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 ...
- 83.2k
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 ...
- 75.5k
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 ...
- 4,767
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 ...
- 31k
26
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 ...
- 45.7k
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 ...
- 13.2k
24
votes
Accepted
How is it that 12 eighth notes fit in a measure labeled as common time?
They are actually eighth note triplets instead of eighth notes. The alternative notation to this would be to group the eighth notes and rests in threes and put a 3 over them like a standard triplet, ...
Dom♦
- 47.3k
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+...
- 4,460
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 ...
- 17.2k
22
votes
Accepted
Whole bar rest in 6/8 time?
A semibreve rest CAN be used in 6/8 time - or ANY time (apart from 4/2 - quite unusual)) to represent one bar's rest. At that point, it isn't actually a 'semibreve', but represents just one bar of ...
- 186k
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 ...
- 186k
21
votes
Accepted
How do you know if a song has triplets in 4/4 or if the tempo is 3/4?
Technically speaking, you can't ever say for certain until you see the composer's original score (if there even is one); a piece could literally be written in an infinite number of time signatures. As ...
- 83.2k
21
votes
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 ...
- 1,713
21
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 = ...
- 6,448
20
votes
Is there any practical difference between 3/4 and 3/8 time?
In the context of Baroque dance music or suites, then there are good reasons to use 3/8 in preference of 3/4 (or vice versa). In the days before metronomes, how the music was notated would be an ...
- 1,260
20
votes
How is it that 12 eighth notes fit in a measure labeled as common time?
The eighth notes in the left hand are all triplets. The ones in the right hand are normal. Note how the note heads line up vertically in measure 4.
On a purely technical level, this is incorrect ...
- 22k
20
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 ...
- 4,460
20
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 ...
- 83.2k
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 ...
- 35k
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:
- 14.9k
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 ...
- 7,222
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.
- 26.2k
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. ...
- 22k
16
votes
Whole bar rest in 6/8 time?
A semibreve rest is the symbol to be used for "whole-bar rest", regardless of the meter. A whole-bar rest is also distinguished by being written in the middle of the bar rather than being aligned ...
- 161
15
votes
Accepted
8 under clef and timing questions
It's an octave clef. It's telling you all the notes written are actually down an octave. Since the guitar is already a transposing instrument where everything is transposed down an octave, it's ...
Dom♦
- 47.3k
15
votes
How can a 59/48 time signature be counted?
It can be interpreted not as 59/48, but as 5/4+9/8 (i.e. 19/8). Sometimes composers use two meters to express the "alternation" (1st beat has 1st time signature, 2nd has 2nd, 3rd has 1st again, 4th ...
- 873
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