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Thread: Meters

  1. #1

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    What's the best aproach to playing tunes and improvising in different meters? Right now my 6/8 always seems to slip back into my 4/4. I'd like to get this nailed so I can tackle wackier things like 5/4.

  2. #2
    Registered User John Flynn's Avatar
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    I always count 6/8 the same as 3/4. It seems to work. I count 5/4 as "1-2-3-1-2"

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    It's good to count along until the feel of different time sigature becomes second nature.

    There is nothing inherently 'odd' about odd time. Indeed there are various folks musics that commonly use 7/8, 5/4, 11/8 ... these are all great time signature.

    I am pretty well versed in odd time, but have had a difficult time dealing with it on the mandolin, as it makes use of the same pick technique that triplets do ... requiring a double-downstroke to balance out the measure.

    e.g. 7/8 = DUDUDUD/DUDUDUD/...

    IMHO ... 7/8 is one of the most underrated time signature. A personally goal of mine is to write a decent fiddle tune in 7/8.

    - Benignus

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    The x/8 meters have a different feel then the x/4 meters. While at first 6/8 may look mathematically like 3/4, it is actually closer to 2/4. The x/8 meters are an easy way to write triplets. I attached a sample of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” which is in 9/8 and how the equivalent would be written in 3/4.

    A dotted quarter in x/8 equals a plain quarter in x/4. So, if you have a sequence of dotted quarters in 6/8, it would sound like 2/4 meter.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

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