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Bill Powelson's,
MUSICAL TIME & RHYTHMS:
"FINITE TO INFINITY"
What about 4/2, 7/8, 9/16, 12/32 and all the
other
time-signature-modifications and permutations?
Hopefully by this stage of the course, you now have a complete working
knowledge of the X/4 signatures. But . . . What about the others,
(ie; X/1,
X/2, X/8, etc?)
PLEASE DO THIS . . .
I want to setup a few 'thought projects' for you.
It's important that you should think about them, write them, and try to play
them.
THOUGHT PROJECT #1: *** Writing and playing '8th-note 7/8' ***
SETUP: Seven Xs on your computer in the text editor . . . . . . (or with pen or
pencil on scratch-paper. Or, enter them into any DRUM MACHINE.
(Look for 'drummer.exe' in the downloaded files.)
X X X X X X X <--- Hi Hat
* Now . . . place any variation of Ss along the snare line,
in any order you choose; Then, do the same for the bass, on the line below
that.
H X X X X X X X <--- Hi Hat
S
B
NEXT, COMES THE FUN PART . . .
Drummers should PLAY and REPEAT what you've written, on a full drumset!
Other musicians might setup the pattern(s) on a drum machine, then play along,
on your own instrument. Otherwise, just tap the patterns on your desktop and
try to feel the rhythm structure.
CONGRATULATIONS! You've just potentially invented/discovered thousands of
new 7/8 beats! Each of which 'could' be the basis of a new sounding song
or arrangement. You did discover at least 1,000 variations, didn't you? It
doesn't matter what you have written on the snare or bass lines! It will
always be considered a legitimate 7/8 beat pattern as it is repeated
consistently . . . AND THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT!
Yes! Even NOTHING (no snares or basses), will be an acceptable, legit,
beat pattern . . .
Yes! EVERYTHING (or all the snares or basses) could be
used as well! (However dumb it may sound.)
We may place basses or snares
IN-BETWEEN any of the cymbal notes as well, (as
syncopations.)
Anything, everything, and all that's in-between, will
be a legit beat pattern in '8th-note 7/8' as long as we consistently repeat,
and remain confined to that SEVEN-note (secondary pulse) within our
arrangement.
'Staying together' as a band, makes EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING legit!
This
is a great piece of knowledge, though the beat-patterns within this odd,
offbeat, uncomfortable structure will tend to defy our rhythmic
sensitivities? Most human ears may not agree with the feel and sounds of
these beats . . . but in art and music, there are very few rules. These beat
patterns are totally legit, and may be used as the structure for a song, or
arrangement of a song, whether our ears agree or not. That's the thing we want
to discover, as we ponder this.
The variation (permutation) possibilities are astronomical within the
7-note structure, and ANY of the variations could be different from one bar to
the next, of our potential song . . . but the 7-per-bar count (secondary
pulse) must remain consistent, or we've encountered a SIGNATURE CHANGE, (which
is also ok too, theoretically.)
THOUGHT PROJECT #2: '16th-note 7/8'
Now, start a new project. Setup the
X's to number exactly 14:
H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X <---hi-hat = 14
S
B
This is (arbitrarily) 16th-note 7/8. Alter the bass and snare
notes any way you choose, but maintain the 14-flow (secondary pulse) within
each succeeding bar, and build a song around all of it. Your beat-permutations
may be extremely simple, or extremely complex. It simply doesn't matter. If
we've experimented with syncopations in project #1, then we are effectively
recreating the same permutations again here . . . but now they're somewhat
different. They are no longer syncopations, because we're playing ALONG WITH
the secondary pulse, rather than in-between it.
NOTE: We could however, syncopate in-between the 14 secondary pulse notes
(or hi hat), but let's don't do that right now. It's already becoming
ridiculous.
So, now we have a NEW arrangement in '16th-note 7/8', though I doubt if it
has been used, much. It would be very rare to hear this . . . if it has
been used at all. This is great stuff for innovative minds, though! Play
around with these, and come up with a new sounding song or arranement.
THOUGHT PROJECT #3: '32nd 7/8'
Next, change the X's again to number 28
X's. This represents a bar of '32nd-note 7/8'.
X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
Remember . . . they're all 32nd notes (with three flags each), no
matter how they may be grouped or configured. 32nds are usually setup in
groups of eight or four, with three bars or flags across the top of ech group.
Add and vary the bass or snares ANY way you like, again. Don't try to
do them all. It'll take several millennia! Just play with it on paper
until a complete picture of the possibilities begins to emerge within your
mind. Eight or ten-thousand examples will be enough. (I'm only kidding, of
course.)
