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Within the context of European classical and film music, Claudia Gorbman defines an ostinato as a repeated melodic or rhythmic figure that propels scenes that lack dynamic visual action. [5] Ostinati play an important part in improvised music (rock and jazz), in which they are often referred to as riffs or vamps.
Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony is a music theory of harmony in sub-Saharan African music based on the principles of homophonic parallelism (chords based around a leading melody that follow its rhythm and contour), homophonic polyphony (independent parts moving together), counter-melody (secondary melody) and ostinato-variation (variations based on a repeated theme).
The music of African xylophones, such as the balafon and gyil, is often based on cross-rhythm. In the following example, a Ghanaian gyil sounds a 3:2-based ostinato melody. The left hand (lower notes) sounds the two main beats, while the right hand (upper notes) sounds the three cross-beats. [15]
The habanera was the first of many Cuban music genres which enjoyed periods of popularity in the United States, and reinforced and inspired the use of tresillo-based rhythms in African American music. [b] From the perspective of African American music, the habanera rhythm can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat. [19]
When the rhythm and music are 'in clave,' a great natural 'swing' is produced, regardless of the tempo. All musicians who write and/or interpret Cuban-based music must be 'clave conscious,' not just the percussionists. [19] Salsa is a potent expression of clave, and clave became a rhythmic symbol of the musical movement, as its popularity spread.
All these songs use twelve-bar blues riffs, and most of these riffs probably precede the examples given (Covach 2005, p. 71). In classical music, individual musical phrases used as the basis of classical music pieces are called ostinatos or simply phrases. Contemporary jazz writers also use riff- or lick-like ostinatos in modal music and Latin ...
The music is in C major, 3 4 time, beginning pianissimo and rising in a continuous crescendo to fortissimo. It is built over an unchanging ostinato rhythm played 169 times [18] on one or more snare drums that remains constant throughout the piece:
A guajeo (Anglicized pronunciation: wa-hey-yo) is a typical Cuban ostinato melody, most often consisting of arpeggiated chords in syncopated patterns. Some musicians only use the term guajeo for ostinato patterns played specifically by a tres, piano, an instrument of the violin family, or saxophones.