What Time Signature is This?

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...and just in case someone is going to get all semantics-crazy...I realize that using the term "Lowest common denominator" is wrong. So, before we start getting nuts, I realize that the "lowest common denominator" of 16/16, 8/8, etc...is actually, 1/1, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows what I mean when I say it's 4/4.
 
Greg_L said:
I don't understand this stuff, I just do what comes naturally.
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That's all you got to do. 99% of pop, rock, disco, funk, punk, metal, ????-core, or anything else, is 4/4. The other 10% is Genesis. :D
 
Bubba po said:
I can't for the life of me see where Gecko gets 7/8 from. 7/8 is one short of an eight count - it's definitely not doing that!
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I agree. If it was, you wouldn't be able to tap your foot to it without adjusting awkwardly at the beginning of each bar. This is a seamless foot-tapper.
 
RAMI said:
That's all you go to. 99% of pop, rock, disco, funk, punk, metal, ????-core, or anything else, is 4/4. The other 10% is Genesis. :D
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Wait, so you mean crappy prog Genesis, or crappy 80s pop Genesis? I need to know which crappy version of Genesis you're talking about.
 
Greg_L said:
Wait, so you mean crappy prog Genesis, or crappy 80s pop Genesis? I need to know which crappy version of Genesis you're talking about.
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Actually, the prog. It wouldn't be crappy pop if it wasn't in 4/4. (Now someone's going to post "Salisbury Hill" just to show me I'm wrong. :D )
 
RAMI said:
Actually, the prog. It wouldn't be crappy pop if it wasn't in 4/4. (Now someone's going to post "Salisbury Hill" just to show me I'm wrong. :D )
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Okay, riddle me this....what's the time sig for House of the Rising Sun?

I count that song like this...123456123456...the bold numbers are the downbeats. What time sig is that? Am I counting that song wrong?
 
Greg_L said:
Okay, riddle me this....what's the time sig for House of the Rising Sun?

I count that song like this...123456123456...the bold numbers are the downbeats. What time sig is that? Am I counting that song wrong?
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You're counting it totally right. There are 2 schools of thought on that type of song, but I couldn't get accepted into either of them. :eek:

But seriously, that's either 12/8 or 4/4. But because of the triplet feel, I'd prefer to call it 12/8, which implies the 123 feel of it.

It's sub-divided. There are 4 beats in the bar (What you highlighted). But they're divided into 3's, rather than 2's. So, saying 12/8 will allow the person you're talking to to understand you're implying the triplet feel.

EDIT: Sorry, you divided into 6's, not 12's. Pretty much the same thing. You're sort of making it a 2/4 bar, instead of a 4/4 bar. So, it's either 2/4 and 6/8, or 4/4 and 12/8. Not really much diff.
 
RAMI said:
You're counting it totally right. There are 2 school of thought on that type of song, but I couldn't get accepted into either of them. :eek:

But seriously, that's either 12/8 or 4/4. But because of the triplet feel, I'd prefer to call it 12/8, which implies the 123 feel of it.

It's sub-divided. There are 4 beats in the bar (What you highlighted). But they're divided into 3's, rather than 2's. So, saying 12/8 will allow the person you're talking to to understand you're implying the triplet feel.

EDIT: Sorry, you divided into 6's, not 12's. Pretty much the same thing. You're sort of making it a 2/4 bar, instead of a 4/4 bar. Not really much diff.
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Okay, but why isn't it 6/2? Lol. Couldn't you say there are six subdivisions of 2 beats? Each chord change happens after a count of six.
 
fat_fleet said:
How is House of the Rising Sun not in waltz time?
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Well, Waltz time, to me (and I might be totally wrong), is really a count of 3 that repeats. Like Oom Pa Pa (1..2..3...).

The guitar pattern of "House" takes up 6 beats before it repeats. Play the riff, there are 6 notes in it, not 3. This, to me gives it more of a "Blues Beat" feel to it, than a Waltz feel.
 
Greg_L said:
Okay, but why isn't it 6/2? Lol. Couldn't you say there are six subdivisions of 2 beats? Each chord change happens after a count of six.
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Because those 6 notes aren't half notes, which is what the "2" would be. They are 6 8th notes. So, like I said, above, 6/8.
 
Just to mess with people's heads, this track has a bog standard 4/4 percussion track, but the chorus sits over it in 3/4 (but not filling the whole bar like triplets, just using 3 of the 4/4 beats for its rhythm).


Dance Like a Flower
 
gecko zzed said:
Just to mess with people's heads, this track has a bog standard 4/4 percussion track, but the chorus sits over it in 3/4 (but not filling the whole bar like triplets, just using 3 of the 4/4 beats for its rhythm).


Dance Like a Flower
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Shit, a few clients just showed up, I can't listen. But I will later.

I'll just post this in the mean time.

This song is in 3/4, but the drums are playing a straight 4/4. So, everything meats up and resolves every 4 bars.

https://youtu.be/QJ0Kv-BOglQ?list=RDQJ0Kv-BOglQ
 
Greg_L said:
Why are they 8th notes?
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There are 6 8th notes, when you count 123456.

The reason they are 8th notes is because the main pulse, which is the 1 and the 4 are quarter notes. That's indisputable because that's the main pulse, what you tap your foot to. Those quarter notes are divided into 3 8th note triplets.
 
Do any of you guys know Radiohead's "Pyramid Song"? You would swear it was in some exotic time signature but it's actually just plain 4/4.
 
RAMI said:
There are 6 8th notes, when you count 123456.

The reason they are 8th notes is because the main pulse, which is the 1 and the 4 are quarter notes. That's indisputable because that's the main pulse, what you tap your foot to. Those quarter notes are divided into 3 8th note triplets.
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Ahhhhhh, okay, I get that. Thanks.
 
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