Questions tagged [meter]
The rhythmic organization of music into regularly recurring measures dictated by a time signature.
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How to identify time signature from notation
I have a fair idea of the meters, and can identify from a time signature whether it is simple or compound, duple, triple, quadruple etc.
However, I cannot figure out the reverse: the time signature ...
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How does an apparent 4/4 arise from 2 totally unrelated time signatures?
So I have been listening to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and I notice something that is unusual to me in his promenades. It has a 4/4 feel but it isn't written in 4/4 at all, instead it is ...
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Is dotted quarter note = 144 equivalent to quarter note = 96?
I have a piece to read that gives the tempo of dotted quarter = 144. Does that mean it's at a quarter note = 96? The piece has a time signature of 12/8, and I'm guessing each eighth note is played at ...
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Why are triple meter pop songs so rare?
Most popular music is in double, quadruple, and occasionally sextuple meter, but there are quite few pop songs in triple meter. My impressions is that songwriters write their songs in triple meter ...
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How to count polyrhythm 3 against 4 in common time?
Polyrhythm 4:3 in 3/4 meter can be "inverted" to 3:4 in 4/4 meter, like this...
...the notation is easy enough to write, because we can use tuplets to gloss over the division problem.
Converting ...
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1answer
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Is there really a 6/8 meter with jazz swing?
I recently started practicing jazz scales and rootless chords. I'm using very simple patterns: hit the chord, play up or down the scale with a swing rhythm. To give some musical context I'm playing in ...
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What is this old time signature (2 with a vertical line through it)?
On the fourth line of page 5 of the score of Fasch's Ouverture-Suite in F major, one reads a time signature that is the number 2 with a vertical line through it:
What does it mean? I know some '...
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Regarding the beginning of Gould's B minor fugue, WTC 1, performance
I've listened to Gould's performance of this piece many times, sometimes following the score, and I've noticed that maybe Gould plays this piece wrong at the beginning.
Unfortunately, I am unable to ...
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Problem with understanding differentiating meters and time signatures
I am currently trying to attempt to transcribe the fourth movement of scheherazade by Nikolai Korsakov-Rimsky and around bars 30+ there is a time signature change which says: 2/8(3/8 6/16). In the ...
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Is it hopeless in terms of becoming decent musicians, if they can't count beats?
My flesh-n-blood guitar teacher has tried to get me to count beats (verbally or at minimum in my mind), and I think that I've tried reasonably hard in doing so for few months now. However I've come to ...
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How does 'meter' differ from 'rhythm' in music?
The following introductory books' definitions don't distinguish meter from rhythm. Please see the titled question. I asked this on Music Fans, but I still don't understand. Please expound more plainly?...
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Why don't we have third notes?
why isn't there a third note It could be use in 3/2 or 3/4,and others that divide the measure with 3,what more of a question it can be formed too. If there was a third not it would work well in 3/2 or ...
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4/4 vs 3/4 time signatures
I'm new to music theory so I'm sorry if my question is trivial.
Is it correct to say that, in practice, the only difference between 4/4 vs. 3/4 time signatures is where the accents are located? To me,...
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Are there situations where a time signature is unknown?
My understanding is that a time signature like 4/4 time is known because certain beats are emphasized, for example: ONE, two, three, four. But let's say someone created a song with tempo alone (ie ...
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How to interpret the '3' notation underneath the first two quavers?
I'm trying to adapt a guitar piece to the piano. The piece, shown here, is in 3/4.
I've never seen this bit of notation before and I initially thought it was the indicator telling you to play 3 notes ...
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1answer
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Is there a term for songs that have a “surprise change” in their rhythm? [duplicate]
There are many songs that begin with a repeating beat/instrumental that implies a certain rhythm (let’s call it “Rhythm A”), but then when a later instrument enters the song, it turns out that the ...
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Does a phylogeny of Afro-cuban rhythms exist?
I've recently been immersing myself in Afro-cuban rhythms. There are many similarities between them, and it struck me that it would be interesting to learn how they are related to each other with a ...
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1answer
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Time signature problems in Debussy's “Clair de lune”
Clair de Lune by Debussy is in 9/8, but this bar doesn't look like 9/8 to me at all. Can anyone help?
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Turning lyrics into melody
Ive currently been having great difficulty turning my lyrics and poems into a melody. i've considered aligning the accented syllables as well as the meter with accented beats but am still having ...
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Why is meter divided into simple and compound types?
From what I understand,
Simple Meter -- divisible by twos
Compound Meter -- divisible by threes
Why do we choose 2 and 3? Why not n divisions?
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1answer
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measures numeration in polymetre
In polymetre and/or poly-tempo music, measures count in staves may be unequal.
How measures should be numerated?
Each stave have separate numeration?
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Songs that move between 6/8 and 4/4?
I am trying to do this for something I've written (4/4 in verse, 6/8 in chorus) but it's difficult to get in and out of smoothly, so I'm wondering how other people have tackled this.
For my song, if ...
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Reinforcing meter when dealing with alternating 1/8 and 1/16 notes and rests
Below is an excerpt from a not very known piece (in 4/4 time) that prominently features abuses ornament notes:
In an attempt to simplify the piece (which is full of similar ornamentation) while ...
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What exactly is a beat in sheet music/music?
A quick google search will reveal common answers, such as, beat is a steady "pulse" of music, beat is the foundation of rhythm, or beat is a basic unit. However, to me these are vague answers and I ...
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Is splitting the quarters into triplets syncopation?
Let's take the Amazing Grace song as example (3/4 rhythm):
A - maz - z i n g Grace How Sweet the
3 1 2 3 3.5 1 2 3 1 2 3 ......
