Recently I’ve been attending a lot of gym classes and the counts are always 4, 8, 16 etc. It made me wonder why music is set out this way and not in 5’s and 10’s like I would expect. Or am I missing something obvious?
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A lot of music is not in 4/4, but most popular music is. 6/8 is pretty popular too.
Here’s a song that is not in 4/4. Try and follow the rhythms in it. I warn you that this is not music for the “least common denominator” sort of crowd, though:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYCYGpu0OxM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYCYGpu0OxM)
People generally find a more straightforward cadence in music to be more catchy and easier to follow.
Your heart beat establishes rhythm. Very little in nature aside from your digits comes in 5s or 10s.
Your heart beat establishes rhythm. Very little in nature aside from your digits comes in 5s or 10s.
Because we have 2 legs and rhythm works best when you can dance to it. ie in beats multiple of 2.
That’s why 4/4 is most common. When you have 3/4 you’ll dance in circles for instance waltz, and certain beats like 6/8 can be danced either as multiple of 2 or 3.
A 5 beat dance will be more difficult to dance to, but definitely possible. Many Indian music are in 5/4 and they dance just fine.
Because we have 2 legs and rhythm works best when you can dance to it. ie in beats multiple of 2.
That’s why 4/4 is most common. When you have 3/4 you’ll dance in circles for instance waltz, and certain beats like 6/8 can be danced either as multiple of 2 or 3.
A 5 beat dance will be more difficult to dance to, but definitely possible. Many Indian music are in 5/4 and they dance just fine.
Because we have 2 legs and rhythm works best when you can dance to it. ie in beats multiple of 2.
That’s why 4/4 is most common. When you have 3/4 you’ll dance in circles for instance waltz, and certain beats like 6/8 can be danced either as multiple of 2 or 3.
A 5 beat dance will be more difficult to dance to, but definitely possible. Many Indian music are in 5/4 and they dance just fine.
5 and 10 are normal to us for numbers only because of the decimal system we use to count. And probably because you happen to have 5 fingers etc.
4 or 8 “feels” right to us. It’s much more natural to try and tap out, dance to or walk to. If you just take walking as an example we have two feet so an even beat is significantly more natural to us than an uneven one like 5.
There are absolutely reasons to use unusual time signatures like 5/4, 5/18, 13/8, 7/8 etc. You’re just very unlikely to find them in any generic song as they aren’t as easy to follow.
5 and 10 are normal to us for numbers only because of the decimal system we use to count. And probably because you happen to have 5 fingers etc.
4 or 8 “feels” right to us. It’s much more natural to try and tap out, dance to or walk to. If you just take walking as an example we have two feet so an even beat is significantly more natural to us than an uneven one like 5.
There are absolutely reasons to use unusual time signatures like 5/4, 5/18, 13/8, 7/8 etc. You’re just very unlikely to find them in any generic song as they aren’t as easy to follow.
5 and 10 are normal to us for numbers only because of the decimal system we use to count. And probably because you happen to have 5 fingers etc.
4 or 8 “feels” right to us. It’s much more natural to try and tap out, dance to or walk to. If you just take walking as an example we have two feet so an even beat is significantly more natural to us than an uneven one like 5.
There are absolutely reasons to use unusual time signatures like 5/4, 5/18, 13/8, 7/8 etc. You’re just very unlikely to find them in any generic song as they aren’t as easy to follow.
Its also a big thing especially in english cultures. As English is often spoken in roughly 4:4. Weird to think about but typically true.
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