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Learn how to modify the rhythms you already know to play in any time signature. With audio examples
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Behind the Notes: Reading Time Signatures
Sheet music will always tell you what time signature a song is in by giving you the time signature: the fraction right at the beginning of a piece of music.
4 How many beats are in each measure
4 Which note counts as one beat (2=half note, 4=quarter note, 8=eighth note, etc.)
Here’s how to count the beats in common time signatures. Half beats are always counted as ands between the numbers:
If you use a metronome (and you should!), remember that the click of the metronome can be what you want it to be. We usually think of each click as a beat, but you can use it to mark the first beat of each group of two, three, or four beats. For example, in 6/8, you might find it easier to count “click two three click five six…” Some metronomes also have settings for these different time signatures.
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Songs in a Different Time
These songs are great examples of what can happen when you go beyond 4/4 and into more nonstandard time signatures.
Leo Kottke: Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” in 9/8.
Pearl Jam: “Nothing Man,” and “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” in 6/8.
Stephen Stills: “Change Partners” in 3/4.
Elliot Smith: “Waltz #2” in 3/4.
Stevie Ray Vaughan: “The Sky Is Crying” in 12/8.
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Printable Version
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