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Bill Powelson's,
MUSICAL TIME & RHYTHMS:
"FINITE TO INFINITY"
What about 4/2, 7/8, 9/16, 12/32 and all the other
time-signature-modifications and permutations?
Hopefully by this stage of the course, you now have a
complete working knowledge of the X/4 signatures.
But . . . What about the others (ie; X/1, X/2, X/8, etc?)
PLEASE DO THIS . . .
I want to setup a few 'thought projects' for you. It's
important that you should think about them, write them, and try to play them.
THOUGHT PROJECT #1: *** Writing and playing '8th-note 7/8' ***.
SETUP: Seven Xs on your computer in the text editor . . . . . . (or with
pen or pencil on scratch-paper.)
X X X X X X X <--- Hi Hat
* Now . . . place any variation of Ss along the
snare line, in any order you choose; Then, do the same for the bass, on the line
below that.
H X X X X X X X <--- Hi Hat
S
B
NEXT, COMES THE FUN PART . . .
Drummers should PLAY and REPEAT what you've written, on a full drumset!
Other musicians might setup the pattern(s) on a drum machine, then play
along, on your own instrument. Otherwise, just tap the patterns on your
desktop and try to feel the rhythm structure.
CONGRATULATIONS! You've just potentially invented/discovered thousands of new 7/8
beats! Each of which 'could' be the basis of a new sounding song or arrangement.
You did discover at least 1,000 variations, didn't you? It doesn't matter what you have
written on the snare or bass lines! It will always be considered a legitimate 7/8 beat
pattern as it is repeated consistently . . . AND THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!
Yes! Even NOTHING (no snares or basses), will be an acceptable, legit, beat pattern . . .
Yes! EVERYTHING (or all the snares or basses) could be used as well! (However dumb it may sound.)
We may place basses or snares IN-BETWEEN any of the cymbal notes as well, (as
syncopations.)
Anything, everything, and all that's in-between, will be a legit
beat pattern in '8th-note 7/8' as long as we consistently repeat, and remain
confined to that SEVEN-note (secondary pulse) within our arrangement.
'Staying together' as a band, makes EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING legit!
This is a great piece of knowledge, though the beat-patterns within this
odd, offbeat, uncomfortable structure will tend to defy our
rhythmic sensitivities? Most human ears may not agree with the feel and sounds
of these beats . . . but in art and music, there are very few rules. These
beat patterns are totally legit, and may be used as the structure for
a song, or arrangement of a song, whether our ears agree or not. That's
the thing we want to discover, as we ponder this.
The variation (permutation) possibilities are astronomical within
the 7-note structure, and ANY of the variations could
be different from one bar to the next, of our potential song . . .
but the 7-per-bar count (secondary pulse) must remain consistent,
or we've encountered a SIGNATURE CHANGE, (which is also ok too,
theoretically.)
THOUGHT PROJECT #2: '16th-note 7/8'
Now, start a new project. Setup the X's to number exactly 14:
H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X <---hi-hat = 14
S
B
This is (arbitrarily) 16th-note 7/8. Alter the bass and snare notes any way you choose,
but maintain the 14-flow (secondary pulse) within each succeeding bar,
and build a song around all of it. Your beat-permutations may be extremely
simple, or extremely complex. It simply doesn't matter. If we've experimented
with syncopations in project #1, then we are effectively recreating the
same permutations again here . . . but now they're somewhat different. They are no
longer syncopations, because we're playing ALONG WITH the secondary pulse,
rather than in-between it.
NOTE: We could however, syncopate in-between the 14 secondary pulse notes (or hi hat),
but let's don't do that right now. It's already becoming ridiculous.
So, now we have a NEW arrangement in '16th-note 7/8', though I doubt if it has been used,
much. It would be very rare to hear this . . . if it has been used at all.
This is great stuff for innovative minds, though! Play around with these, and
come up with a new sounding song or arrangement.
THOUGHT PROJECT #3: '32nd 7/8'
Next, change the X's again to number 28 X's. This represents
a bar of '32nd-note 7/8'.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Remember . . . they're all 32nd notes
(with three flags each), no matter how they may be grouped or configured.
32nds are usually setup in groups of eight or four, with three bars or flags
across the top of each group.
Add and vary the bass or snares ANY way you like, again. Don't
try to do them all. It'll take several millennia!
Just play with it on paper until a complete picture of
the possibilities begins to emerge within your mind.
Eight or ten-thousand examples will be enough. (I'm only
kidding, of course.)
Is it tomorrow already? Wow!
We've just discovered 7.20575940379279E+16, totally new and awesome '32nd-note 7/8'
beat patterns!
