Better than 4/4 I mean.
I was always under be impression that 4/4 was the standard-modern Western pop music rhythmic structure. And I kind of assumed it was this way because it was the most danceable, or had a nicer flow/feel to it.
It’s certainly what the majority of my bands songs are in and the majority of songs that I listen to. But I’m wondering if 3/4, even if on paper looks assymetrical, flows and feels better? I listen to and play mostly rock/metal so maybe this won’t be the case for anyone listening to classical.
...recently I have been focusing on my sight reading and I find 16th note syncopations and phrases beginning on ‘+’ are tough in 4/4. In 3/4 (and even more so, in 6/8) these phrases seem to flow more naturally and surprisingly, I can even read better in these time signatures! Both for the syncopated 16ths and just in general reading.
It’s almost as if the music ‘breathes’ naturally in these meters, and feels less forced. 4/4 is beginning to feel very robotic to me now when reading. Even though that’s 90% of what I am exposed to?! Reading 3/4 is more akin to actually reading a novel, it seems to flow from sentence to sentence, from beat to beat.
I was even trying to waltz a little in the kitchen to ‘Once upon a dream’ (of Sleeping Beauty/Tchaikovsky fame) and it feels very natural for my body to sway from side to side.
Do others feel this way about 3/4 or 6/8? I know the formal dances revolve around these meters so maybe it’s a documented thing? But how about reading being easier in the meters?
I like talking about this as it’s really strongly connected to how rhythm can make you ‘feel’. We had another thread on that a few months back and I wasn’t totally convinced but now I am beginning to realise that’s because i listen to mostly rock in 4/4. Think I need to give the waltzes some lovvin’ !
I was always under be impression that 4/4 was the standard-modern Western pop music rhythmic structure. And I kind of assumed it was this way because it was the most danceable, or had a nicer flow/feel to it.
It’s certainly what the majority of my bands songs are in and the majority of songs that I listen to. But I’m wondering if 3/4, even if on paper looks assymetrical, flows and feels better? I listen to and play mostly rock/metal so maybe this won’t be the case for anyone listening to classical.
...recently I have been focusing on my sight reading and I find 16th note syncopations and phrases beginning on ‘+’ are tough in 4/4. In 3/4 (and even more so, in 6/8) these phrases seem to flow more naturally and surprisingly, I can even read better in these time signatures! Both for the syncopated 16ths and just in general reading.
It’s almost as if the music ‘breathes’ naturally in these meters, and feels less forced. 4/4 is beginning to feel very robotic to me now when reading. Even though that’s 90% of what I am exposed to?! Reading 3/4 is more akin to actually reading a novel, it seems to flow from sentence to sentence, from beat to beat.
I was even trying to waltz a little in the kitchen to ‘Once upon a dream’ (of Sleeping Beauty/Tchaikovsky fame) and it feels very natural for my body to sway from side to side.
Do others feel this way about 3/4 or 6/8? I know the formal dances revolve around these meters so maybe it’s a documented thing? But how about reading being easier in the meters?
I like talking about this as it’s really strongly connected to how rhythm can make you ‘feel’. We had another thread on that a few months back and I wasn’t totally convinced but now I am beginning to realise that’s because i listen to mostly rock in 4/4. Think I need to give the waltzes some lovvin’ !