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cobb2 View Drop Down
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Points: 415 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2009 at 20:34
Originally posted by The Pessimist The Pessimist wrote:

Well Bach used the bottom number as an indication to how fast a piece should be (6/8 is faster than 6/4), and composers still use that method today. But it all depends on the tuplet divisions and the length of phrases. If you have a phrase that lasts for two measures of 6/16, then you may as well put the entire thing as 12/16. If a song is in 4/4 but is almost completely dominated by triplets, then you may as well put it as 12/8 and speed up the quaver.

6/8 or 6/4 is not a speed indication. It simply says how many beats there are and what note equals a beat. The speed of the piece is another indication such as crotchet=102 or moderato. 6/8 and 6/4 both with an indication of moderato have the same beat speed. 

Also musical notation was invented during the Renaissance period  (may be earlier, but these are when written examples began to appear) - that's 100 hundred years prior to Bach in the Baroque period.
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Points: 1698 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2009 at 21:20
Okay, this is all obviously going way over my head. I have heard plenty of music with that stress pattern, and I would never think of it in anything other than 5/4. If I heard that piece played for me without looking at the sheet music, it would sound like 5/4 to me.
 
And yes, the first time I looked at the sheet music, I DID think it probably sounded like a triplet 2/4 and a 'straight' 2/4. It was only when the conductor explained to the band what the pattern sounded like, that is when I thought "Oh, this sounds like a 5/4 measure".
 
I played timpani on that piece by the way. It was pretty fun.

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Points: 415 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2009 at 22:06
Must have been fun, because it looks like a very interesting piece to play.
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Points: 1698 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 01 2009 at 22:20
It was grand fun. However, it was a bit of a shame, because the rest of the percussion section had trouble with all the time changes. There are parts at the beginning of the 'odd rhythm' section of the piece where the timpani and the snare play the same parts. I had 3 drums to play and change the notes and I could play the rhythm better than the guy with one note to hit! It was fun anyways, and I got congradulated by a couple other members in the band for being a rhythm player who could read rhythm. LOL

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The Pessimist View Drop Down
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Points: 3834 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2009 at 17:14
Originally posted by cobb2 cobb2 wrote:

Originally posted by The Pessimist The Pessimist wrote:

Well Bach used the bottom number as an indication to how fast a piece should be (6/8 is faster than 6/4), and composers still use that method today. But it all depends on the tuplet divisions and the length of phrases. If you have a phrase that lasts for two measures of 6/16, then you may as well put the entire thing as 12/16. If a song is in 4/4 but is almost completely dominated by triplets, then you may as well put it as 12/8 and speed up the quaver.

6/8 or 6/4 is not a speed indication. It simply says how many beats there are and what note equals a beat. The speed of the piece is another indication such as crotchet=102 or moderato. 6/8 and 6/4 both with an indication of moderato have the same beat speed. 

Also musical notation was invented during the Renaissance period  (may be earlier, but these are when written examples began to appear) - that's 100 hundred years prior to Bach in the Baroque period.


I was just pointing out Bach's method of notating speed. If you look at any of his keyboard music, there is no indication whatsoever (well tell a lie, you seldom see it though) of the tempo other than the time signature. That's just the way he rolled. Please, I do know what I'm talking about here.
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