....................................................
By the way . . . this may also be called 28/32, (or we may use several other
labels if we choose to do so.) It's up to YOU, the writer,
to decide the time-signature and then to consistently tally the note-values on each
line, to match that time-signature you've chosen to use.
Yes! It's EXACTLY the same as 28/4, except for the confusing
note-value changes, and the time-signature formula itself.
....................................................
Is it odd or even? It could be either, depending
on how we stack the bass and snares.
- 1. What if, we place a bass on 1, and a snare on 15? We'll get
an 'odd and crazy' sounding Blues 'type' pattern. (ONE becomes the downbeat,
and FIFTEEN becomes the backbeat . . .)
- 2. Or . . . What if we stack it so that it's bass-snare-bass-snare
all the way? It then becomes nothing more than 'Quarter rock 4/4',
(rhythmically speaking!)
- 3. Or, what about making it feel and sound like '8th 4/4' most of the time? No problem!
CONSIDER THIS TOO . . .
ALL THE ABOVE PATTERNS (AND OTHERS) COULD CONCEIVABLY OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHIN
THE SAME SONG! One part of the rhythm-section could
play the #1, Blues form(s) (loudly). . . while another part of the rhythm
section plays the #2, the seemingly 'Quarter 4/4' form AND/OR #3, the seemingly '8TH 4/4' form softly. Comfortable
dynamics may help us to avoid making this sound more like listenable music, rather
than an offensive train wreck.
Imagine the above arrangement idea in your head! It's potentially harmonious, balanced,
pleasing to the ear, and it's odd/even simultaneously. Also; Several OTHER patterns could
exist and occur simultaneously as well! We're limited only by our imagination, or
our lack of it.
YET . . . WE ARE ONLY TALKING ABOUT 'ONE' TINY LITTLE
TIME SIGNATURE! 7/8!
PROJECT #4: '9/8, 15/8, or ANY X/8?
What if it were 9/8, or 15/8 . . . or ANY/8? Now, focus your mind on those, and
play around with ALL of them!
HERE'S '8th-note 9/8' . . . (add your own bass and snare permutations.)
PROJECT #5:
OR . . . '8th-note 15/8' (add your own bass and snare permutations.)
H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
S
B
Then . . . covert those to 16ths or 32nds
on the hat (or secondary pulses), as well.
NOW, FOR SOME GOOD NEWS!
This is essentially VERY GOOD NEWS,
for our easily confused and weary minds!
REDUNDANCIES ABOUND!
There are tons of redundancies (unnecessary replications) built-into our very
remarkable time-signature system. Understanding those redundancies will
simplify everything, if we'll allow it to happen!
Understanding all the redundancies:
Our very complex time-signature system was setup and designed in the 15th/16th
Centuries to unnecessarily OVER-COMPENSATE for ANY eventuality! It was intentional,
but about 80% of it is totally unnecessary! We could dispense with most
of it (. . . all but X/4), and the discarded
portion would never be missed! Understand exactly what I'm
about to show you . . . and the entire time-signature picture will
become crystal-clear, and extremely simple.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Our '8th-note 7/8' pattern (the first one), is really
just a mirror-copy of Quarter-note 7/4.
THINK ABOUT THAT A LONG, LONG TIME!
WRITE A FEW bars of Quarter-note 7/4 as we did above! Do this
study with a real pen or pencil, on paper. Construct the
actual note-values and make them tally with the time-signature you've
chosen to use. Play around with the permutation possibilities. You'll
quickly see the redundancies that permeate the entire time-signature system.
They're BOTH the same thing! Both structures contain EXACTLY the same rhythmic permutations,
no matter how we choose to write them.
* TRY to discover and write a pattern that exists in one framework (4th 7/4), but
not the other (8th 7/8.)
You won't find one! Or . . . if you do . . . I want to see it!
ALL THE ABOVE could also be a MIRROR of:
7/1 (= SEVEN whole-notes per bar) . . .
Or 7/2 . . . (= SEVEN half-notes per bar.)
Or . . . '16th-note 7/16', (= SEVEN 16th-notes per bar)
Or, numerous other redundant possibilities.
DO YOU SEE THE POINT?
All of those time-signatures above, contain EXACTLY the same
rhythmic permutations. That's the redundancy that's
built-in! They're EXACTLY the same except for the APPEARANCES
of the notes, and the time signature formulas. It could be whole-notes
or 64th-notes in the secondary pulse. It wouldn't matter! All the EXACT, SAME
potential beat patterns AND RHYTHM VARIATIONS exist, in each situation, the same way.
That's why it's so easy to just use X's to describe all
this. The note-values and the time-sig formulas are virtually irrelevant.
