Hemiola creates an effect by shifting between what meter relationships?

• A. 3:2
• B. 4:3
• C. 2:1
• D. 5:4

Answer: (A)

Hemiola is a shift in the feel of the beat, moving a line from duple to triple (or vice versa) so you hear a different grouping of the rhythm than what the written meter would suggest. The classic way to describe it is a 3:2 relationship—three notes played in the time normally given to two. That’s what creates the cross-rhythm: you momentarily group the pulse as three instead of two, or as two groups of three across what would ordinarily be a two-beat span.

A helpful image is two measures that under a steady meter feel like three beats rather than four, or grouping six eighth notes across two bars as three groups of two instead of two groups of three. This is the essence of the hemiola: a temporary reorganization of the beat structure that makes the meter seem to shift.

So, the best way to think about it is the three-in-the-time-of-two idea—the three-to-two cross-rhythm that defines hemiola.