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Glite Dictionary
🎵 Long musical pattern 📜 Too many syllables
hypermetrical

hypermetrical

9.9
A pattern of beats in music that goes across several bars
  • adjective
  • /ˌhaɪpərˈmɛtrɪkəl/
  • Specialized
: hipermétrico
  • A hypermetrical approach helps musicians understand how phrases connect over several measures.

Examples

  • The composer used a hypermetrical structure to create a sense of unity across the entire movement.

  • Students analyzed the hypermetrical accents that shaped the phrasing of the jazz piece.

  • The composition features a hypermetrical structure that enhances its emotional depth.

  • Can you identify the hypermetrical phrases in this piece?

  • The composer used a hypermetrical structure to create a sense of unity across the entire movement.

  • Students analyzed the hypermetrical accents that shaped the phrasing of the jazz piece.

  • A hypermetrical approach helps musicians understand how phrases connect over several measures.

How Extended

hypermetrical
  • Specialized
9.9
musical phrase
  • Specialized
1 3.4

Surface Forms

hypermetrical positive

Morphology

hypermetrical = metrical (semi-transparent) = hyper + meter + ical

The word is built regularly from hyper- + metrical, but the musical sense is a specialized extension of meter-based terminology.

Etymology

Hypermetrical comes from hyper- meaning 'over' or 'beyond' and metre — the same root as in meter and metronome — meaning 'measure'. So in music, a hypermetrical pattern or accent goes 'beyond' a single bar and links several measures together.