The World Is Made of 3⁻ⁿ Metres
The essence of groove lies in layered triple metre. As an introduction to 3⁻ⁿ Groove Theory, this section presents triple-metre music from around the world. Deepening our understanding of Gaelic rhythms and Black church rhythms, which became part of the roots of jazz, increases our practical ability to groove. It can also be described as a journey toward the origins of English rhythm. As a foundation for intuitively grasping the origins of jazz rhythm, and also the origins of English rhythm, we will look at music from around the world built on 3-beat, 9-beat, and 27-beat structures. None of this music is easy to understand at first, but it shares its essence with the groove of jazz swing, R&B, and funk. By listening repeatedly until it becomes familiar, let us cultivate a modern sense of groove.
All the music introduced here uses rhythms built by layering triple metre. These rhythms are highly complex and often difficult to parse. But listening to them repeatedly and becoming familiar with them will give you a deeper understanding of groove.
Clair de lune (Ciccolini)
“The Discovery” from Terry Riley’s The Padova Concert
Music Using the Scotch Snap, Composed by Philip Tagg
A piece by the music historian Philip Tagg using rhythms from Scottish folk music.Inama - Diamond Platnumz ft. Fally Ipupa
A song by the Tanzanian musician Diamond Platnumz that became globally popular on the internet around 2020, featuring Fally Ipupa as vocalist.Pray for Me - Moses Tyson Jr.
A gospel performance. Moses Tyson Jr. is a cousin of Sly Stone and has had a long career since he began playing guitar at age twelve on Sly Stone’s recommendation.Pray for Me - Richard Mr. Clean White
“Pray for Me” performed by the legendary gospel musician and bishop Richard Mr. Clean White.
Footprints · Miles Davis
Miles Davis’s classic performance of “Footprints.”Virgo - Wayne Shorter
But Beautiful - Grant Green
Moses Tyson Jr. / Near the Cross
The gospel standard “Near the Cross” is in 27/8.Radiohead’s “Codex”
Without changing the bar length, this piece alternates 12/8 and 9/8. The rhythm that lies at the roots of jazz, common to southern African music and the music of the Gaels, a Celtic people of Europe, also appears in this Radiohead song.
Homecoming / John Abercrombie - The Gateway Trio
This is “Homecoming,” performed by John Abercrombie’s The Gateway Trio. 27/8 is hybrid music of Africa’s heartbeat and the Gaelic soul, and the rhythm underlying English itself is reflected here in jazz.
Gospel Standard “God Will Supply”
“God Will Supply” is in 27/8, with a subdivision structure of 3x3x3.Near the Cross / Mississippi Mass Choir (Chorus)
The Mississippi Mass Choir - “Near the Cross” / Credit: Malaco Music https://t.co/c2UXcARa8D
Walk in the Light / Moses Tyson Jr.
[27/8 = a hybrid music of Africa’s heartbeat and the Gaelic soul; that is jazz.] A masterpiece in 27/8: 3 bars / triple metre / triplet subdivision. Moses Tyson Jr., “Walk in the Light.” Credit: Walk In The Light Moses Tyson Jr.
Walk in the Light / Aretha Franklin
[27/8 = a hybrid music of Africa’s heartbeat and the Gaelic soul; that is jazz.] “Walk in the Light” performed by Aretha Franklin (live in 1987).
