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Joined 2 years ago
Cake day: June 9th, 2024
  • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zonetoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•What is something other people seem to grasp easily that eludes you?
    4·
    2 days ago

    One thing this reminded me of is Bootsy Collins explaining funk. How when you’re playing bass you put the root on the one. https://youtu.be/H2MMuNkCLZY

    The time signature is about emphasis, and there are common ones. I’ve bolded and italicized big and small emphases on the beat numbers.

    Common time: 1 2 3 4 , 1 2 3 4 ,… example peter gunn theme

    Cut time: 1 2, 1 2, … example stars and stripes forever

    Waltz: 1 2 3, 1 2 3, … example the blue danube

    6/8: 1 2 3 4 5 6, 1 2 3 4 5 6,… example the wreck of the edmund fitzgerald

    5/4: 1 2 3 4 5, 1 2 3 4 5,… example Mission Impossible theme

    Some time signatures are very similar, like waltz and 6/8, the difference is where the emphasis is placed. Waltz has just one big, emphasis placed on the one, where 6/8 is also groups of three, but has a big emphasis on the 1 and a smaller emphasis on the 4th beat. An alternate way to count in 6/8 time is 1 2 3, 2 2 3; 1 2 3, 2 2 3;… which emphasizes how 6/8 time feels like two groupings of three, within one bar, with the biggest emphasis on the one.

    This is the basic version – composers will play with expectations and add their own accents on top, etc., so you won’t always hear the emphasis as I described. Reasonable people might even disagree about whether a piece of music is better described by one time signature or another, because they can be so similar.

    I was in band growing up and i also couldn’t explain time signatures even though i was able to read music and play them; it is something you learn without necessarily being able to verbalize, since it is about how the music feels, based on subtle emphasis.