Contratiempo

This article deals with a stylistic device in music. For the film with the original Spanish title Contratiempo see the article The invisible guest

Regular Contratiempos in 4/4 time

The Contratiempo ( Spanish push-pull ) is a rhythmic design element in music, especially in flamenco .

It is based on the fact that percussive beats are not placed on the counting notes in the measure, but "between the beats". In regular ⁴ / ₄ -stroke this is the second eighth of a quarter note. In the simplest case, the beats can be set like this:

regular intonation:	one	and	two	and	three	and	four	and
Percussion :		X		X		X		X

Contratiempos are used in particular in the accompaniment by clapping hands, the palmas , and in the percussive foot techniques of the dancers, the so-called zapateados .

With more complicated rhythms, the Contratiempos can be very complex. For the Soleá , for example, the pattern can look like this:

Rhythm:

1

2

3

4th

5

6th

7th

8th

9

10

11

12

Clapping hands:

x

x

X

x

x

X

x

X

x

x

X

x

X

Between the one and the two, the four and the five, as well as the new and the ten, there is a contratiempo beat.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Contratiempo {The space between the beats} . In: Danza Estudio Flamenco Bites (Ed.): Learn Flamenco Dance Online . (English, flamencobites.com [accessed October 10, 2018]).
2. ↑ ^{a b} Compas flamenco - The Flamenco Metronome. Magnus Wang, accessed October 10, 2018 .