Is it tomorrow already? Wow! We've just discovered
7.20575940379279E+16, totally new and awesome '32nd-note 7/8' beat patterns!
....................................................
By the way . . .
this may also be called 28/32, (or we may use several other lables if we
choose to do so.) It's up to YOU, the writer, to decide the
time-signature and then to consistently tally the note-values on each line, to
match that time-signature you've chosen to use.
Yes! It's EXACTLY the same
as 28/4, except for the confusing note-value changes, and the time-signature
formula itself.
....................................................
Is it odd or even? It could be either, depending on how we stack the
bass and snares.
- 1. What if, we place a bass on 1, and a snare on 15? We'll get an
'odd and crazy' sounding Blues 'type' pattern. (ONE becomes the downbeat,
and FIFTEEN becomes the backbeat . . .)
- 2. Or . . . What if we stack it so that it's
bass-snare-bass-snare all the way? It then becomes nothing more than
'Quarter rock 4/4', (rhythmically speaking!)
- 3. Or, what about making it feel and sound like '8th 4/4' most of the
time? No problem!
CONSIDER THIS TOO . . .
ALL THE ABOVE PATTERNS (AND
OTHERS) COULD CONCEIVABLY OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY WITHIN THE SAME SONG! One
part of the rhythm-section could play the #1, Blues form(s) (loudly). . .
while another part of the rhythm section plays the #2, the seemingly 'Quarter
4/4' form AND/OR #3, the seemingly '8TH 4/4' form softly. Comfortable dynamics
may help us to avoid making this sound more like listenable music, rather than
an offensive train wreck.
Imagine the above arrangement idea in your head! It's ppotentially
harmonious, balanced, pleasing to the ear, and it's odd/even simultaneously.
Also; Several OTHER patterns could exist and occur simultaneously as well!
We're limited only by our imagination, or our lack of it.
YET . . . WE ARE ONLY TALKING ABOUT 'ONE' TINY LITTLE TIME SIGNATURE! 7/8!
PROJECT #4: '9/8, 15/8, or ANY X/8?
What if it were 9/8, or 15/8 . . .
or ANY/8? Now, focus your mind on those, and play around with ALL of them!
HERE'S '8th-note 9/8' . . . (add your own bass and snare permutations.)
PROJECT #5:
OR . . . '8th-note 15/8' (add your own bass and
snare permutations.)
H X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
S
B
Then . . . covert those to 16ths or 32nds on the hat (or secondary
pulses), as well.
NOW, FOR SOME GOOD NEWS!
This is essentially VERY GOOD NEWS, for
our easily confused and weary minds!
REDUNDANCIES ABOUND!
There are tons of redundancies
(unnecessary replications) built-into our very remarkable time-signature
system. Understanding those rendundancies will simplify everything, if we'll
allow it to happen!
Understanding all the redundancies:
Our very complex time-signature
system was setup and designed in the 15th/16th Ceturies to unnecessarily
OVER-COMPENSATE for ANY eventuality! It was intentional, but about 80% of it
is totally unnecesary! We could dispense with most of it (. . . all but X/4),
and the discarded portion would never be missed! Understand exactly what I'm
about to show you . . . and the entire time-signature picture will become
crystal-clear, and extremely simple.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Our '8th-note 7/8' pattern (the first one), is really just
a mirror-copy of Quarter-note 7/4.
THINK ABOUT THAT A LONG, LONG TIME!
WRITE A FEW bars of Quarter-note 7/4 as we did above! Do this study with a
real pen or pencil, on paper. Construct the actual note-values and make them
tally with the time-signature you've chosen to use. Play around with the
permutation possibilities. You'll quickly see the redundantcies that permeate
the entire time-signature system. They're BOTH the same thing! Both structures
contain EXACLY the same rhythmic permutations, no matter how we choose to
write them.
* TRY to discover and write a pattern that exists in one framework (4th
7/4), but not the other (8th 7/8.)
You won't find one! Or . .
. if you do . . . I want to see it!
ALL THE ABOVE could also be a MIRROR of:
7/1 (= SEVEN whole-notes per bar) . . .
Or 7/2 . . . (= SEVEN
half-notes per bar.)
Or . . . '16th-note 7/16', (= SEVEN 16th-notes
per bar)
Or, numerous other redundant possibilities.
DO YOU SEE THE POINT?
All of those time-signatures above,
contain EXACTLY the same rhythmic permutations. That's the redundancy
that's built-in! They're EXACTLY the same except for the APPEARANCES of
the notes, and the time signature formulas. It could be whole-notes or
64th-notes in the secondary pulse.) It wouldn't matter! All the
EXACT, SAME potential beat patterns AND RHYTHM VARIATIONS exist, in each
situation, the same way.
