I know it is Wednesday, but I was busy yesterday. #ThreeTuneTuesday (aka #ttt) is an initiative by @ablaze that has been running for three years.

Some posts by others yesterday got me thinking about tunes that break away from the standard time signatures of 3/4 and 4/4. If you do not know what those mean the second number is the sort of notes you are counting. The 4 is a crotchet or quarter note. You can also see 8 or 16 there. The first number is how many beats are in a bar (a repeating unit of music). So for 3/4 (aka waltz time) you would count 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3... You will find that 4/4 is the most common in popular music as it just feels so natural and is easy to dance to.

You can use any number of beats in a bar and it does not even have to be the same for every bar. Music theory can describe how music works, but it is not a set of rules for what you can do. A lot of musicians do not even know the theory and will just go with what sounds good to them. I have not written or performed much music beyond 3/4 or 4/4, but I did a folk workshop once based on eastern European music where I think one tune was in 13/8. It does actually become more natural after a while.

So here are some well know tunes that mess around more with time.

Money by Pink Floyd

The main part of the song is in 7/4 and you can probably count that if you follow the bassline. It does switch to 4/4 for the guitar solo. This was one of their biggest hits from the mega-selling Dark Side of the Moon. A lot of prog rock bands were experimental with time signatures.

Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel

This one can be hard to count as it is all over the place. Below is some of the drum notation from Drumeo. The main riff alternates bars of 3/4 and 4/4, but could be counted as seven. You really have to feel it to play it. Gabriel left Genesis in 1975 and kept on writing quirky tunes. This was his first solo hit.

Take 5 by Bob Brubeck

Jazz musicians have a habit at hinting at the time signature in their titles. Coming up for titles of instrumental tunes has to be tricky anyway. This is a very popular one, but be careful if you try to dance to it. As as musician you may want to try something more challenging and breaking away from the standard beats is part of that. This has driven genres such as jazz and prog. In the end you want to make music that people will enjoy, so you have to make it sound natural. Maybe I should have a go at the drum part some time.

Bonus tune: Turn It On Again by Genesis

This is a prime example of sneaking in some odd times. You will hear Phil Collins count in the start as 1, 2, 3, 4 and it is in 4/4, but the main verse switches to 13/4. It think it is actually three lots of 4/4 and then they sneak in an extra beat before repeating. Other parts of the song are in 3/4 and probably others. Despite those complications it was a huge hit.

Rock on!