Week 3/4 : Part 2 "Playing the Odds"

Odd Time Signatures

Normal or 'common' time is referred to as 4/4, meaning there are 4 quarter notes (crotchets) in a bar. This is sometimes referred to as 'common time' and is notated by a C at the beginning of the music.

We started to look at music that has an 'Odd" Time Signature - meaning an amount, other than 4, of pulses in a bar.

The first one we looked at was in 5/4 - which means there are 5 quarter notes in a bar. Play through the groove below remembering to count 1-2-3-4-5.

We then looked at a basic 'Rock-Waltz' in 3/4. Again have a go at the groove below, counting 1-2-3, 1-2-3 etc

Having looked at grooves that move in an odd number of quarter notes we then moved on to 'odd' 8th note patterns.

A time signature of 7/8 means there are 7 8th notes in a bar. The count for this can be either simply 1-2-3-4-5-6-7, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 etc or 1-and-2-and-3-and-4 (remember ... NO 'and' of 4).

Play through the groove below and find out which method of counting works for you.