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, First Movement
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4, first movement, makes extensive use of triple-metre sixteenth notes, the Scotch snap, and tail-aligned rhythm. State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia / conductor Terje Mikkelsen (Norway), Symphony No. 4, 1st movement https://youtube.com/watch?v=iE9LhoKEmBk
Zone III (Live) / Then! / Then! (Remastered) / Allan Holdsworth
This is the improvisation “Zone III” by Allan Holdsworth, included on the album Then!. It is built from sixteenth notes / triple metre / 3 bars. In other words, it can also be described as 72/16 = 8x3x3/16, an expanded version of 12/8. Zone III (Live) / Then! / Then! (Remastered) Allan Holdsworth https://
9-Beat Music for the Zaouli Dance
The music of the Zaouli dance, a cultural tradition from the region around Ivory Coast in Africa, is in nine-beat metre.Holy One / Dominique Johnson
This is “Holy One” performed by the little-known B3 organ master Dominique Johnson.Anaysha’s “Holy One”
Anaysha - Holy OneTramaine Hawkins’s “Holy One”
Apparently Tramaine Hawkins was in fact the original performer of HOLY ONE. This performance is even more powerful, and it comes from an obscure album so old that it has long been out of print and is difficult even to verify. Tramaine Hawkins Holy One https://youtube.com/watch?v=QAbIVf
Lao Lam Music: Banlang Siangrakanthong’s “Old Man Raising His Grandchild”
Lao lam music, “Old Man Raising His Grandchild,” produced by the brilliant Isan director Si Kanso and sung by Banlang Siangrakanthong. ลำล่องยาว ผู้เฒ่าเลี้ยงหลาน ชุด ติดไม้ติดมือ โดยสี คันโซ่ ลำโดย บันลังก์ เสียงระฆังทอง https://youtube.com/watch?v=pNmazwLao Lam Music: “Chiwit Chaona” (A Farmer’s Life), Sung by Chawiwan Damnoen
Lao lam music, “Chiwit Chaona” (“A Farmer’s Life”), sung by Chawiwan Damnoen, a master of lam folk song. ฉวีวรรณ ดำเนิน - ชีวิตชาวนาAllan Holdsworth’s “Proto-Cosmos”
Radiohead / Daydreaming
It is not just your imagination that Radiohead’s “Daydreaming” feels markedly different from other Radiohead videos. In fact, this work was a collaboration with the brilliant American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.Ennio Morricone “Intervallo II”
Ennio Morricone - Intervallo II
Wrapped Around Your Finger / Dianne Reeves with Bob Belden Ensemble
On the page it is written as eighth notes, but through displacement it expresses triple-metre triplets at three times that speed. This is foundational to the nuance of bass attack placement in Latin music. The weak-beat position of the sixteenth note becomes the reference point, and the strong-beat position of the eighth note is delayed. The weak beats are cut short, and the point where the sound stops expresses the standard strong-beat position, while the strong beats arrive late and create a long, relaxed expression.
Don Pullen’s “Listen to the People”
On the page it is written as eighth notes, but through displacement it expresses triple-metre triplets at three times that speed. This is foundational to the nuance of bass attack placement in Latin music, part 2. The weak-beat position of the sixteenth note becomes the reference point, and the strong-beat position of the eighth note is delayed. The weak beats are cut short, and the point where the sound stops expresses the standard strong-beat position, while the strong beats arrive late and create a long, relaxed expression.
Ciccolini’s Gymnopédie No. 1
Ciccolini’s Gymnopédie No. 1: the ultimate nuance of triple metre. A performance by Ciccolini at age 85 (2010), extremely short and extremely striking https://youtube.com/watch?v=0peXnO
John Taylor - Speak to Me
From Decipher, the legendary hidden masterpiece by the British genius jazz pianist John Taylor (1942-2015): “Speak to Me.” It is an example of 3⁻ⁿ rhythm, where the swing-ballad triplets are treated as triple metre and then further subdivided by three. Credit: https://youtube.com/watch?v=k7mRBdhAtZc
Norway’s Krampus March
9/8 (triple-metre triplets) appears here. This rhythm does not appear in the folk music of India, Southeast Asia, or East Asia. 9/8, often 27/8 or 36/8, is common in the music of Africa and the Gaels of modern Scotland and Ireland.
Aphex Twin - QKThr
Aphex Twin - QKThr
(The first beat is a rest)
3|3|3 =9=3*3 (INTRO)
4|4|5|5 =18=3 * 6
3|2|2|3|2 =12 = 3*4
3|3|3|3|3|3 =18 = 3*6
3|3|3|2|3|3 = 17 = 3* 6 -1
3|3|3 =9=3*3 (OUTRO)
(The final three beats are rests)Bobo Stenson Trio - Dormattan
Rhythms that sound almost like free tempo in Nordic jazz are often performed in 9/8.
The Former Theme Song of Spaceflight Simulator
Return to Sarakham Searching for You
ตามน้องกลับสารคาม (“Return to Sarakham Searching for You”), performed by Mai Piromporn.
Ceann Dubh Dilis
Ceann Dubh Dilis (“My Sweet, Dark-Haired Love”), arranged by Michael McGlynn and performed by Spokanki.
The Beatles
The Beatles were strongly shaped by Gaelic culture.
1. Family Background
Paul McCartney’s mother, from the Mohin family, was of Irish descent. Liverpool experienced major immigration in the nineteenth century as a result of the potato famine, and even today many Irish-descended residents live there. The city retains a working-class culture deeply marked by Catholic tradition.
John Lennon’s grandfather, James Lennon, was from Dublin. It is fair to say that John Lennon inherited an Irish cultural background.
