We all speak of "odd time" or "odd meters" and what have you. We are, of course, speaking of 5/4, 7/8, 9/8, 11/8, 17/8, 10/8, etc etc. And we all know that 4/4 is very much typical, and easily comprehended on a musical level. Right?
So I pose 2 questions for you:
1.) Why is 4/4 so natural, so typical, and so "simple"? (as opposed to other times)
2.) Why is 3/4 or 6/8 also considered natural, typical, and "simple"? (as opposed to other times)
It clearly has to do with what you're used to, says me. One parallel you can draw to help illustrate this point is traditional Indian music. That is, music from India - not American Indians, as it were. Anyway, the main, obvious difference in Indian music is that it utilizes quartertones, very UN-like the 12 note semitone scale we westerners are used to. To us - er, most of us - quartertones sound, well, out of tune. And technically, according to our pre-wired semitone western ears, it is out of tune. So semitones are "right", and quartertones are "weird" or even "wrong." Thats the basic concensus the average American music listener. Truly a challenge to get over the unfamiliarity of it to embrace it.
But in fact, its not "weird"...or "wrong". Just "different".
Back to meters/times. Music in the modern, civilized world from Europe to the Americas has been dominated heavily by songs in 4/4 and 3/4 for many many many decades. From the waltzes (3/4) to Americana folk (4/4 and 3/4), all the way to country, rock and roll, folk and bluegrass of modern times, almost everything that can be considered "popular music" is decidedly NOT in 5/4 or 7/8 and sure as hell is NOT in a quartertone scale.
Duh.
That being said, it is obvious this culture has raised millions of us to be comfortable with 4/4 and 3/4, and the 12 note semitone scale, so much so that it is a CHORE for us musicians to break beyond that "barrier" when we first try. It just makes no sense. You have to re-learn the very basic, raw, elemental concept of music again if you grew up with Sabbath and discovered Crimson in your 20's or 30's. Or heck, even if you simply grew up here.
"Odd time" or "odd meter"....doesn't 3 count as an odd number?
Then why is 3/4 so simple to understand and fall into, as opposed to 5/4 or 7/4 or 9/8? Could it be CONDITIONING? Inversely, if you were raised in a small Texas town called "Oddville" since birth, and all you heard was music in 7/8 or 5/4, and there simply was no other types of time signatures present in all the music you ever heard....
...4/4 would confuse the hell out of you. Most likely. Or would it?
Which brings me to my second point...
Is 4/4, straight time, a mystery of psycho-physiological function? Is there something about straight time that "connects" with our brains in such a way that it leads us "send another hero up the pop charts"? Is it in fact NATURAL yet there are those few (us) who challenge, nay, denounce the idea that its "just the way it has to be"? Or is my previous example valid? If you were raised with 5/4 and 7/8, would 4/4 be confusing at first or totally natural?
Bottom line, is it all relative, or is there something more behind the fact that those us who enjoy playing in 7/8 will never be in the Top 40 and become rich?
Do tell!