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.

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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

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24

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

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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

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28

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

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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.

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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:

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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:

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