* THE SAME RHYTHMS CONTINUALLY EMERGE, no matter how we choose
to express them in NOTE form, (provided we're always comparing x-apples
to x-apples as the secondary pulse or hi hat.)
By the way . . . that 15/8 (I mentioned above), could
also be written as (a Blues form of) '8th-triplet 5/4',
and several other ways as well.
Write it, and SEE for yourself . . .
Compare them . . . and search for even ONE DISCREPANCY.
They'll always be the same . . . IF the secondary pulse, (Hi Hat)
is always relative!
..............................................................
MY POINT . . .
ALL THE RHYTHMS IN THE MUSICAL UNIVERSE will exist with
FOUR (X/4) as the only necessary time-signature denominator!
..............................................................
Whoa! That's a bold statement, but the facts prove it!
All the other time signatures are redundancies of X/4!
In other words . . .
When X/4 is the time-signature formula . . . Where X, the TOP NUMBER, is
ANY NUMBER, and the denominator is always '4', we'll ALWAYS have access to any
potential rhythm that exists in the musical Universe.
The TIME SIGNATURE FORMULAS may be different, and the NOTE VALUES
may be different . . . but the rhythms (rhythmic permutations)
of the secondary pulse are ALWAYS the same. Check it out completely!
Do some investigating of your own! Don't just take my word for it!
If you discover something I'm not seeing . . . please tell me.
As we consider all the potential NOTE VALUE MODIFICATIONS AND PERMUTATIONS of X/4,
we're also seeing ALL the other time-signatures as well, (ie; X/1, X/2,
X/8, X/16, x/32 etc., etc.)
TO FURTHER EXPLAIN . . .
9/8 is really just '8th triplet 3/4', written a different way!
(See the Waltz Beat lesson.)
7/8 = quarter note 7/4
5/8 = quarter note 5/4
etc., etc., etc.
9/16 is really just quarter note 9/4 (or . . . it 'could be' 9/1,
9/2, or even 9/8, 9/32, etc., . . . depending on the writer!) It's always
an arbitrary decision . . . left up to the WRITER, and 'YOU', are NOW the writer.)
Some writers like to be impractical and confusing. It's FUN for them to create
intimidating and confusing transcriptions . . . though they 'could' easily
write things a much simpler, and in a less confusing way. It's as if they
are trying to illustrate to us how brilliant they are, while showing little
concern for actually communicating they're ideas.
It all started with the long-hair composers of the 15th and
16th Century . . .
* Before THEY came along . . . ALL MUSIC WAS WRITTEN IN X/4!
Really . . . they should have left the system alone. The
music world has never been the same! They've only confused
everyone with countless, confusing arrays of enigmatic redundancies,
and mind-boggling dotted-notes, which really
weren't necessary at all.
WHY DID THEY DO IT?
The historical records are a little sketchy on this issue, but here's
the way it has been told to me . . .
They changed the time-signature system, because they were getting
'writers cramps', as they wrote endless pages of symphony scores.
They found that by adding the OTHER redundant signatures (X/1, X/2, X/8,
X/16, X/32, etc.) and by creating dotted notes, it would often
eliminate a few pen-strokes per page'!
(Dotted notes became necessary as a result of this too, AND TOTAL CHAOS
WAS BORN!)
It's true! In the 1600s, the pen-strokes were an important issue,
but, complete confusion has been the end result of those changes!
Because of the changes, . . . Almost no one has FULLY understood time-signatures
since then! Time-signature theory became so complex that it has caused
mass-phobias, concerning written music notation, ever since that fateful time.
We must endure these confusing complexities because THEY wanted to save
a few pen-strokes! Their reasoning was sound reasoning at the time, but
times and technology have changed considerably since then!
....................MY POINT....................
NOW THAT WE HAVE PRINTING-PRESSES, COMPUTERS AND COPY MACHINES,
WE 'COULD' DO AWAY WITH ALL DOTTED-NOTES, AND ALL THE TIME SIGNATURE
REDUNDANCIES (ie; X/1, X/2, X/8, X/16, X/32, etc.) COMPLETELY!
They would NEVER, EVER be missed! The only necessary time signature
now, is X/4!
..........................................................
NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOUR SEMESTER FINAL EXAM.
We need to make sure if you are seeing the complete picture . . .
*** SEMESTER EXAM ***
PROBLEM #1:
* How many other ways is it possible to write 9/8, and '8th triplet 3/4'?
Here's a couple SUGGESTIONS to help put your brain in gear . . .
- 9/1 . . . (Actually write it with real pen or pencil, using
real whole-notes on real paper.) Write some variations (Permutations)
too!
