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What is something other people seem to grasp easily that eludes you? (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 days ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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For me it's time signatures in music. I grew up playing instruments, played in several orchestras, etc. But no matter how many times someone tries to explain time signatures to me, it makes no sense. I don't understand why people place such importance on it. To me, notes have a pitch and a duration, maybe some dynamics. That's it. I don't understand why people try to needlessly complicate it. It doesn't give you anything.

My wife will hear a song and go "Oh neat, it's in 5/8." And I'm like "How tf do you know that, and why does it matter?"

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[–] 48 points 4 days ago (12 children)

To me, notes have a pitch and a duration, maybe some dynamics.

That could be part of the problem: time signatures aren’t a property of the notes, they’re a property of the song. The time signature is the rhythm and flow of the music. If you try to do a waltz in 4/4, it’s probably not going to sound like a waltz unless you do some really screwy things.

Plus, knowing the time signature helps you figure out why that guy is waving his stick like that while you’re playing.

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  • [–] 20 points 4 days ago (4 children)

    I give you those “screwy things”. Somebody stripped the fifth beats from Brubeck’s magnum opus, and made the most waltz sounding 4 I’ve ever heard.

    Take Four

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago

    So, the original Mission Impossible theme tune is in 5/4. When U2 re-did it for the 1996 Tom Cruise film, the beginning is in 5/4, and then they transition to a slower 4/4. For most of the "Dee da duuuuuuuuuuuh" sections, as far as I can tell it's just a beat shorter, but the tempo is lower, when they do reprise the Dun! Dun! Da Da! section they use two measures, 8 beats, making it dun dun dun dun da da.

    Fun fact: The original dun dun da da was supposed to be "MI" in morse code. --.. dash dash dot dot, with a dash being a beat and a half, a dot being one beat, five beats total. U2 turned it into MMI. ----..

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  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

    You could write in triplets in 4/4.

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  • [–] 7 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    Anything can be in 4/4 if you count hard enough.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

    That really bothered me at first! Kept thinking 'why ever have a different time sig? No need for 13/8 (or whatever) when you can just sprinkle in double dotted 16th notes tied to 8th note (or whatever).'

    Over time I slowly realized that it's not about technically being able to write it, but rather describing what usually happens. (Tho I still don't really understand, intuit, or hear any of it well.)

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