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Non-4/4 time signature scratch battle


Steve

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  • 3 weeks later...

wouldnt it be 4/3? cos it goes 1234 1234 1234 ?

 

That's not quite how time signature works, the bottom number is how many beats make up a note, top number is how many beats are in a bar.

 

I've never really got to grips with this. I understand "how many beats are in a bar", but I don't understand "how many beats make up a note". Care to enlighten me?

 

That Melanin track is wicked by the way ^^^.

 

Yeah man, I really like it. I bought the digital version off the guy that made it, but unfortunately it's a low bitrate MP3 that doesn't sound any better than the YouTube video.

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I've never really got to grips with this. I understand "how many beats are in a bar", but I don't understand "how many beats make up a note". Care to enlighten me?

 

 

Well, a 'bar' is a constant but so is a 'note' - having a third thing that divides into both and creates a juxtaposition between them helps to define - but particularly, notate - rhythm.

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wouldnt it be 4/3? cos it goes 1234 1234 1234 ?

 

That's not quite how time signature works, the bottom number is how many beats make up a note, top number is how many beats are in a bar.

 

I've never really got to grips with this. I understand "how many beats are in a bar", but I don't understand "how many beats make up a note". Care to enlighten me?

 

 

the bottom number is how long a beat is (how many beats in a note isn't quite right). x/4 means the beats are quarter notes, x/8 means they are eighth notes and half as long (for the non-americans crotchet and quaver respectively)

 

This excerpt from wikipedia of helps clarify why you need 2 elements to the time signature

 

 

 

3

4

: A simple signature, comprising three quarter notes. It has a basic feel of (Bold denotes a stressed beat): one two three (as in a waltz) Each quarter note might comprise two eighth-notes (quavers) giving a total of six such notes, but it still retains that three-in-a-bar feel: one and two and three and

6

8

: Theoretically, this can be thought of as the same as the six-quaver form of

3

4

above with the only difference being that the eighth note is selected as the one-beat unit. But whereas the six quavers in

3

4

had been in three groups of two,

6

8

is practically understood to mean that they are in two groups of three, with a two-in-a-bar feel (Bold denotes a stressed beat): one and a, two and a

 

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the bottom number is how long a beat is (how many beats in a note isn't quite right). x/4 means the beats are quarter notes, x/8 means they are eighth notes and half as long (for the non-americans crotchet and quaver respectively)

 

Okay, how is this different though? If how long a beat is is defined by what fraction of a note it is, then...

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I think you've lost me a little, did you mean crotchets?

 

If there are two beats in a bar, and each beat is half a note, then a bar is a note in 2/2 just like it is in 4/4, but the tempo in bpm is half for the same feel hence the 'now now' feel to it as rhythmically there's more urgency... Right?

 

The duration of the beat is relative to the note, so perhaps it's just a round about way of saying it but if a beat is a quarter of a note then there are also four beats in a note... So the number on the bottom of a time signature incidentally also signifies the fraction of a note that a beat is.

 

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