ISSN 2158-5296
Cross-cultural comparison, musical analysis, cadential hemiola, Anglo-American indie/alternative rock, South Korean folk drumming.
The resurgence of the comparative method in ethnomusicology signals a rapprochement between ethnomusicology and the field of music theory and analysis that was sorely missing at the close of the twentieth century. In this article I explore the possibility of cultural-performative parallels between two historically unrelated cultures in the process known in the West as the cadential hemiola. What is significant is that two very different genres and cultural traditions—Anglo-American indie/alternative rock and South Korean folk drumming—both choose to alternate between twos and threes at section and piece endings, drawing the listener’s attention to such formal markers through the temporary displacement of where the beat is or might be felt. The rhythmic-formal play of the cadential hemiola thus suggests a cognitive base to such cross-cultural resonance in musical composition and performance practice.
Nathan Hesselink is Professor and Chair of Ethnomusicology at the University of British Columbia.
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