How does a 3/4 time signature differ from a 6/8 time signature?
I mean the bottom number tells us what note gets one beat right? Like if it’s 4, it’s a quarter note, or if it’s 8, it’s an eighth note. The number above tells us how many beats in a measure(?), so 3/4 means 3 beats in a measure with quarter notes as one beat. So a 6/8 has 6 beats, so I guess thats different.
Now how about this 3/8 and 3/4. Both have three beats in a measure with just different notes signifying one beat. What’s the use of that if that’s the case?
Now I am assuming I am wrong in the last statement, so here’s another question. Maybe 3/8 means faster than 3/4, I am not entirely sure because I still hold to the assumption that they are the same. So if I say, like there are notations above the staff right, like where they say eighth note = 120, which I think stands for beats per minute, so is it the same as 60 bpm when I use the 3/4 signature instead?
Also what does it mean for beats to be in measures? Does something significant happen to music once a measure ends?
Sorry for all the questions because this is not taught in detail in our music classes. The lesson just teach this is a quarter note, the top number says beats per measure but does not say what do those actually mean in music. Hopefully someone answers this.
In: Other
While both 3/4 and 6/8 have the same number of beats, the accents are different.
You can try for yourself: count 3/4 as “1-and 2-and 3-and, …”.
At the same time, you count 6/8 as “1 – 2 – 3, 4 – 5 – 6, ..”
There are of course some grey areas, where you could notate the same song in both ways. But oftentimes it just saves you some accent marks to notate it in one or the other.
It’s not that hard to google this… [This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4q2kBe82-o) gives a great explanation of 3/4 vs 6/8.
3/4 is a *simple meter*, and is counted as ONE two three.
6/8 is a *compound meter*, meaning that the grouping is in groups of 3. We have 2 beats of 3: ONE-and-a TWO-and-a.
3/4 and 3/8 have the same beat. Though 3/8 usually suggests a higher tempo than 3/4.
> So if I say, like there are notations above the staff right, like where they say eighth note = 120, which I think stands for beats per minute, so is it the same as 60 bpm when I use the 3/4 signature instead?
If the notation were the same, then the two tempi would *sound the same*. However, the note duration used in the tempo marking has to correspond to the time signature. You wouldn’t use a ‘quarter note = 120’ tempo marking for a 6/8 piece because that isn’t the natural division. You would use ‘dotted quarter = X’ instead.
> Also what does it mean for beats to be in measures? Does something significant happen to music once a measure ends?
Measures (or bars) are just the grouping of music based on the time signature. A bar of 3/4 is 3 beats of quarter notes. When a measure ends you just go on to the next measure (or however the music dictates).
Measures are a simple way to keep the performer and songwriter sane. There is nothing to literally stop someone writing a song in 128/4. But it would be harder to keep track for a songwriter and probably even harder for performers who have to learn the song. Can you imagine coordinating a song with different instruments and parts and telling the performers, “yeah lets replay the 89th quarter note to the 92nd quarter note. It doesn’t sound right”. It is a lot easier to say “hmm let’s redo the 22nd measure”
It is sort of like having sentences and paragraphs in an essay.
Latest Answers