The most important thing is .... timing

3/3 makes no sense imo. It's just 3/4 with different "labels".

The difference between 6/8 and 3/4 is that in 6/8 you don't have the typical waltz rhythm with 3 quarter notes - instead you have a rhythm which cannot be properly expressed with quarter notes.
    

Edited by MikeEnRegalia - May 09 2006 at 05:03

No, 6/8 has two beats divided into three, while 3/4 has three beats divided into two (or even not divided at all)

You asked about other strange timings - Im particularly fond of Dave Brubecks messing around with time signatures on the albums "Time Out" & "Time Further Out" (I have an old vinyl copy of the two as a double album). "Unsquare Dance" is one of the weirdest (and most difficult to 'tap' along to!). I think (but am no musician) that its in 7/8. There are many other examples of weirdness on these albums which, although 40 years old, I think are still great fun.

Bob Greece wrote: goose wrote: No, 6/8 has two beats divided into three, while 3/4 has three beats divided into two   How's that work? 3 into 2 won't go.

^ I've never seen anything noted in 10/4. It may be 4/4 4/4 2/4 though.

I just don't think that there's a 10/4 rhythm that cannot be broken down in smaller segments.

my favorites are 7/8 and 9/8, have never heard of 3/3 or 10/4 mentioned above

my favorites are 7/8 and 9/8, have never heard of 3/3 or 10/4 mentioned above   Mike's comments think that cover the subject   the thing you should know Rob is that 'zeimpekiko' (Greek dance) is always in 9/8

10/4 Really is just a 5/4. A good example of 5/4 is the Mission Impossible theme.

As for 7/8, I've heard this time signature done many times, but almost never done well. It usually sounds choppy, and forced, but I have heard it used well. Some examples of 7/4 are "Money" by Pink Floyd, "Spoonman" by Soundgarden, and "Ticks & Leeches" by Tool.

I've heard some neat compositions with 9/8 (I can think of a tune that Bach wrote, but I don't recall what the name was). Sort of a triplet waltz.

A really obscure time signature is 15/8. I've heard this time signature used effectively only once. The song was "Sleep Is Wrong" by Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. They actually managed to make it balance out. :P


Edited by Toob-Wurm - May 09 2006 at 21:44

heyitsthatguy wrote: Primus' song "11" is in 11/4 and it actually sounds really cool.

Their drummer really impresses me when they play that. Especially with the finesse that he uses in the intro.


Edited by Toob-Wurm - May 09 2006 at 21:50

Bob Greece wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: There are also 5/8, 7/8, 9/8 or even 13/8.   How about 4/8, 8/8 or 10/8? Are these valid timings? And if not why not?   Another question - if you played 3/4 really fast, couldn't it become the same as a 6/8?

8/8 is NOT being used in notation. The only situation where it would make sense to use it instead of 4/4 would be a 5 + 3 rhythm ... but that would normally always be noted as 5/8 3/8.

And the whole thing doesn't have ANYTHING to do with speed. There are slow */8 rhythms and fast */4 rhythms.