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How do I explain a time signature switch from 2/2 to 4/2?
I am presently studying Nathaniel Dett's Chariot Jubilee, and the time signature switches from 2/2 to 4/2. What are some suggestions on how to approach explaining to singers.
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Hearing the time signature switch of a cover of the “Mission Impossible Theme”
The original 1966 score of "Mission impossible" was written entirely in 5/4 time (you can listen to it here).
For the first movie staring Tom Cruise, the theme was rewritten by two U2 band members, ...
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Meter and time signature headache
I'm having trouble understanding meter and time signatures. I want the complete logical rundown of what it means and how arrangement works, the arbitrary nature of it (some almost explain notation and ...
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1answer
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How do 'meter' and 'rhythm' affect the choice of 'Polymeter' and 'Polyrhythm'?
I use chevrons (⟨⟩) to denote the concept behind the word.
[ Source :] Meter is the rhythmic structure of the music. For example, a piece of music could be in 4/4 meter, which is a strong-weak-...
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What meter? Determining meter of three whole notes per measure. Counting 12 per whole note
In beginning piano class we are identifying pitches. The examples are written out as three whole notes per measure. The teacher is counting them out as one and two and, one and two and, one and two ...
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Number of notes in a tune such that it is metrically sensible
I am computationally generating short tunes (aiming for around 10-15 notes, 0.5 seconds per note) for a psychology experiment. I am wondering exactly how many notes I should have per tune, so that the ...
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How to count a note which has 6 on above it?
It's on 2/4 meter. I know we all are much familiar with 3 on top of any note which is a triplet. Here I'm confuse today: What is 6? Please describe to me what the 6 is about and how to count those red ...
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Can we use any note without caring much on rule of particular meter as long as note value fits in the meter?
As we know there are two main common meter :- simple and compound. We all know that simple meter divides a beat into two and compound meter into three. We also know that a measure holding two beat is ...
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What are the important beats in a measure and how do they affect music?
In a 4/4 situation, how does "importance" work in beats? I read somewhere that rock puts emphasis on certain beats and jazz puts emphasis on other ones.
Also, when we have an important beat, how does ...
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How should I distinguish between syncopation or un-metrical rhythm?
Below are some two-part rhythmic frameworks I made up. I'm not notating pitches on staff, because I just want to focus on rhythm and meter, but I put some chord symbols in the 'bass' part to set a ...
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Is there a term for metric equivalence analogous to “enharmonic” for pitch equivalence?
Key signatures, chords, scales, and phrases are said to be enharmonically equivalent if they contain the same pitches, but are notated differently.
Is there an analogous term to express that time ...
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What feel is 12/8 meter and why?
I know 6/8 is a two feel, so I feel like 12/8 would be a four feel of four triplet groups per bar. Is this correct?
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End Accents in Other Cultures
Disclaimer: It's difficult mixing terminology between Western and non-Western musics, but I'll try to make my question as clear as possible.
Western Classical music most often has an accent at the ...
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How do you know if a song has triplets in 4/4 or if the tempo is 3/4?
How do you know if a song has triplets in 4/4 or if the tempo is 3/4 ?
For example, consider this song :
For the first line ,
I can count 1,2,3 ,1,2,3 ,1,2,3 ,1,2,...
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Should a song's meter be tied to the text, or the text-tune combination?
I'm improving a web site that has indexes of hymnals, and one of the things I'd like to do is add an index of hymns' meters. I've learned a little bit about meters but I'm confused about a few points.
...
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metrical structure - levels of metrical grouping
In Music, Mind and Brain: The Neuropsychology of Music they use a technique to find the most "salient" level of grouping.
Link to passage text here
This is important in musicology for making ...
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Piano methods (classical) that address musical meter specifically
Czerny's op.500, book 1, lessons #12 and #13 are specifically about meter. I think the main point of the lessons is playing various rhythms which subdivide the beat while being able to count the meter ...
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How to find the most correct meter of a riff or phrase
When one comes up with a riff or phrase of music out of "context"(an inspired thing or whatever), how can one find the best meter to set the riff too... or the natural meter the riff is in? (Mainly ...
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How do time signatures relay information on the grouping of beats?
I'm trying my best to understand musical meter, but it's just not making sense to me. In particular, I don't understand how one might deduce from the two numbers in the time signature (i.e. 3/4 or 4/4 ...
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How can a non-musician recognize anacrusis?
I need help understanding anacrusis (pickup notes). I'm no musician - I'm more of an anthropologist. I was reading some articles on ethnomusicology, and one of them makes reference to anacrusis in ...
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What does “7/8 3/4 13/16 alternating bar groove” mean?
On Twitter this morning I saw someone challenge the electronic musician Deadmau5 in this fashion:
@deadmau5 challenge: 7/8 3/4 13/16 alternating bar groove. Must be listenable.
He produced this ...
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What is a hypermeter?
I understand both the terms polymeter and polyrhythm, but when songs from bands such as Meshuggah are discussed the term 'hypermeter' keeps popping up. Can someone please explain?
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Alternative ways of notating this example of metric modulation
At 3:08 Seconds into this video (Johnny Winter, Mama talk to your daughter, Live CPH 1971):
a hemiola cross-rhythm effect, and the guitar strums and bass temporarily ...
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Does Chinese music avoid counting in 4s?
Many East Asian cultures consider the number 4 to be unlucky, because their words for that number are highly homophonic to the word for death. Quite often you will see companies skipping the number 4 ...
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16/16 vs 8/8 (accents)
How would you notate:
/--/--/--/--/-/-
16/16 seems ungainly, but 8/8 puts a downbeat on an "and" in two places.
(To get my software drummer to do what I want, I am using two bars of 6/8 followed by ...
