![]() ![]() Classical guitar composers use similar rhythmical and melodic devices to aid the listener and help us feel 6/8. Thus, the melody of the rhythm helps us feel the metrical accents of 6/8. Placing short notes (eighth notes) before the longer ones (quarter notes) offers a natural stress on those longer quarter notes. If we count 6/8 like this: 1-2-3, 4-5-6 (with a stress on 1 and a slightly weaker stress on beat 4) then The Farmer in the Dell would count like this:Ħ (The)- 1 ( Far-), 3 (-mer)- 4 ( in), 6 (the)- 1 ( dell) Short-long metrical accents What’s great about this tune is not only that it is so universally familiar but also that the melody is structured to help us feel those bigger beats of 1 and 4. The Farmer in the Dell is a great example of 6/8 time. Before we get to those, you might consider a popular nursery rhyme to help you get the feel. And most of them carry with them that feel of swaying back and forth. Many of our favorite classical guitar tunes are written in 6/8. Again, a barcarolle (which is a boat song) is often written in 6/8 time and has this same feel of swaying back and forth on beats 1 and 4. Those two “big beats” or accents in the measure gives us the sense of swaying back and forth, like a boat rocking on the waves. In 6/8, however, which is a compound meter, the accents fall on beats 1 and 4 (again with 1 being slightly stronger than 4). And so many waltzes are written in 3/4 time. That feel of strong-weak-weak or “boom-chuck-chuck” is the natural feel of the waltz dance. Likewise in 3/4 we have natural accents on beats 1, 2, and 3 where 1 is strong and 2 and 3 are a bit weaker. Think of the military drill sergeant leading a soldier’s march: “ Left-right! Left-right…!” 3/4 meter ![]() There’s a natural walking feel to this meter, and so it’s often associated with the march. For instance, in 2/4 there is a natural accent on beat 1 and a slightly weaker accent on beat 2. So there are differences in the way you would approach playing those rhythms.Every meter has certain accents that help you “feel” the meter. The bottom number of the time signature indicates a certain kind. As you saw in the time signature examples above, each time signature has two numbers: a top number and a bottom number: 2/4 time, 3/4 time, 4/4 time, 3/8 time, 9/8 time, 4/2 time, 3/1 time, and so on. In 2/4 time with triplets, you would count 1,2 and just play the three notes in a beat but with 6/8 time it is just 1,2,3 1,2,3. The number of notes allowed in each measure is determined by the time signature. Thus, it has a feel of two big beats with accents on beats 1 and 4, while 3/4 has a feel of three big beats with accents on 1, 2, and 3. It's in compound meter, with two large groups of three eighth-note beats each. So in 2/4 with triplets, you would still have your two main crotchet beats you will only really play three notes in the time of one beat. 6/8 time signature has six eighth notes in each measure. Triplet does not change the beats, you still have exactly the same amount of beats you just play a certain amount of notes instead of the regular. ![]() So 6/8 time you will count 1,2,3 1,2,3 with the emphasis usually on the first beat. The only difference between 6/8 and 2/4 is that instead of crotchet beats you now have dotted crotchet beats. So remember 6/8 time is Compound Duple Time it is, in fact, more similar to 2/4 time than 3/4. How do you dance the waltz, it is 1,2 1,2 1,2? Think about how the dancers move when they dance the waltz.Ī compound Time Signature now has pulses with dots next to them but the underlying number of pulses remains the same. Although 3/4 and 6/8 look superficially similar how they are counted differs much. ![]()
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