About Time Signatures

Beginner Grade 1 Module 6: 6:8 Time, Fast Changes & Alternate Picki
22

I truly do not understand the difference between 6/8 and 3/4. 6/8 just sounds like two bars of waltz. The emphasis is the same. I suspect the key lies in understanding the second part of the signature, the 4 and the 8. What I gathered from discussion about metronome issues above is the 8 and four are just quarter or eighth notes, so it seems like semantics whether you choose 3/4 or 6/8? Since two bars that have three beats and three quarter beats sounds identical to a bar which has six beats and six eighth beats? There must be some further distinction that only becomes apparent with more complicated musical stuff happening.

2 Likes
23

Experience of playing songs in those time signatures will help it become real and not abstract. With that experience, listening to songs in those time signatures becomes revealing.
Here are a few videos:
6/8 vs 3/4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsD9M7aIA5E
Whatā€™s the difference ā€¦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4q2kBe82-o&t

2 Likes
24

These were really helpful in clearing up my confusion, thanks Richard. :slight_smile:

1 Like
25

Definitely do not set the app to 6/8 at 130 bpm :sweat_smile:. For some reason 130 bpm becomes 300+ bpm (?):fire:

40 bpm seems to be a good tempo to practice.

1 Like
26

Perhaps strange at first, the tempo is in fact exactly the same; 130bpm is 130bpm, regardless of the time signatures.
However, it is the subdivisions of the beats ( 4 1/4 notes vs 6 8th notes) that make it sound much faster. Takes a while to get your head around this one.

Cheers, Shane

2 Likes
27

I think I got it. The 2 main clicks (1 and 4) are the single clicks of a normal/simple counting. I wonder how to get the ā€œrealā€ 130 bpm in this setting.

Maybe dividing 130 by something.

1 Like
28

All good mate. Just cruise along and itā€™ll all seep in over time.

2 Likes
29

I think the closer we can get to 130 BPM on the app in 6/8 is 43 or 44 BPM (dividing 130 by 3 we get 43,333ā€¦ BPM but I guess we canā€™t set decimals in any metronome. Or maybe we can?). I set at 40 bpm (to let it nice and rounded) if Iā€™m using the 6/8 time signature. Otherwise I set it to just a single click (1:1).

1 Like
30

Hi! The app have not changed the way it works with the 6/8 time signature. Which metronome app do you recommend that works on 6/8 with ā€œregularā€ speed and accents? There a lot of metronome apps, Iā€™m looking for a nice and reliable one.

1 Like
31

I was using Justinā€™s metronome app

32

Iā€™ve installed ā€œSoundbrennerā€. Its simple but it does the job. You can put 6/8, define the accents (2 different accents), thereā€™s a timer and some other things. Iā€™ve tried this metronome and some others before but I preferred the Justinā€™s one just to be sure :upside_down_face:. Iā€™ll try to stay with it :sweat_smile:

It doesnā€™t have the amazing Trainer feature like the Justinā€™s, so Iā€™ll keep both for now :grin:

1 Like
33

I donā€™t use a metronome that much, certainly not as much as I should :slight_smile:
I have just been using the Justin TimeTrainer app on my phone. I havenā€™t tried to look at other metronome apps, but Iā€™m sure there are a great variety of features available. But then, I realized I havenā€™t even tried to use the trainer feature on the Justin app, so Iā€™ll have to take a look at that :slight_smile:

1 Like
34

Oh man the Trainer is a game changer :fire: it levels up the metronome practice.

Trainer features

1 Like