Jota
Spanish folk dance in triple time.
What it means
The jota is a Spanish folk dance in triple time, usually in 3/4, occasionally in 6/8 time. It is connected above all with Aragon but occurs in regional variants in many parts of Spain.
Characteristic are a quick tempo, powerful leaps, and a lively, cheerful character. It is danced in couples, often with castanets, and accompanied by guitars, bandurrias, and other plucked instruments. Between the dance sections stand sung stanzas, the so-called coplas, whose texts are often improvised or chosen from a transmitted stock.
Related is the fandango, another Spanish dance in triple time. The distinction of individual dance forms is not always unambiguous, since forms and names overlap regionally.
In the notation
The jota is in triple time with an evenly running accompaniment that marks the pulse distinctly. The melody is rhythmically pregnant and divided into clearly articulated sections. In arrangements, instrumental dance parts and sung stanzas appear in alternation.
Musical use
As a folk dance the jota is alive to this day and belongs to the best-known dances of Spain. In the nineteenth century it was taken up by Spanish and foreign composers, in orchestral works, operas, and piano music, when Spanish colour was called for. Concrete examples are Glinka’s Jota aragonesa, Liszt’s Rhapsodie espagnole, Saint-Saëns’s Jota aragonesa, Op. 64, and the jota in Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat.
Performance practice
Keep the tempo quick and the pulse unshakeable; the dance lives from its energy. Bring out the accents distinctly. Play the accompaniment taut and clear. And listen to recordings of traditional musicians to get to know the rhythm and phrasing of the style.