Time Signature Meditations

Music is kind of cool in my opinion. Another cool thing is ethical philosophy. Time Signatures are the most interesting part of music to me right now. I'm going to write about some of my favorite time signatures what what someone might use them for.

4/4- This is an old classic. If you do pop music, it's probably a given that your song will be in 4/4. 4/4 is really multi-purpose, but it isn't good for everything. A lot of songs written in 4/4 awkwardly wait an extra beat before starting the next measure, which is what you want to avoid. Also, sometimes 4 beats isn't enough for a measure.

6/8 & 3/4- 6/8 and 3/4 are basically the same thing, but one is harder to count and the other is really easy to count. Would I write a song in 8/8 time? No! It would be impractical to count every 8th note. Besides this, I really like 3/4 because it finds a way to eliminate the awkward space at the end of a common time measure. If "Star Spangled Banner" was written in 4/4 time, it would sound a lot less heroic and very awkward. In "Blue Rondo a la Turk", what is really 3/4 is counted like 2+2+2+3, which I think is something musicians should use more.

12/8 & 9/8- These are just 3/4 again! Sometimes, it's better to think like this, but other times it's not, because you end up subdividing them into 3/4 anyway.

7/8- 7/8 is probably my favorite odd time signature, because it's so cool sounding. You could think about it in several different ways. You could think in 4 + 3. You could think of it in 5 + 2. You could even think about it on its own, which is what I really like to do. In rocking roll, this is mostly used for up-tempo songs that give off the impression that the band is so into it that they just had to start the next measure one 8th note early. "All You Need is Love" by the Beatles is also written in 7/8 as a slower song, which gives it a slightly wonky vibe.

5/4- 5/4 has gained notoriety for being the most gimmicky. Dave Brubeck's "Take 5" is a really lovely song, but it's so so gimmicky and I feel like time signatures are at their worst when you notice them first time and at their best when you notice them later. Gorillaz's "5/4" is also written in 5/4, which just kills me. When done right, 5/4 can sound really cool, but you better not talk about it. 

15/16- This one is good for off-kilter songs, but nobody really ever uses it. It's kind of like 7/8, but more wonky and less functional and harder to write music in. 7 + 8 is 15, so if you want you can do like a measure of 7 and then a measure of 8.

I hope this is helpful. All of this is my opinion and I kind of hate music, so maybe you should talk to someone who likes music.