olja5859]

😂

[@dankogajic5619]

Amaizing. amazing. what a wisdom. How does someone accomplish such great knowledge and understanding? Skhools, books, neighbours? Local patriots? Wikipedia ang google? Amaizing

[@dankogajic5619]

Amaizing. amazing. what a wisdom. How does someone accomplish such great knowledge and understanding? Skhools, books, neighbours? Local patriots? Wikipedia ang google? Amaizing