Have you been in the position where you were tapping your foot to a song, and a few seconds later you find out that you're not on beat at all? This is because the contemporary music of today is not always in the standard 4/4 time, but can also be in 3/4,4/8, 7/8, 11/16, or even a combination of all of these time signatures in the same song. Get ready to learn how to count in these time signatures because whether you play violin, clarinet, or electric guitar, for you will come across one of these crazy counting problems! Before you begin remember that this line (-) represents an eighth note or a subdivided 16th in slow 8-time signatures.
1Memorize what the numbers in a time signature mean. The top number is how many beats are in a measure (bar). The bottom number represents the count. In simple time, a two represents a half note (minim), a four represents a quarter note (crotchet), an eight represents an eighth note (quaver), and so on.Ad
2Simple time is time signatures such as 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 4/8, etc. The main beat is a single note that is not dotted.
3Compound time involves time signatures such as 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc. The main beat is a dotted note, such as a dotted quarter note (dotted crotchet).
4Non-complex time signatures are also called after the number of beats in a bar. Simple duple time is 2/2, 2/4, etc., whereas compound duple time is 6/8 etc. Triple time is three beats in a bar; quadruple time is four, etc.
5Complex time signatures have an irregular beat: not each beat is the same length.
6Some time signatures could be either simple or compound, eg: 3/8 could be three eighth note (quaver) beats per bar, or one dotted quarter note (dotted crotchet) beat. You have to hear where the stresses fall to find out which.
7Learn 4/4 time first. It is by far the easiest to count with because you just count 1-2-3-4!
8Try 3/4 and 2/4 next. It is the same counting as 4/4, except there are more or fewer beats, depending on the top number. 3/4 is 1-2-3, and 2/4 is 1-2.
9Learn how to count in 6/8 time. This has only two beats in a measure, because it is in compound time. It is commonly used in folk music and jazz. In this time signature, a dotted quarter note (dotted crotchet) counts as a beat. An example of this is 1--2--. One popular song in this time signature is from Pirates of the Caribbean, "He's a Pirate".
10Learn to count in more compound time signatures such as 9/8 and 12/8. 9/8 and 12/8 are in compound time, and are made up of three dotted quarter notes (dotted crotchets) and four dotted quarter notes (dotted crotchets) respectively.
11If not all the beats are the same length, the time signature is complex. Complex time signatures include 5/4, 7/8 and even ones such as 11/16. These can be done in different ways - you have to listen to the stresses in the music. 5/4 could be a half note (minim), then a dotted half note (dotted minim), or a dotted half note (dotted minim) then a half note (minim). Even 4/4 can be a complex time signature - for example, two dotted quarter notes (dotted crotchets) then a quarter note (crotchet) in a bar.
12Learn other complicated time signatures. The time signature can represent any beat, so you could have 9/16, 17/32, or even 15/64! Use the same methods that are used for eighth note (quaver) time signatures, but split notes according to the type of note specified in the bottom number. Split each the top number into groups of two, three and four - this shows where the main beats are and makes it possible to conduct!Ad
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