Ostinato

In music, an ostinato (derived from Italian: "stubborn", compare English: obstinate) is a motif or phrase which is repeated over and over again at the same pitch *Kamien, Roger (2003). Music: An Appreciation, p.611. ISBN 0072844841. . Both "ostinatos" and "ostinati" are accepted English plural forms albeit by differing groups.

In other words a musical pattern that is continuously repeated during a section or throughout a complete piece of music. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody.

Strictly ostinatos feature exact repetition, but a looser definition allowing variation or development appears to most often be applied such as "any clearly defined melodic or rhythmic pattern that is repeated persistently" Rawlins, Robert (2005). Jazzology: The Encyclopedia of Jazz Theory for All Musicians, p.132-133. ISBN 0634086782.. Pattern implies recognizable rather than exact recurrance, and though "the repetition of such patterns often involves some intervallic or rhythmic modification...the essential features of the pattern must be easily recognized if it is to retain its identity" *DeLone et al., eds. (1975). Aspects of 20th Century Music, p.123. ISBN 0130493465. . The general concepts may be applied to quasi-ostinato or ostinato like techniques lacking rhythmically "symmetrical" or regular repetition, and some have considered the twelve tone technique an extension or specific example of ostinato .

Ostinatos are to classical music what riffs are to popular music. They have a large role in improvised music such as in jazz and Baroque music. A "favorite technique of contemporary jazz writers" ostinatos and are often used in modal and Latin jazz, traditional African music including Gnawa music .

Applicable in homophonic and contrapuntal textures they are distinguished as "repetitive rhythmic-harmonic schemes", the more familiar accompanimental melodies, or as purely rhythmic . The technique's appeal to composers from Debussy to avant-garde composers till at least the seventies "lies in part in the need for unity created by the virtual abandonment of functional chord progressions to shape phrases and define tonality" . Similarly in modal music "relentless, repetitive character help to establish and confirm the modal center" . Their popularity may also be justified by their ease as well as range of use, though "ostinato must be employed judiciously, as its overuse can quickly lead to monotony" .

Ground bass

A ground bass (also basso ostinato: obstinate bass) is a bass part or bassline that repeats continually, as an ostinato, while the melody and possibly harmony over it change. It was developed and used frequently in the Baroque era.

In popular music, many bass guitar riffs can be regarded as a modern version of the ground bass. Two examples are Pink Floyd's "Money" (The Dark Side of The Moon - 1973) and Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan".

Famous examples

Popular music

A famous short piece of Ostinato can be found in the theme music to the movie Jaws composed by John Williams. It used the two notes in the bass section of the scale, repeated in various tempos to express the different activities of the killer shark. The two notes ostinato is perhaps the most recognisable film music in history.

Another very handy example for understanding the procedure is the famous tune from ABBA, "Take a Chance On Me". In its video, we can see each of the four members in a different corner of the screen; during the verses, Benny and Björn sing repeatedly "take a chance, take a chance, take a, take a chan-chance", while Agnetha and Frida sing the lyrics.

American drummer Terry Bozzio has made extensive use of the ositnato as a drumset technique. Many examples can be heard on his instructional videos Melodic Drumming and the Ostinato Vol. I, II, and III, as well as his CDs Solo Drum Music Vol. I and II.

Jazz music

Examples in jazz include "So What," "A Night in Tunisia," "Take Five," "Maiden Voyage," and "Cantaloupe Island" .

Classical music

Some famous examples of ostinatos are the basso continuo part from Pachelbel's Canon in D and the military 5/4 rhythm in Gustav Holst's "Mars" from The Planets. Other notable examples include Holst's St. Paul's Suite Mvt. II (in which the subdivided second violins play a repeating pattern of eighth notes), the rhythmic pattern in Ravel's Boléro, and the harmonic pattern in Chopin's Berceuse. In Anton Arensky's Orchestral Suite No.1 in G minor (Op. 7), the Basso Ostinato theme introduced with low brass and contrabasses convey the Theme Russe very elegantly. Ostinatos are used in 20th-century music to stabilize groups of pitches, as in Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring "Introduction" and "Omens of Spring" .

History

As a very accessible frame that allows improvisation, the ostinato was heavily used in the Baroque epoch. For about a century and a half (starting around 1770), the technique was almost abandoned. It suddenly revived in the dawn of the 20th century with the development of jazz music *Popp, Marius (1998). Applicatory Harmony in Jazz, Pop & Rock Improvisation, Introduction. ISBN 9735692287. and also became "perhaps the most typically twentieth-century accompanimental device" used in classical music, in part because of its neoclassical appeal . By the end of the 1910s, the first records featuring jazz music were released. While most of the performers were not able to notate music, mainly the surviving records prove that early jazz music used a technique similar to ostinato. During the New Orleans era (which ended in the late 1920s), the rhythm section concept crystallized and determined collective improvisation to turn into an "individualised" style, which became a definitive characteristic of the swing style *Berindei, Mihai (1976). Jazz Dictionary. .

Similar techniques

References

Accompaniment | Musical terminology

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