Can someone help?

W

wakeupbomb

New member
Does anyone know what time signature Take the Money and Run by The Steve Miller Band is in? For some reason I listen to it and I can't figure it out. I've just recently started actually trying to learn about music theory and things like time signatures, and I'm starting to figure that stuff out with songs I listen to but I get stumped.

I didn't know where to put this, so I figured I'd put it here in the songwriting section because I figured you guys would probably know about time signatures.

Thanks in advance.
 
Is it really? I'm not sure what was throwing me off. Like I said I'm new to this whole time signature thing and my counting must've been off. It just seems like there were more than 4 beats per measure.

Anyway, thanks a lot for that! I appreciate the response.
 
I just popped it in the CD player (it's been many years since I've heard the song) and it most certainly is 4/4 - there are no measures that break from 4/4.

Perhaps some of the hi-hat accents, etc. (which accent on the up-beat vs. down beat) may be causing you csome confusion) - however if you count a 4/4 through the song (and ignore the accents) it is 4/4.
 
I think what confused you was that it's actually a slow song with a fast sound, because he's strumming the guitar so fast. But the count is slow.

It's a little confusing, but that's to be expected. The guy was smoking the kind reefer.
 
Thanks a lot for all your help guys, I've listened to that song about 15 times this last weekend, and I can see now that it's 4/4. I still don't know exactly what was throwing me off, but yeah. Anyway, thanks again!
 
4/4 refers to 4 quarter notes in a measure. So yes, a measure is 4 "beats" each beat being a 1/4 note.
 
So what's a note? I'm not trying to be smart...a note is like say, a plucked open e on a guitar? That's a note right? So what's a quarter note? A quarter of a plucked e?

I don't get it...and anyway, it doesn't really matter.
 
I'm not trying to be smart
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Are you sure? ;)

Well, anyway, notes are made up of pitch AND duration. When you are talking rhythm and time signatures, it's the latter that is of interest. In 4/4 time, a whole note lasts a whole measure, a half note lasts a half measure, a quarter note lasts a quarter measure, and so forth. Pitch is irrelevant.
 
wakeupbomb said:
Is it really? I'm not sure what was throwing me off.
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Yep it's 4/4 meaning 4 beats per measure (the upper 4), with each beat equivalent to a quarter note (the lower 4) in written music. Most all rock is written this way, as opposed to waltzes for example where the signature is 3/4, or three beats per measure with each beat equivalent to a quarter note.

What was confusing you was probably that almost all the instrument and vocal parts this song are 16th notes and 32nd notes. More often rock rhythm is in 8th notes with the occasional 16ths.

Tom
 
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