That's why it's so easy to just use X's to describe all this. The
note-values and the time-sig formulas are virtually irrelevant.
* THE SAME RHYTHMS CONTINUALLY EMERGE, no matter how we choose
to express them in NOTE form, (provided we're always comparing x-apples to
x-apples as the secondary pulse or hi hat.)
By the way . . . that 15/8 (I mentioned above), could also be written as (a
Blues form of) '8th-triplet 5/4', and several other ways as well.
Write it, and SEE for yourself . . .
Compare them . . . and search for
even ONE DISCREPANCY.
They'll always be the same . . . IF the secondary
pulse, (Hi Hat) is always relative!
..............................................................
MY POINT
. . .
ALL THE RHYTHMS IN THE MUSICAL UNIVERSE will exist with FOUR (X/4) as
the only necessary time-signature
denominator!
..............................................................
Whoa! That's a bold statement, but the facts prove it!
All the other time signatures are redundancies of X/4!
In other words .
. .
When X/4 is the time-signature formula . . . Where X, the TOP NUMBER,
is ANY NUMBER, and the denominator is always '4', we'll ALWAYS have access to
any potential rhythm that exists in the musical Universe.
The TIME
SIGNATURE FORMULAS may be different, and the NOTE VALUES may be different . .
. but the rhythms (rhythmic permutations) of the secondary pulse are ALWAYS
the same. Check it out completely! Do some investigating of your own! Don't
just take my word for it! If you discover something I'm not seeing . . .
please tell me.
As we consider all the potential NOTE VALUE MODIFICATIONS AND PERMUTATIONS
of X/4, we're also seeing ALL the other time-signatures as well, (ie; X/1,
X/2, X/8, X/16, x/32 etc., etc.)
TO FURTHER EXPLAIN . . .
- 9/8 is really just '8th triplet 3/4', written a different way!
(See the Waltz Beat lesson.)
- 7/8
contains all the exact same rhythms as quarter note 7/4
- 5/8 is quarter note 5/4, etc., etc., etc.
- 9/16 is really just quarter note 9/4 (or . . . it 'could be' 9/1, 9/2, or
even 9/8, 9/32, etc., . . . depending on the writer!) It's always
an arbitrary decision . . . left up to the WRITER. 'YOU', are NOW the
writer.
Some writers like to be impractical and confusing. It's FUN for them
to create intimidating and confusing transcriptions . . . though they 'could'
easily write things a much simpler, and in a less confusing way. It's as if
they are trying to illustrate to us how brilliant they are, while showing
little concern for actually communicating their ideas.
It all started with the long-hair composers of the 15th and 16th Century .
. .
* Before THEY came along . . . ALL MUSIC WAS WRITTEN IN
X/4!
Really . . . they should have left the system alone. The music world
has never been the same! They've only confused everyone with countless,
confusing arrays of enigmatic redundancies, mind-boggling dotted-notes, which
really weren't necessary at all.
WHY DID THEY DO IT?
The historical records are a little sketchy on this issue, but here's the
way it has been told to me . . .
They changed the time-signature system, because they were getting 'writers
cramps', as they wrote endless pages of symphony scores. They found that
by adding the OTHER redundant signatures (X/1, X/2, X/8, X/16, X/32, etc.) and
by creating dotted notes, it would often eliminate a few pen-strokes per
page'!
(Dotted notes became necessary as a result of this too, AND TOTAL CHAOS WAS
BORN!)
It's true! In the 1600s, the pen-strokes were an important issue, but,
complete confusion has been the end result of those changes! Because of the
changes, . . . Almost no one has FULLY understood time-signatures since then!
Time-signature theory became so complex that it has caused mass-phobias,
concerning written music notation, ever since that fatefull time.
We must endure these confusing complexities because THEY wanted to save a
few pen-strokes! Their reasoning was sound reasoning at the time, but times
and technology have changed considerably since then!
....................MY POINT....................
NOW THAT WE HAVE
PRINTING-PRESSES, COMPUTERS AND COPY MACHINES, WE 'COULD' DO AWAY WITH ALL
DOTTED-NOTES, AND ALL THE TIME SIGNATURE REDUNDANCIES (ie; X/1, X/2, X/8,
X/16, X/32, etc.) COMPLETELY!
They would NEVER, EVER be missed! The only
necessary time signature now, is X/4!
..........................................................
NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOUR SEMESTER FINAL EXAM.
We need to make sure if you
are seeing the complete picture . . .
*** SEMESTER EXAM ***
PROBLEM #1:
How many other ways is it possible to write 9/8, and '8th triplet
3/4'?
Here's a couple SUGGESTIONS to help put your brain in gear . . .
