5/29/22, 11:10 PM Music of Eastern Europe: Mixed Meter, Modes, Instruments & Characteristics - Video & Lesson Transcript

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Music of Eastern Europe: Mixed Meter, Modes, Instruments &

Characteristics

The music of Eastern Europe is typically characterized by irregular meters and modes that represent the
various nationalities of the region. Learn about mixed meter, modes, and the various instruments and
characteristics of Eastern European music.

Music of Eastern Europe

The world is full of music. Seriously, music can be found absolutely everywhere, and every
musical tradition is distinct. Take for example, the music of Eastern Europe. Music from this
part of the world is different from, say the music of Northern Africa, Western Asia, or Western
Europe, all nearby regions. So, where exactly is Eastern Europe? That's actually a difficult
question.

Eastern Europe does not have strict political or geographic borders; it's more of a grouping of
people with some shared cultural heritage. Generally, the term 'Eastern Europe' includes the
Baltics, the Caucasus, the Slavic states, the Balkans, and the former Soviet States. However,
defining what is and isn't Eastern Europe can be problematic. For example, Turkey borders,
geographically and culturally, both Asia and Europe. Russia is an even more extreme example,
with the Western border on the Black Sea and the Eastern border on the Pacific Ocean. Like I
said, there is no strict definition of Eastern Europe, nor frankly does there need to be. What
matters is that within this region are cultural similarities, which means that defining Eastern
Europe by musical traditions is as good a method as any.

Modes
So, what defines Eastern European music, and why does it often sound different than Western
European or Asian music? Most organized musical systems are based on modes, a series of
related notes spaced with specific intervals. In Western European music, this idea is most often
seen through scales. A D major scale, for example, has notes each related to the note D with
small, consistent intervals between them. Eastern European modes, their hierarchies of notes,
are not so consistent. The intervals tend to be wide and can change at different points.

For example, Hungarian Romani music has a wide gap between the second and third notes, but
a smaller gap between the fourth and fifth note. These wider gaps that are common in Eastern
European music are generally 1 1/2 times the distance between the notes in a Western
European scale, which to us can make the music sound slightly off-key or just a bit strange.
Here's an example of that D major scale, and here's an example of one with more Eastern
European intervals. Hear the difference?

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Meters
Just as Eastern European modes are irregularly spaced according to Western European
standards, so are their meters, or the number of beats per measure. If you've ever seen a piece
of sheet music, you've probably seen this: 4/4. That means that the measure is four beats, with
a quarter note being one beat. Eastern European meters, when written like this, tend to read
like 7/8, or even like 2/8 + 2/8 + 3/8. Without getting too deep into musical theory, what this
means is that the meter is irregular. While a 4/4 meter consistently places the accent or
emphasis on every other beat, Eastern European meters place strong emphasis on various
beats, which makes those beats significantly longer. This common Eastern European meter is
called aksak by many, which is a Turkish word that means limping or stumbling. So, just picture
someone limping by. Rather than keeping a steady pace, some steps are quicker and more
forceful than others. This pattern can also change throughout the song, with some measures
having different meters than others, which we call mixed meter.

Characteristics and Instruments

These irregular meters and modes are amongst the most typical characteristics of Eastern
European music, but they aren't the only ones. Traditional music of this region is also very
commonly made for dancing or working, and so the meters and rhythms, while irregular, tend
to be repetitive and propulsive, by which I mean they have an energy and strong sense of
direction. This makes them especially good for lively dances and celebrations. Other similarities
come from the sorts of instruments. Although again, there is a wide variety between various
parts of Eastern Europe, most of this music is performed by a mixture of stringed instruments,
flutes and simple percussion instruments. Voice is also very important, and many Eastern
European songs do include lyrics, which often tell heroic tales of adventure and courage. Singers
in this region tend to favor a bright and somewhat brassy vocal quality.

These traits define Eastern European music, even though they actually vary quite a bit
throughout the region. From the perspective of musical research, however, it is important to
understand why these characteristics exist. Eastern Europe is geographically unique. In one
sense, this region is connected to a world of music and has been the crossroads of trade
between Europe, Asia and Africa for millennia. In another sense, people of Eastern Europe were
traditionally very isolated.

The high mountains, deep valleys and rugged terrain separated people, so hundreds of
essentially solitary communities developed throughout the Balkans, Caucuses, Baltics, etc. This
means that while they shared similar cultural traits, traits that represented the mixture of
European, Asian, and African ideas, each community was free to alter that to fit their specific
needs. There was very little sense of unity amongst all these different people, just hundreds of
independent communities that each interpreted the customs of the region in their own ways.
That's why there is very little standardization in Eastern European music. Irregular meters,
irregular modes, and an inability to actually define the geographic borders of the region--that's
Eastern Europe.

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Lesson Summary
There's some great music in the world, and a lot of it can be found in Eastern Europe, an area
that does not have strict borders but is generally considered to be the region between Western
Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Eastern European music is characterized by irregular meters
and modes which can largely be attributed to this region begin both a crossroads of ideas from
around the world, but also featuring geographically isolated communities, preventing major
standardizations of music.

In terms of the mode, or hierarchy of related notes, Eastern European music features
inconsistent intervals between notes within a mode. Meters, or beats per measure, are similar,
with inconsistent emphasis and duration of beats, called aksak, which is Turkish for 'limping'.
The music of Eastern Europe may sound inconsistent by Western European standards, but we
should be clear that this is not an insult. After all, the world is full of great music. Why on Earth
would we want it all to be consistent?

Key Terms
Eastern Europe: an area that does not have strict borders but is generally considered to be the
region between Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East

mode: a series of related notes spaced with specific intervals

meter: the number of beats per measure

aksak: a Turkish word that means limping or stumbling; refers to the inconsistent meter found in
Eastern European music

mixed meter: a musical pattern in which some measures have different meters than others

This measure has four beats, with the quarter note being one beat.

Learning Outcome
Upon completing this lesson, you should be able to describe the music of Eastern Europe in
terms of mode, meter, characteristics, and instruments.

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