What's the difference between 3/4 and 6/8 time?

There can often be disagreements and confusion over whether a song is in 34 or 68. Later in this video I will play some examples of songs that are in 34 or 68 and you will have a chance to guess which you prefer. I think it is, but before doing so let me explain to you

what

the

difference

between 34 and 68 really is. If a song is in 34 beats, it means that there are three quarter notes in each measure of the music, but in 68 beats the signature tells us. . that there are six eighth notes in each measure now this is where the confusion arises 34 has three quarter notes in a measure, but those three quarter notes also fit in a measure of 68, in the same way, 68 notes can also fit in a measure of 34, so

what

's the

difference

if a piece of music in 34 can always fit in a

time

signature of 68 then isn't one of the signatures simply redundant?

Well, no and there's actually a clue as to why in the way I wrote these 68 notes, yes. Both a 34 bar and a six 8 bar can contain six E notes, but the difference is how we group them. One aspect of

time

signatures that people often overlook is the difference between simple and compound time. Simple time is when each downbeat of the bar is divided into two equally spaced notes and the eighth notes are grouped in sets of two. 34 is what we call simple triple time, that is, it has three downbeats in the measure and each of those downbeats are divided into two eighth notes the alternative to simple time is compound time the compound time is when each downbeat of the measure is divided into three equally spaced notes the eighth notes are grouped in sets of three 68 is what we call double compound time, that is, it has two downbeats in a measure with each of those downbeats dividing into three E notes.

I will say that again 68 has two downbeats in a measure, not six but two, so although any piece of music written in 34 could technically be forced to a time signature of 68 the way 34 and 68 actually sound is very different, so What do they really sound like? Well, 34 has a waltz feel with a clear three beat feel to the beat, you feel my senses like night in a forest. in a boat on a river with now she's done and they're calling someone like that 68 on the other hand it feels like it's swinging back and forth like a pendulum in new orleans they call the r everyone cries wise men a song that contrasts directly the the difference between 34 and 68 is America from Westside Story by Leonard Bernstein America jumps back and forth in fourth place from 68 to 34, creating a feeling that the tempo gets faster and slower as we jump between two downbeats in the measure and three downbeats in The time signature I like to keep in mind is that when the 68 is played particularly slowly it can start to sound like 3 fours because our ear can't pick up the two beats on each B because they move too slow, for example, Gravity. by John Mayor is in time 68, so it should feel like it has two beats in each measure, like this gravity, but as you may have discovered at that point, because it's so slow, our ear can start to latch onto the notes.

E, so we listen to music like this, gravity is against me, in the same way, if a song on 34 is played at a fast pace, it can start to sound like it's on 68, for example, I've seen different opinions on whether America by Simon and gar funl is in 34 or 68, I can personally see a case for both, the relatively fast tempo means you can feel it as having three beats in a measure like this. I have some stay here in my or you can feel it like I have two beats in the measure like this. I have property here.

In my opinion, it can sometimes be up for debate whether a song is in 34 or 68, especially if that song has a significantly slow or fast tempo, so now that we've gone over the differences between 34 and 6 68, I'm going to play. You have 10 examples of songs that are in 34 or 68 and I want you to guess what time signature they are in, or just coming in from the home label, it plays over and over again. I have said my prayer over and over again. I've made my Ss that fly with a moon in their wings these are some of my favorite things that fly with a moon in their wings these are some of my favorite things that breakup day when that man left I was waiting to break up day in which that man left I was waiting in the morning with you in the morning in Say something, I'm giving up, say something, I'm giving up on you GA around people wherever you are Ro around people wherever you are Ro Panic depression sech in my soul manic depression sech in my soul let me know in the comments how many you got right so that's the difference between 34 and 68 but what would a piece of music sound like if it was at 34 and 68 at the same time in other words what if one part had three strong rhythms in the measure while another part had only two, well this would be a three against two polyrhythm and it's exactly what happens in daydreaming radioheads: the right hand of the piano plays in threes, fours, fours and the left hand. is playing in 68, in other words, for every three beats in the right hand, the left hand is playing two beats, of course, as is the case with all poly rhythms, we don't tend to use different time signatures on the page at a time, so even though one part of the music has a 68 feel and the other has a 34 feel, we write it all in a unified time signature, in this case 34, now there are just a couple of more common points of confusion with 34 and 68 that I wanted to cover before the At the end of this video, the first is what is the difference between 68 and 128, while 68 is a double compound beat, so it has two downbeats in the measure, each of which is divided into 38 notes. 128 is a quadruple compound beat, so it has four downbeats in the measure and once again they are divided into three ethical notes, now at faster tempos 128 is effectively a balanced or random 44, but at slower tempos 128 is effectively the same as two bars of 68, so sometimes the same piece of music can be written in 68 or 128, for example I would consider Lou Reed's perfect day to be in 68, however I have seen other people transcribe this song at 128 and it doesn't really make much difference to me, it feels a bit unusual to have such long bars. but maybe it's just me, different musicians sometimes have different preferences on what signature to use and lastly I wanted to discuss the difference between 34 and 98, what time signature would you say this song is still crazy after all and what what's up with this one?

If you said 34 then that is technically correct, however you could also have said 9 eight. These two songs are examples of what are often called Jazz Waltts, in other words they are in three four beats, so to note this we could write them in 3 fours like this but with instructions to change the rhythm only, however, alternatively we could write them as 98. 98 and 34 have three downbeats in the measure, but while in 34 these downbeats are divided into two downbeats, in 98 these three downbeats are divided into 38 notes and the division into three downbeats gives gives a feeling of swing. However, I should note that, in practice, songs with a jazz wal SP like these will usually be notated in 3 four beats with an instruction to balance the rhythm as they are easier to read this way and also allow you the performer to have more freedom over how to balance the rhythm 98 used as compound triple time, that is, three downbeats in the measure that are divided into 3 E notes usually only found in classical music in pop. rock and jazz, if you come across a time signature of 98, it will usually mean that the song is in an odd or complex time signature because, although in 98 we can group the 98 notes into three evenly spaced beats, we can also group them into unequal groups to make 98 works like a strange compass itches me.

I hung my head and grouped the 98 notes into a group of four and a group of five so that 98 can be the compound equivalent of 34 or it can be an odd time signature, so I hope that has improved your confidence. With the difference between 34 and 68, at the end of the day any piece of music in 34 could be written or performed in 68 and vice versa, it all comes down to the way you want to feel the music, the way the pulse is. destined to be recognized and sometimes some pieces of music will work just as well with Eva's signature.

If you can think of any other examples of songs in 34 or 68, leave them in the comments below and I'll leave you today with a piece of music I wrote that switches between 34 and 68 and thanks, as always, to all the wonderful people who support me on patreon, including the names you see on screen right now and Andre sence Diaga Andrew Andrew Brown Andrew susman Austin Barrett Austin Russell Bob mckinstry Britney Parker Cameron Ola Colin Aken Chris cabal Christopher Ryan David Rivers Donald Howard Dr Darren Wicks Elena schenko ESB Hanson Eugene Leroy FD Hodor Gila Tona Hees brockelbank Hugo Miller James KO and kokensparger John Dy Justin Viger lavender M Rose Mark Height Mark zegenhagen Max o'keef Melody composer Square Melanie Sher Michael Vivian naty Gillard Nathan Lawrence Nathaniel Park Paul Miller Paul pael Peter dumy P chowski Roger clay Sam Lynn Scott Fenley sha Kennedy Steve Dy Steven Lazaro Tim Beaker Take Aaron Trisha Adams Tim pay toot Victor Levy viad flowers Vladimir kov and VY