This week, Mr Bartram takes us through some interesting Pop and Rock songs which have unusual time signatures…
Most popular music follows the convention of having four beats in the bar and as such is often quite good to dance to. Time to clear the living room and have a bop! “Ooh I wanna dance with somebody”.
However, as an accumulator of oddities and a general fan of facts, I like to collect unusual time signatures; well, it’s a hobby… Anything out of the ordinary or even downright quirky will do. Here are a few for you to enjoy and perhaps even try and dance to. Good luck with that.
5/4 as an offbeat time signature is the most common of all the eccentric signatures used by bands. Of course, the most well-known is Take 5 by the Dave Brubeck group. Have a listen, enjoy, and try to count along to it!
Other notable mentions include 15 Step by Radiohead, Living in the past by Jethro Tull, Riverman by Nick Drake and even the Mission Impossible theme. The syncopation produced by this “four and a hop” style makes the music interesting, off kilter and attention grabbing!
3/4 time or waltz time is far more common. The Beatles wrote a lot of waltz time tunes; one of my favourite songs in this time is Norwegian Wood (this is the version with George playing sitar). Other notable Beatles songs you could waltz to are Lucy in the sky with diamonds, I me mine and We can work it out. Why so many? That is a discussion for another time perhaps. Please now enjoy bopping around the living room with a loved one to the dulcet tones another favourite singer of mine, Miss Doris Day.
13/8 Turn it on again is a rock song by Genesis and is perhaps the most unusual as it is in 13/8 time. Like a lot of these pieces of music that have an off-beat rhythm this one can easily catch you out. Phil Collins said of it that they liked to watch the crowd at live gigs try to clap or dance along to it only to get rather confused as it added that extra beat. Have a listen and see if you can spot it!
7/4 is far far less common, and one of the most famous tracks using this time signature is Money by Pink Floyd, off the Dark Side of the moon album. This was also my chosen track for christening my new stereo system; very loud with all the windows open! Sorry neighbours!
If you have any other suggestions, please email Mr Bartram here!
