I do not understand time signatures and can not find videos that explain why they matter.
How is 3/4 and 6/8 different and would a song sound different if a 6/8 song was played in 3/4?
Why not just write every song in common time and move the measure line?
In: Other
3/4 and 6/8 both simplify to a duration of 0.75 per measure but the difference is 3/4 uses quarter notes while 6/8 uses eighth notes. Thus 3/4 packs only three notes into the same time as 6/8 packs six, therefore 3/4 sounds slower and 6/8 sounds faster.
It’s like having two words or phrases with the same amount of letters, but the accent marks or emphasis is in different places.
3/4 and 6/8 are different like this:
For 3/4 if you had 8th notes it would be:
1 a 2 b 3 c
With the accents on the number parts.
For 6/8 it would be:
1 2 3 4 5 6
With the accents on 1 and 4.
The accent of 3/4 (I.e. “2”) doesn’t match up with 6/8 (I.e. “4”) it matches up with “3” in the 6/8 time. This way 6/8 has more of a triplet or “swing” feel.
Other time signatures like 5/4 just mean that it’s 5 beats instead of 4 per measure, which should make sense, but hopefully the above example shows the difference between 3/4 and 6/8.
I am not sure if this is the origin, but all [Viennese Waltzes](https://youtu.be/wkzlv90zZxg?si=QzagvsRiwosM9P0R) are in 6/8, and the lead is dancing: LEFT right together, Right left together.
There is a heavily implied ONE (2 3), TWO (2 3) whereas for slow waltzes in 3/4 the beats/steps are a bit more evenly enunciated, and the phrasing stretches over two measures.
As popular music is built around human movement and expression, and humans have two feet, you get this norm. Deviations and syncopation can be used for effect, but are the exceptions that prove the rule.
Music is all just patterns. Time signatures tell you how often patterns are repeated and how the patterns are emphasized. To fully understand how time signatures work you need to know that there are also bars and measures. A song in 4/4 will have four beats per bar and typically has four bars per measure. A verse or chorus will have multiple measures. For example, 12 bars blues is a common song structure, it has four bars per measure and three measures per section/verse/chorus.
With that out of the way. A bar is broken up into beats. Whole notes (lasting an entire bar), half notes (half a bar), quarter notes (four per bar), eighth notes, and 16th notes. There are 32nd and so on but we will stick to what is common. In 4/4, each bar will have four quarter notes which are where the beat is emphasized; you can still have other types but the quarters are what get the most attention. In 3/4 there are three quarter notes. In 6/8 there are six eighth notes and they get the attention.
While time signatures are written as fractions, don’t think of them like that. The top number tells you how many beats per measure and the bottom number tells you what type of note it is. As other have said, there are typical types of emphasis for different time signatures, but those aren’t hard and fast rules, you can even choose to not emphasize any beats but that would be boring. At the end of the day, it just tells you how often a pattern repeats.
The values indicate beat counts and subdivision counts, and are chosen typically as a coordinative and interpretive aid.
To illustrate: A waltz (i.e. – The Blue Danube) is in 3/4. A shuffle (i.e. – Just A Gigolo) can typically be in 6/8…but can also be in 4/4 and notated in triplets. The choice the composer makes is often based on the ‘feel’ they are trying to illustrate.
(Always remember that music is full of rules that you have to follow…until you get good enough to understand which ones can be *bent* and which ones can be *broken*).
Time signatures are like the heartbeat of music, setting the groove and feel. 3/4 has a waltz vibe, while 6/8 feels more like a rolling triplet. Switching them changes the song’s flow and can mess with the melody and rhythm. Common time works for a lot of music, but different time signatures bring out unique styles and emotions. Think of it like dancing and different steps for different beats!
They do not matter for the most part until you try to communicate the rhythm to someone else. Want to keep your entire 100 piece ensemble playing the same time? Gotta write the time signature on the sheet music so everyone can count along with the conductor.
Did you write an interesting guitar riff and you want to communicate with your drummer how it should feel? saying 6/8 communicates a lot in a very short amount of time.
Latest Answers