- . . .?
- . . .?
- . . .?
- . . .?
- . . .?
- 9/64 . . . (Write this with pen or pencil too, using real 64th notes
with flags.)
Can you imagine those which are missing, above? Hint: I've shown
only the low end, and the high end.
What's in-between?
(HINT: 9/2, 9/4, 9/8, 9/16, 9/32, etc, etc.) Write each as a 'triplet' waltz.
PROBLEM #2:
- NOW . . . Write 8th-note 10/4. This one is my personal favorite! It's
wide-open for many awesome, harmonious, pleasing, odd/even possibilities.
Remember! 5/4 + 5/4 = 10/4. Also; 4/4 + 4/4 + 2/4 = 10/4! Compose a song that
simultaneously includes all that. Imagine a 5 X 2/4 walking-bass-guitar,
with a drummer playing a funky permutation of '8th 4/4 + 8th 4/4 + 8th 2/4',
While a third rhythm-instrument maintains '8th 5/4 + 8th 5/4', simultaneously,
in the same song.
- Do you see the possibilities? How else 'could' it be written? This
one could keep us busy for years, and I'm not finished looking at it yet!
IN A NUTSHELL:
To totally comprehend time signatures we must totally comprehend the secondary pulse,
or the HI-HAT;
1 . . . through 32 . . . (OR 64 and above, if we choose to go there.)
STARTING WITH:
- One-note, on the hat . . .
That's 1/1 time . . . or 1/2 time, or 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc.,
etc. These very short sigs would usually be used only to describe
a one-count-exercise in a music manual, or something similar. They're
probably too short for any other practical use.
- Two-notes, on the HI HAT (or secondary pulse) . . .
That's 2/1, 2/2, 2/4, 2/8, 2/16, etc., etc. (All permutations
included.)
It keeps going that way . . . as high as we choose to go.
ANYWAY . . .
That's all there is to time signatures and odd-time.
It's EASY as pie, once we see it from the perspective of the
Hi-Hat . . . (or secondary pulse), then account for the many
and numerous redundancies, by seeing everything as X/4, first.
* Keyboardists, guitarists, or other musician (without a hi-hat) . . .
WILL NEED TO THINK in terms of 'SECONDARY PULSE'. It may be an arpeggio or just
a simple, soft, consistent, background rhythm, that holds everything else
together. It needn't be a hi-hat specifically.
* First, we have the downbeat/upbeat pulse, which
is the (apparently arbitrary) positive-negative flow . . .
It apparently doesn't have to be EVENLY spaced, though our ears and sensitivities
would prefer, and LIKE it to be.
* THEN, there's the SECONDARY PULSE, which is the consistent and repetitious, ONE through ANY NUMBER
count on the HI HAT for drummers . . . It's the underlying-repeating-flow
(secondary pulse or count) for the other musicians. It flows beneath the primary
upbeat/downbeat flow.
RHYTHM: Is the way we alter or vary (permute) the accents or tones
within that CONSISTENT secondary pulse. There are NO OTHER SOLID RULES
as far as my eye can see! It's virtual anarchy from there to infinity! :>)
* It's absolute freedom . . . AS LONG AS WE STAY TOGETHER!
We (in the band) must all stay within that secondary pulse or count.
After that . . . there are few additional, solid and dependable, rules.
* This knowledge may help all of us create the most beautiful music
ever written . . . or it may also offer us the most offensive sounds
on the planet! Sometimes the beauty or lack of it, is in the ear of the
beholder. There's just something unbelievably free, utopic, and beautiful
about that!
*** NOW . . . FOR THE REAL TRUTH! ***
In the final analysis, we rarely use any of the odd-time knowledge.
Why?
Because, currently 99.999999% of all POP music is composed within 'even' signatures.
That which is 'odd', will usually not be very popular at all, because it
tends to be unsettling. It tends to offend the ear, rather than please it!
That which isn't popular, usually won't make a lot of money.
If people can't make money, then there's little incentive or reason to experiment and
explore! It's just a sad fact of life.
QUESTION OF THE DAY . . .
Is there a pleasant, harmonious listening-experience within
all these mazes of odd time? Could it become a popular trend
to use these sometimes strange and odd beat patterns, then make them more popular?
I say yes . . . but I guess it's up to you, and the remaining public
to do the deciding.
THE FINAL ANALYSIS:
Almost EVERYTHING POPULAR in music, will usually occur within those
first BASIC 5 DANCEBEATS, with the exception of an
occasional Waltz, now and then.
This brings us back to square-one. (Or is it square-256/256?)
Email your comments to Bill Powelson
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