34
votes
Accepted
How to notate time signature switching consistently every measure
Yes, one possible way is to clarify a "5+3" meter throughout. Depending on the music, this could be preferable to just writing 8/4 if the meter is clearly a 5+3 layout.
As one example of how this ...
- 85.1k
33
votes
Notes not adding up to time signature, with weird white oval note
The piece shown in the question is from the Punjabi psalter of 1908, which compiled the 150 psalms into a collection metrically appropriate for the Punjabi language. The complete collection can be ...
- 94.8k
29
votes
Why are time signatures not used in this score?
This free-thinking question has already provoked at least
one thoughtful answer.
The sample score happens to have time signatures, however,
beginning with 4 bars of 4⁄4
and going into a bar of ...
- 652
29
votes
Is it true that cut time means "play twice as fast as written"?
It would be more accurate to say that cut time "will sound twice as fast as the same notes played in 4/4 at the same tempo". That's essentially what they're trying to get across.
But even that ...
- 4,847
28
votes
Accepted
Notes not adding up to time signature?
They add up fine. The first three notes you see, with the 3 underneath them are to be played on the count of one quarter. These are called triplets. The same for the second three notes and then the ...
- 31.5k
27
votes
Why use odd time signatures?
It basically comes down to how the way the notes/beats are emphasised affects how your ear hears how the beats are grouped. Listening to a piece in 5/4, you'll hear that the beats are audibly in ...
- 46.1k
25
votes
Is 41/16 a proper time signature?
There aren't really rules around "proper" time signatures, so much as practical considerations. "Is there another way of expressing this?" Yes, there is almost certainly a better ...
- 19.2k
24
votes
Can one use a whole note to span a full 5/4 measure?
I would like to add a detail to Richard's answer.
The bars sometimes has a 3+2 rhythm and other times a 2+3 rhythm. You could notate the long held chords in synchronization with that.
So when it is 3+...
- 4,823
23
votes
Accepted
Sheet music time signature question
The first measure is called a pickup measure. The music stars on the fourth beat, so the music would start with rests. Sometimes people will put the rests in, other times (as here) they will leave ...
- 22k
22
votes
Accepted
I don't understand the bottom number in a time signature
To put it very simply, the bottom number tells you what the top number is referring to. It is a little clearer to use the fractional way of discussing notes, so:
minim = half (1/2) note
crotchet = ...
- 6,496
22
votes
Accepted
Why does this time signature have addition?
It is 9/8, BUT the 'normal' 9/8 is three sets of three quavers - thus the bottom number of 8.
2+2+3+2 also equals 9, and it's written that way so the player can understand what the composer wants as ...
- 197k
21
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Can music time signatures really be irrational?
He's just showing off.
There's a few major reasons why what he describes doesn't matter. First and foremost, sheet music is a guide. It's not actually the music. You are always expected to put ...
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21
votes
Is it true that cut time means "play twice as fast as written"?
That sentence "Played twice as fast as written" indicates that someone must have a misunderstanding. Someone who probably thinks that quarter notes are supposed to be played at a certain speed. That ...
- 4,823
21
votes
Accepted
Can one use a whole note to span a full 5/4 measure?
You're correct that a whole rest is used for this purpose, but I've never seen actual note values used in that way. The whole+quarter construct seems to me the smart way to go.
This is especially ...
- 85.1k
19
votes
Accepted
Can music time signatures really be irrational?
I'll give this another spin:
Can music time signatures really be rational?
Which I'd answer: no, not really. Rationality is a mathematical concept, depending on an exact, axiomatic notion of ...
- 35.8k
19
votes
Is there a notation for borrowing a beat from the next measure?
If possible please avoid uncommon notation! It will often not be easier to read.
Maybe do something like this
This is more or less how Schumann does this in Mondnacht:
- 23.1k
18
votes
Do time signatures make sense?
If you think the denominators are arbitrary, try notating a stately sarabande in 3/8 time - you'll drown in beams and flags. Next, try notating a lively tarantella in 3/1 time - you'll be overwhelmed ...
- 7,828
18
votes
Cannot get bar to accord with time signature
There are two separate voices, both add up to 3/4.
You can think that there are two singers, singer 1 sings voice 1, and singer 2 sings voice 2.
- 28.7k
18
votes
Is Queen's Killer Queen in 4/4, 12/8, or both?
A time signature is a notational choice, not a property of the music itself. It's improper to say that a song (referring to the finished audio product) is "in" a particular time signature. ...
- 22.6k
15
votes
Accepted
Is it Possible to Write Straight Eights in 12/8
Yes it is possible. Similar to triplets, there are duplets which tell you 2 notes go where 3 use to. Similarly to triplets you would group the eigth notes in two and put a two over there beams like ...
Dom♦
- 48k
15
votes
How to notate time signature switching consistently every measure
One way which is possible is to show two time signatures, as here from Tchaikovsky's second String Quartet via Popflock:
This warns the user that bars of each length are to be expected.
You haven't ...
- 1,020
15
votes
Accepted
Time signature inconsistent
The notes in the upper staff are tuplets. As an aid towards your eventual goal, here is some sample code to create what you're looking for:
\version "2.19.82"
musicA = \relative c' {
\key cis \...
- 85.1k
15
votes
Accepted
What time signature should I use with partial triplets?
Where are the accents, and is this meant to be a polyrhythm?
You have 16 actual notes in your sample notation. That would fit into 4/4 time with the groupings of three forming a polyrhythm. This kind ...
- 59.5k
15
votes
Strumming along low BPM song
Strum twice as fast, but miss actually playing the strings on the 'off' beats. That keeps the arm moving at a pace that works for you, and actually, it's what a lot of strum patterns, fast or slow, ...
- 197k
15
votes
Accepted
Why is "Für Elise" written in 3/8 when there are a few bars in 2/16?
The first measure that you highlighted in red is called a pickup measure (or anacrusis) and the bracket enclosing the second measure is called a volta bracket.
The combined length of the pickup ...
- 2,395
15
votes
4/4 time change to 6/8 time
I have a classical piece that changes from 4/4 time to 6/8 time and indicates a quarter note in 4/4 time = a dotted quarter in 6/8 time.
If you think of 6/8 as being similar to triplets in 2/4 it ...
- 4,823
14
votes
What exactly is the point of time signatures and measures?
There's an important distinction between meter, which is a musical concept, and time signatures and measures, which are notation concepts. Notation must always be in service of the music, and to the ...
- 35.4k
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