There is no equally clear record for George Harrison or Ringo Starr, but both came from Liverpool, where Irish cultural influence is strong, so it is reasonable to think that they too were shaped by it.
2. Liverpool and Gaelic Culture
Liverpool is a city so strongly marked by Irish immigration that it has been called a “second Ireland.” Catholic faith, folk-song and storytelling traditions, and the cohesion of working-class communities all contributed to the city’s distinctive atmosphere, one that retained a strong Gaelic coloring.
3. The Beatles’ Music and Gaelic Elements
The Beatles were not, of course, a Gaelic-music band, but their music does contain Irish and broader Celtic cultural elements.
Paul’s melodic sensibility is often said to have the singable lyricism of Irish folk song.
Paul’s solo song “Mull of Kintyre” makes heavy use of Scottish bagpipes, strongly suggesting Celtic influence.
4. Cultural Symbolism
The members of the Beatles did not speak Gaelic, but they can nevertheless be seen as embodying a fusion of British pop culture with Irish and Celtic working-class culture. The Beatles’ international rise helped bring Irish and Scottish folk traditions to the wider world.
Officially the Beatles were British nationals, but through the culture and lineage associated with Liverpool, their place of origin, they were shaped by Gaelic and Irish influence, and that influence was inherited in their musical sensibility as well.
Ireland, Scotland, and the Gaelic Languages
- Gaelic languages: a language group belonging to the Celtic branch.
- Ireland: a region where Gaelic culture remains especially strong.
- Scotland: a region where a distinct Gaelic language developed after migration from Ireland.
- Cultural significance: in both regions, Gaelic survives as a symbol of ethnic heritage and cultural pride, even as it has become a minority language.
1. The Linguistic Position of Gaelic
Gaelic belongs to a branch of the Celtic languages within the Indo-European language family. The principal Gaelic languages still in use today are as follows.
- Irish (Irish Gaelic / Gaeilge): spoken in Ireland.
- Scottish Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic / Gàidhlig): spoken in the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland.
- Manx (Manx Gaelic / Gaelg): once spoken on the Isle of Man, it temporarily became extinct in the twentieth century, but revival efforts have advanced in recent years.
2. Ireland and Gaelic
Ireland is regarded as the homeland of Gaelic culture and the Gaelic language. Old Irish was established around 1,500 years ago and spread widely. Modern Irish remains one of the official languages of the Republic of Ireland, although English dominates everyday life.
3. Scotland and Gaelic
Around the fifth to sixth centuries, the Scoti migrated from Ireland to western Scotland and brought Gaelic with them. It later spread mainly through the Highlands. From the Middle Ages onward, Gaelic was one of Scotland’s major languages, though today it survives as a minority language centered especially in the Hebrides. The Scottish government officially recognizes its linguistic status.
4. Cultural Relationship
Irish and Scottish Gaelic are closely related languages, sharing many similarities in vocabulary and grammar, roughly comparable to the relationship between Spanish and Portuguese. Gaelic culture also places strong emphasis on oral tradition, music, and poetry, with its character visible in ballads, bagpipes, and narrative arts. In both regions, Gaelic also functions as a symbol of cultural identity resisting Anglicization.
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
She’s Leaving Home
Table of contents
- Offbeat Count Theory
- Introduction
- What Are the Four Principles of Groove
- Why Are Japanese People Tatenori
- Which Comes First, the Strong Beat or the Weak Beat
- Phonorhythmatology
- A Letter to Mora-Timed Language Speakers
- Split Beat (Schizorhythmos) and Isolated Beat (Solirhythmos)
- What Is Metre
- Multi-Layered Weak-Beat-Oriented Rhythm
- Multidimensional Division Spaces
- Rhythm More Important Than Pronunciation
- The World Is Made of 3⁻ⁿ Metres
- 3⁻ⁿ Groove and 2⁻ⁿ Groove
- Distributed Groove Theory
- Weak-Beat Geocentrism and Strong-Beat Heliocentrism
- Introduction to Offbeat Count
- Rhythmochronic Competence and Sense of Rhythm
- Master English Listening with Offbeat Count
- Etudes for Mora-Timed Language Speakers
- Proper English Pronunciation
- Correct Pronunciation of Offbeat Count
- Multilayer Weak-Beat-Precedence Polyrhythm
- The Elements That Shape Rhythmic Nuance
- The Mechanism by Which Tatenori Arises
- Tatenori and the Perception of Movement
- The Psychological Problems Caused by Tatenori
