Numeric ratio indicating the subdivision of measures according to groups of beats

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30
votes
5answers
7k views

Is there any real-world difference between time signatures such as 4/4 and 8/8?

These days I pretty much play everything by ear, but was originally trained in strathspey and reel violin so realise I should know the answer to this, but I can't remember what, if any, the practical ...
6
votes
4answers
295 views

When is it proper (if ever) to extend time signatures (8/4 vs 4/4)?

When listening to most contemporary music, in my experience, time signatures tend to be in "common time", or 4/4. But sometimes it feels like the phrase or measure extends beyond the four quarter ...
6
votes
1answer
539 views

How do you know what beat to emphasize based on the time signature?

In learning the guitar I have run across various time signatures. In each time signature it seems as if you are supposed to emphasize different beats. Is this something that you just have to intuit, ...
3
votes
2answers
305 views

What is the time signature of Killing Me Softly? [closed]

I want to transcribe in Sibelius the song "Killing Me Softly" (shown here), but I can't get the rhythm right. What I have so far is 6/8 time with the first three notes being Eighth notes, and the ...
2
votes
5answers
231 views

How can I learn timing from a guitar tab?

When playing guitar/bass from tabs, I find that I can learn the fingering easily, but the timing is often wrong when I play with a backing track. I'm fairly noobish to music notation/tablature, but I ...