The Keòen Dance Meter

I don't know much about its origins, but mixed meter is something I love. What that means is that the beats in a measure have different lengths. My favorite above all else is the 7/8 meter. Basically it's like a waltz with an extra beat on the end. I like to write over this 2-2-3 meter and after composing Mera's Theme about a year ago I decided that 7/8 was the standard meter for Keòen dances (BTW the Keòen Dance is one of the only non-language things of Jadali origin that uses the adjective Keòen and not Jadali!). Below is an example of the difference between 6/8 and 7/8:


In 6/8 there are two beats, with 3 8th notes in each beat. Above are common ways beats are subdivided. In 7/8, there is an added beat and therefore two of the beats have 2 8th notes and one has 3 8th notes. The location of the bigger beat varies but I prefer mine at the end, like shown above in various subdivisions.

The origin of the Keòen Dance Melody is actually quite easy to follow. Back in 1020 when the country was officially founded there were melodies being produced that followed certain codes. The favorite was a compound meter of 13 beats, the number 13 obviously representing the 13 original Jadali. It ended up being a fast beat that went 2-2-2+2-2-3 but it quickly got shortened to just 2-2-3, evolving into the well-known and trademark Keòen Dance that is still heard and enjoyed to this day. It still satisfied the code of 13, with every eighth note beat being a crest (there are 7 crests for the 13 original).

A sample showing the division of beats and the 13 8th notes representing the 13 people.

A sample showing some subdivisions in strict 7/8 time. Each 8th note represents one of the 7 crests.

The most well-known Keòen dance and one of the earliest is the 7/8 arrangement of the theme of Mera Visi, which uses a motif of a perfect 5th from A to E, is in the key of A Mixolydian, and has a very distinct free melody that perfectly fits into the frame of 7/8. The exact year that both the theme and the arrangement were first played is unknown, but this theme as a dance was hugely popular and from the records of not only Mera Visi but several others like Kalo Freloch we know that this particular melody was a favorite of the country and was performed in times of celebration, where it was danced to with joy and energy. As with most Keòen dances, however, there are occasional measures of 8/8 thrown in to lengthen the ends of phrases, emphasize certain passages, or to cause the dancers to take a more dramatic step. This sounds more complicated than it is and it really does flow together quite well.

Here is the score of a popular dance written in 7/8 with occasional measures of 8/8:

I composed this in February of 2011 while sitting bored in my History class. It has a nice melody and lots of energy. This is my rough draft with no added markings and this is what it sounds like:

And of course... Here is the first line of Mera's Theme [Keòen Dance Arrangement] which I composed for 4 trombones a year ago on one rainy night after hearing an A-E motif over and over again and was immediately reminded of Mera Visi. This is his theme perfectly transformed into 7/8, and it is this melody that inspired the Keòen Dance Meter:

And here is the full audio recording!

This theme and dance have become a staple of the country of Jadali and this theme went on to become the official song of Jadali, just one step down from the national anthem.

Over the years this special time signature had several more melodies and themes composed over it and was not used in the music of other countries for hundreds of years. It is still known today as simply "Keòen Meter" and is interesting and cool.

Told you I could explain existing things well!