The Lombard rhythm or Scotch snap is a

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of rhythm": a "place ...

musical rhythm in which a short, accented note is followed by a longer one. This reverses the pattern normally associated with dotted notes or '' notes inégales'', in which the longer value precedes the shorter. In

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

, a Lombard rhythm consists of a stressed sixteenth note, or semiquaver, followed by a dotted eighth note, or dotted quaver. Baroque composers often implemented these rhythms. For instance, Johann Georg Pisendel utilized Lombard rhythms within the largo and allegro sections of his sonata for Violin Solo in A Minor. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach included dotted rhythms within certain excerpts of his concerto for

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, cello, and keyboard. Not only did Baroque performers and composers such as Johann Joachim Quantz, introduce these uneven rhythms in their studies and pedagogy, but Jazz also possesses these rhythms which are in the very essence of its style. In Scottish country dances, the Scotch snap (or Scots snap) is a prominent feature of the strathspey. Due to the immigration of Scots to

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, elements of Scottish music such as the Lombard rhythm have been appropriated into popular music forms of the 20th and 21st century. In modern North American

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and

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, the Lombard rhythm is very common; recentreleases by Post Malone,

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

, and

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

feature the Scotch snap. Grande's song ‘ 7 Rings’ was the subject of controversy surrounding this rhythm, wherein several hip-hop artists ( Princess Nokia and

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) who had used the rhythm in an iconic fashion raised accusations of plagiarism.

References

Babitz, Sol. “A Problem of Rhythm in Baroque Music.” The Musical Quarterly 38, no. 4 (October 1952): 533-565. https://www.jstor.org/stable/740138 Fuller, David. “Notes inégales (Fr.: ‘unequal notes’),” Grove Music Online (January 2001) https://doi.org/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20126 Gábor, Elod and Ignác-Csaba FILIP. “Johann Georg Pisendel: Sonata for Violin Solo in A Minor.” Series VIII: Performing Arts 12, no. 61 (2019): pp. 72-76. https://doi.org/10.31926/but.pa.2019.12.61.30 Miller, Leta. “C.P.E. Bach’s Instrumental ‘Recompositions’: Revisions or Alternatives?” Current Musicology 59, (1995) p. 29.

References

Further reading