Is this the best way to write this rhythm down?
I'm making a cover for the light in all of us by Jim Guthrie but mine has a weird rhythm. Should I keep hopping from the 6/4 to 2/4 time signature or is there a better way? Thanks in advance!
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Comments
I don't know the song, but I can say based on the bottom staff that it seems like you should probably break the beam between the three eighth notes in the first measure, it it is confusing to see that group of three kind of crossing over the left hand rhythm.
In reply to I don't know the song, but I… by Marc Sabatella
Do you mean break the beam between every one of them or just break the beam like in the second measure? I made a screenshot of what it looks like now.
In reply to Do you mean break the beam… by TheHolyMeeps
I meant like that :-). Looks like the rhythm is "really" two bars of 3/4, and I'd strongly considering actually notating it that way unless there is a really strong reason to use the much less common 6/4. But failing that, I'd recommend at least beaming like two bars of 3/4 if that's how it consistently breaks down. So use time signature properties to set up the default beaming (see Handbook under beams or time signatures for more info).
In reply to I meant like that :-). … by Marc Sabatella
I think the 6/4 is clearer and fits the rhythm better if you only take the first two measures into account but the third measure suddenly switches to 2/4. Idk if there's a way to add those that is more logical, otherwise I'm just gonna leave it like this.
In reply to I think the 6/4 is clearer… by TheHolyMeeps
Good thing this song has a steady beat. Otherwise the constant meter changes make no sense.
![light.png]( "light.png")
6/4 and 2/4 is indeed awkward. The first two themes seem better alternating between 3/4 and 4/4.
The rest is in a four feel until the end. Then it stays in three.
In reply to Good thing this song has a… by bobjp
I'm gonna try that! Thx
Two measures of 7/4, repeated, and then measures of 4/4.
"The Light in Us All"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5-HxSBO4gU
In reply to Two measures of 7/4,… by underquark
Yes, I watched that video.
On the surface 7/4 might seem easier notation. I approached it from the standpoint of how I would have to conduct it as a director. 7 is a bit awkward for me, while switching between 3 and 4 is simpler. And the rhythm of the melody itself is not seven, but switching regularly between 3 and 4. If the whole notes were broken up into something different, I might be able to buy into7/4. I kind of doubt that this is written down anywhere. Plus the tune ends in 3.
In reply to Yes, I watched that video… by bobjp
FWIW, I usually assume that when you get down to it, no one can really counts higher than 4. Actually, I might claim 3 - 4 is somehow still heard as 2+2, but we're used to it. But anything else, most of us build in groups or 2, 3, and/or 4. At least in Western culture. In cultures where longer and irregular beat cycles are more common (eg, 11/4), maybe people get better at dealing with bigger "chunks". But what little I know of Bulgarian and Indian rhythms suggests they usually break down into 3's and 2's or 4's.
Still, that doesn't mean rotating in 7 doesn't make sense, just making an observation about counting.
In reply to FWIW, I usually assume that… by Marc Sabatella
I'm probably just gonna make it 3/4 and then 4/4 because 6/4 is a little awkward in this case and 11/4 is indeed very irregular. Though I disagree nobody counts higher than 4 because a 6/4 does sound a little different than a 3/4 rhythm due to the "accent" on the first beat of each measure. 3/4 is more like a waltz whereas 6/4 skips the accent on the 4th beat. I like this example: https://youtu.be/8rCYdIPTHzA
If written in 3/4 this would sound quite different. This isn't really the case for the light in us all though so it doesn't rlly matter here
In reply to I'm probably just gonna make… by TheHolyMeeps
The computer in that example might play the 6/4 different from 3/.4, but probably no human musician would. In real life 6/4, normally has sub-accents dividing the measure as 3+3, just as 6/8 does. For 6/4, sometimes it is actually 4+2, but your example is more clearly 3+3 I think, based on the bottom staff anyhow. And in any case, while one can choose how strong to play those sub-accents, that doesn't change the fact that for reading (and therefore also writing) purposes, 6/4 is absolutely counter in terms of those smaller groups. The way people who are good at reading complex rhythms work is by breaking things into smaller groups, and that's why the rules of music notation go into such detail on proper ways to beam notes, break notes into ties, etc. Sure, if it's notated 6/4 instead of 3/4 it might subtly affect how you accent notes (but in the vast majority of cases, it wouldn't in practice), but the notation rules are 6/4 are based on counting in smaller groups, because accented or not, we definitely feel them that way.
In reply to The computer in that example… by Marc Sabatella
Yeah true :)
In reply to Two measures of 7/4,… by underquark
Ah yes I ever got the title incorrect lol.
I don't know the song (or the performer) at all, but just listening to the youtube above (esp. around 1'13")--I don't hear it in 3 at all, but in five-measure phrases of 2/4 (or perhaps two measures of 4/4 followed by one of 2/4). The rhythm track keeps a pretty steady duple back-beat throughout. It's not the time signature which is irregular, but the phrases; and the melody syncopates.
But I agree with Marc--in general, people can't count higher than four--any time signature greater than that is going to be subdivided: either evenly (like 6/4), or unevenly (like 5/4 or 7/4).
And this from someone whose most recent score keeps shifting from 5/4 to 6/4 to 3/2 to 7/4, yada yada.
In reply to I don't know the song (or… by wfazekas1
I'm just gonna try to do something that is the easiest to read by not switching time signatures too much while at the same time keeping the amount of ties at it's minimum. Lol it's true that 6/4 is basically two 3/4 or a 4/4 and a 2/4 but a 6/4 can sound very different from a 3/4 or a 4/4 and a 2/4 in my opinion even though there's often a little accent. But Idk much about music theory anyways so I'm just gonna take y'alls word for it.