- 9/1 . . . (Actually write it with real pen or pencil, using real
whole-notes on real paper.) Write some variations (Permutations) too!
- . . .?
- . . .?
- . . .?
- . . .?
- . . .?
- 9/64 . . . (Write this with pen or pencil too, using real 64th notes
with flags.)
Can you imagine those which are missing, above? Hint: I've shown only
the low end, and the high end. What's in-between?
(HINT: 9/2, 9/4, 9/8, 9/16, 9/32, etc, etc.) Write each as a 'triplet'
waltz.
PROBLEM #2:
- NOW . . . Write 8th-note 10/4. This one is my personal favorite! It's
wide-open for many awesome, harmonious, pleasing, odd/even possibilities.
Remember! 5/4 + 5/4 = 10/4. Also; 4/4 + 4/4 + 2/4 = 10/4! Compose a song
that simultaneously includes all that. Imagine a 5 X 2/4
walking-bass-guitar, with a drummer playing a funky permutation of '8th 4/4
+ 8th 4/4 + 8th 2/4', While a third rhythm-instrument maintains '8th 5/4 +
8th 5/4', simultaneously, in the same song.
- Do you see the possibilities? How else 'could' it be written? This one
could keep us busy for years, and I'm not finished looking at it yet!
IN A NUTSHELL:
To totally comprehend time signatures we
must totally comprehend the secondary pulse, or the HI-HAT; 1 . . . through 32
. . . (OR 64 and above, if we choose to go there.)
STARTING WITH:
- One-note, on the hat . . .
That's 1/1 time . . . or 1/2 time, or 1/4,
1/8, 1/16, etc., etc. These very short sigs would usually be used only
to describe a one-count-exercise in a music manual, or something
similar. They're probably too short for any other practical use.
- Two-notes, on the HI HAT (or secondary pulse) . . .
That's 2/1, 2/2,
2/4, 2/8, 2/16, etc., etc. (All permutations included.)
It keeps going that way . . . as high as we choose to go.
ANYWAY . . .
That's all there is to time signatures and
odd-time. It's EASY as pie, once we see it from the perspective of the
Hi-Hat . . . (or secondary pulse), then account for the many and numerous
redundancies, by seeing everything as X/4, first.
* Keyboardists, guitarists, or other musician (without a hi-hat) .
. . WILL NEED TO THINK in terms of 'SECONDARY PULSE'. It may be an
apeggio or just a simple, soft, consistent, background rhythm, that holds
everything else together. It needn't be a hi-hat specifically.
* First, we have the downbeat/upbeat pulse, which is the
(apparently arbitrary) positive-negative flow . . . It apparently doesn't
have to be EVENLY spaced, though our ears and sensitivities would prefer,
and LIKE it to be.
* THEN, there's the SECONDARY PULSE, which is the consistent and
repetitious, ONE through ANY NUMBER count on the HI HAT for drummers . . .
It's the underlying-repeating-flow (secondary pulse or count) for the other
musicians. It flows beneath the primary upbeat/downbeat flow.
RHYTHM: Is the way we alter or vary (permutate) the accents or tones
within that CONSISTENT secondary pulse. There are NO OTHER SOLID RULES
as far as my eye can see! It's virtual anarchy from there to infinity!
:>)
* It's absolute freedom . . . AS LONG AS WE STAY TOGETHER!
We
(in the band) must all stay within that secondary pulse or count. After that
. . . there are few additional, solid and dependable, rules.
* This knowledge may help all of us create the most beautiful music ever
written . . . or it may also offer us the most offensive sounds on the
planet! Sometimes the beauty or lack of it, is in the ear of the beholder.
There's just something unbelievably free, utopic, and beautiful about that!
*** NOW . . . FOR THE REAL TRUTH! ***
In the final analysis, we
rarely use any of the odd-time knowledge.
Why?
Because, currently 99.999999% of all POP music is
composed within 'even' signatures. That which is 'odd', will usually not be
very popular at all, because it tends to be unsettling. It tends to offend
the ear, rather than please it! That which isn't popular, usually won't make
a lot of money. If people can't make money, then there's little incentive or
reason to experiment and explore! It's just a sad fact of life.
QUESTION OF THE DAY . . .
Is there a pleasant, harmonious
listening-experience within all these mazes of odd time? Could it
become a popular trend to use these sometimes strange and odd beat
patteerns, then make them more popular? I say yes . . . but I guess it's up
to you, and the remaining public to do the deciding.
THE FINAL ANALYSIS:
Almost EVERYTHING POPULAR in music, will usually
occur within those first BASIC
5 DANCEBEATS, with the exception of an occasional Waltz, now and then.
This brings us back to square-one. (Or is it square-256/256?)
PARTING THOUGHTS:
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