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Best pop/rock/rap song not in 4/4 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Righetti
- Start date
Aerial Assault
Footballguy
Really fun thread.
I think "Turn it On Again" by Genesis is partially, but not entirely, in an unusual meter, but I didn't see it mentioned yet. I've never seen the sheet music, but I think it's in /8, with bars of 8/8 and bars of 5/8 next to each other, but not consistently, so I don't think you can call it 13/8.
"Solsbury Hill" is a great example because it's so well written that most people (including me for years and years) don't realize that it's in (I think) 7/4. In contrast, most songs in 5/4 immediately sound like they're in an odd meter. Two good examples - although not pop/rock/rap - are the Mission Impossible theme and "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. "Seven Days" by Sting (5/4 or (3+2)/4; I think it's "additive" so the latter is more correct) also sounds like it's in a "strange" meter from the get go.
As a Yes fan, I hear unusual meters fairly often. "Roundabout" and "Heart of the Sunrise" come to mind right away, as does "Siberian Khatru" from _Close to the Edge_, which has some time changes and even a nifty polyrhythmic section with the guitar in a different meter than the bass and drums. If anyone really knows the deeper Yes catalog, "Sound Chaser" from _Relayer_ is at least partially in 5/4, and also sounds "off."
I believe that some of "Tom Sawyer" is in 13/16. Actually, I just listened to it now for the heck of it and I heard some 7/8 in the instrumental section as well. That's one Rush may just play by feel.
"Spirits in the Material World" sounds like it's in an unusual signature, and I've never seen the sheet music, but I think it's just in 4/4 with some really interesting, very deceptive syncopation in the verses.
I saw "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" mentioned. I love that song and have never been able to figure it out; my band played it in grad school and we treated it like it was in 4/4 with a triplet feel; I sure don't think we ever made the tune sound particularly good (much harder vocal than it sounds) but the time signature seemed fine. It may be in 6/4 as written. Anyone seen a transcription?
Finally, two examples from TV themes: the theme song to ER was in 3/4, and there's either an irregular couple of bars or an odd meter to the Amazing Race theme that I've never doped out correctly. Oh, and I think that the main theme from The Terminator is in some cool/bizarre signature, but it's hard to tell from the movies unless you have the score and can hear it unedited, which I don't and haven't.
I think "Turn it On Again" by Genesis is partially, but not entirely, in an unusual meter, but I didn't see it mentioned yet. I've never seen the sheet music, but I think it's in /8, with bars of 8/8 and bars of 5/8 next to each other, but not consistently, so I don't think you can call it 13/8.
"Solsbury Hill" is a great example because it's so well written that most people (including me for years and years) don't realize that it's in (I think) 7/4. In contrast, most songs in 5/4 immediately sound like they're in an odd meter. Two good examples - although not pop/rock/rap - are the Mission Impossible theme and "Take Five" by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. "Seven Days" by Sting (5/4 or (3+2)/4; I think it's "additive" so the latter is more correct) also sounds like it's in a "strange" meter from the get go.
As a Yes fan, I hear unusual meters fairly often. "Roundabout" and "Heart of the Sunrise" come to mind right away, as does "Siberian Khatru" from _Close to the Edge_, which has some time changes and even a nifty polyrhythmic section with the guitar in a different meter than the bass and drums. If anyone really knows the deeper Yes catalog, "Sound Chaser" from _Relayer_ is at least partially in 5/4, and also sounds "off."
I believe that some of "Tom Sawyer" is in 13/16. Actually, I just listened to it now for the heck of it and I heard some 7/8 in the instrumental section as well. That's one Rush may just play by feel.
"Spirits in the Material World" sounds like it's in an unusual signature, and I've never seen the sheet music, but I think it's just in 4/4 with some really interesting, very deceptive syncopation in the verses.
I saw "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" mentioned. I love that song and have never been able to figure it out; my band played it in grad school and we treated it like it was in 4/4 with a triplet feel; I sure don't think we ever made the tune sound particularly good (much harder vocal than it sounds) but the time signature seemed fine. It may be in 6/4 as written. Anyone seen a transcription?
Finally, two examples from TV themes: the theme song to ER was in 3/4, and there's either an irregular couple of bars or an odd meter to the Amazing Race theme that I've never doped out correctly. Oh, and I think that the main theme from The Terminator is in some cool/bizarre signature, but it's hard to tell from the movies unless you have the score and can hear it unedited, which I don't and haven't.
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The Goat
Footballguy
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Looking online I see 3/4, 6/8 and 12/8 mentioned in different places, though I'm not totally sure how you technically differentiate among any of those and/or 6/4 just by listening.joey said:
This sheet music says 6/8: http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0072600&ref=google
and this one says 12/8: http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0102983&ref=google
Aerial Assault
Footballguy
Yeah. You really don't; to the listener those meters will mostly all sound the same (and I only say "mostly" because of the mention of 3/4; 6/8, 6/4, and 12/8 should sound effectively identical to anyone). The only difference between 6/8, 6/4 and 12/8 is how they're written.
From a review of those transcriptions it looks like they chose 12/8 based on the bass line, which can be written to feature bars of twelve eighth notes (some combined into quarter notes) in such a way that the song's rhythm is captured well. But if you count bars out as you listen and see where the vocals land, the song really can be played and written perfectly well in 4/4 with a triplet or a swing feel. In fact, because so much of the vocal part is in staccato quarter notes, it just sounds like 4/4 to me. But I see that the 12/8 transcription renders those same vocal lines in dotted quarters, which takes it from 4/4 to 6/4 or 8/8 to 12/8. I think that's a little unnecessary when the drummer and bass player can just lay down a triplet feel/swing groove and it's much easier.
I don't think many people would transcribe it in 3/4.
Mr. Ected
Footballguy
From That Metal Show season premier (last question on this piece) that played this weekend, Geddy Lee:
Mr. Retukes
Footballguy
That's a funny line but I don't think there are any Rush songs in 7/4 time.
might be 7/4 but it feels more like 7/8 to me.
Aerial Assault
Footballguy
I think it's in 7/8 too, while recognizing that the difference between 7/4 and 7/8 is mostly (but not entirely) in how the song is written. However, since 7/8 is usually expressed in terms of "subdividing" the meter into, say 2/8 + 2/8 + 3/8 (or 3/8 + 2/8 + 2/8), and 7/4 is not usually counted by subdividing*, I always thought that "Subdivisions" was in 7/8 as a double entendre resulting from the title.
*For example, "Solsbury Hill" is in 7/4; the meter can't really be subdivided very easily.
wikkidpissah
Footballguy
"How does it feel" puts the 69 in 6/8
