Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
1–10 of 92 posts
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#2I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#3I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
May or may not be helpful, but the way I learned it:
numerator = beats per measure
denominator = which note "gets the beat"
3/4 time has 3 beats per measure, where quarter (1/4) notes get the beat.
6/8 time has 6 beats per measure, where eighth notes get the beat.
etc...
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#4I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
May or may not be helpful, but the way I learned it: numerator = beats per measure denominator = which note "gets the beat" 3/4 time has 3 beats per measure, where quarter (1/4) notes get the beat. 6/8 time has 6 beats per measure, where eighth notes get the beat. etc...
The denominator is not as important as the numerator. (The Wikipedia page on time signatures makes that clear)
One thing about 6/8 that is not literally communicated by the notation is the rhythm: the first and fourth beats of the bar are stressed. But not equally, because that would be indistinguishable from 3/8.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#5I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
May or may not be helpful, but the way I learned it: numerator = beats per measure denominator = which note "gets the beat" 3/4 time has 3 beats per measure, where quarter (1/4) notes get the beat. 6/8 time has 6 beats per measure, where eighth notes get the beat. etc...
Additionally, when you are listening to music the denominator has no meaning. You can hear how many beats to the bar (the numerator) but the way that it is notated (quarter note gets the beat or eighth note) is just a matter of how it is written.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#6I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
It's a bit strange, but here's the rule: if you can divide the time signature by 3/2 (and not get 1 anywhere), it's the same as the result, but in triplets.
So 6/8 is a variant of 2/4, with 2 main beats in the bar. 3/4 has 3 beats to a bar.
Or in quavers, 6/8 is Da du du Da du du, whilst 3/4 is Da du Da du Da du.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#7I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
May or may not be helpful, but the way I learned it: numerator = beats per measure denominator = which note "gets the beat" 3/4 time has 3 beats per measure, where quarter (1/4) notes get the beat. 6/8 time has 6 beats per measure, where eighth notes get the beat. etc...
Not quite. It is correct to say that the numerator is the count and the denominator is what is counted. So 3/4 is 3 quarter notes, and 6/8 is 6 eighth notes. However which notes get the beat is a bit more fuzzy. 6/8 is usually but not always two beats per measure, with three eighths per beat (counted 1-tee-ta 2-tee-ta)
That gets to the concept of simple and compound meter. In simple meter the the beat gets divided in two and in compound the beat gets divided in three. (Complex is a mix, like 7/8 may be divided 1-and 2-and 3-tee-ta).
Ultimately, the beat can be more interpretive. The 2nd movement of Beethoven’s 9th symphony is in (mostly) 3/4 but it is so fast, no conductor beats it in three, they beat in in one.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#8Site doesn’t work for shit on mobile.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#9I'm a pretty non-musical person, and time signatures have always confused me. Unfortunately, this explanation left me just as confused. I can hear the difference between the two sample beats but I cannot figure out how to generalize this to other time signatures beyond the 3/4 and 6/8 described here.
If you really want to confuse yourself, try figuring out the time signature for Kiss By A Rose by Seal.
Re: Using John Varney's rhythm wheel to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
#10Hm, not sure I like the example for 6/8 time. It's so much slower tempo than 3/4 time example that it's very hard to compare the two for me.