- Hi, in this video we're going to answer the question,
what is a hemiola?
It's a term you may or may not have come across,
or something that somebody keeps referring to
that leaves you wondering what it is.
It actually sounds like something
you might want to consult your doctor about.
Doctor, I've got the case of the hemiolas,
but it's nothing medical, so rest assured on that front.
What is a hemiola?
It's something that happens
when we have a piece of music in triple time.
So, if we've got three beats in a bar,
hemiola is something you might decide to use.
And what's going on with hemiola,
is that we're temporarily imposing
a two-beat structure
on a three-beat framework.
So, what do I mean by that?
Well, normally 3/4, three crotchet beats and a bar,
I'd be happily chugging along going,
one, two, three, one, two, three,
one, two, three, one, two, three.
Three beats in every bar.
The hemiola trick is this.
I put a note in that takes up beats one and two,
then I put a note in that takes up beats three and one.
And then a note that takes up two and three,
then a note that takes up one and two.
So, did you see what we're doing here,
we're imposing two beats, two beats,
two beats, two beats,
two beats, two beats, two beats,
sorry that pen's a bit naff, never mind.
And onto another two beats there,
so I could actually count it in twos,
so if I play this, it could go,
one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two
one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two,
going into the next bar.
So, it sort of temporarily feels
as if there might be two beats in a bar.
They are not, it's just a feeling of that.
Actually, if I count it in three, it's going,
one, two, three, one, two, three,
one, two, three, one, so you see how it works,
I'm still counting three beats,
but I've got this, two, two, two, two, arrangement.
Now, quite often, a hemiola doesn't go
for that length of time,
I've just given you a decent length example,
so you can see it.
It's something that a composer might temporarily use,
so we might be chugging along in a 3/4 piece.
Then we might go, one, two, three, one, two, three
and then go back to where we were before.
So, did you see it's just a temporarily measure
to make the rhythm sound a bit more interesting.
It kind of displaces an accent,
because here I'm feeling one, two,
but here I'm feeling three, one,
which isn't normally what you do,
because in three time, you normally feel the first beat,
don't you, one, two, three, one, two, three,
but with hemiola, you slightly displace the accentuation
one, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, and so on.
So, you might come across this in a piece of music
only remember when you're in triple time,
and so it's helpful to recognise,
and to see what the composer's doing,
trying to create this impact
of displacing the natural stress of the metre,
by imposing two on a three-time structure.
And it's another device to use if you're writing music,
and you're thinking,
"Actually my rhythm's getting a little bit boring,
"or a little bit predictable,
"and I happen to be in triple time.
"Maybe I could use a bit of hemiola."
It doesn't work in other times,
it's just this particular instance
where you can impose this two-time
on a three-time, moment of music.
So, there we are, nothing to worry about.
No need to go to the doctor,
but this is what hemiola is all about.