Aksak 2+2+3

Aksak (Turkish for limping) is a bar built from unequal beats: short-short-long, two eighths, two eighths, three eighths — quick, quick, slow. Seven eighths, but felt in three. It is the Bulgarian rachenitsa, and the same idea stretched gives 9/8 (2+2+2+3, karsilama), 11/8 (2+2+3+2+2, kopanitsa) and 5/8 (2+3, paidushko). Listen for the long third beat: dancers hold it, players stretch it. Practice: count 1-2, 1-2, 1-2-3 aloud before you ever count to seven.