Since it's so late here on the east coast, I'm going to take this in steps. I can't pass on the opportunity to answer the two questions at the top, and I've got a few comments for below that I'll address later.
Anyway....
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Originally posted by lenron
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)
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This goes back to pre-historic times and has to do with, of all things, the most natural of human rhythms: the heart beat. Everyone back in those days had one (kinda hard to be interested in music if they didn't, donchaknow), and it gave the basis for the music. Simple one beat per measure.
But why four? Dancing. Two legs. One two. One two. It just became easier to subdivide it into four as music became more complex.
This, of course, leads us to your next question:
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2.) Why is 3/4 or 6/8 also considered natural, typical, and "simple"? (as opposed to other times)
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It all has to do with subdivision. 4/4 is either 4 sets of 1, or if it's fast, 2 sets of 2. It's a lot easier to be precise with that than it is with, say, 11, which is often 3 sets of 3 with a set of 2 thrown in for good measure. Or 14, which is 2 sets of 7, which could be 2 2 3 or 3 2 2 or 2 3 2, or, in some cases, any combination of the above.
In short (yah, I know, too late. Look at my history to see how often I can say ANYTHING "in short"), 4 and its counterpart 2, have been around a LOT longer than 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 22, or 28, and are thus a lot more "natural" and "normal" and "regular" than some of the more esoteric time signatures.
3/4 and 6/8 are a much later mutation of the ancient 4 beat measure. MUCH later, like multiple thousand years. It's been around a lot longer than some of the more irregular (which is what we're really talking about here -- regular vs. irregular, not normal vs. abnormal or odd vs. even (since 10, 12, 14, and 18, all of which make appearances here on the Moon, are even)).
But let's take a look at music as it permutated over the years. Ancient manuscripts didn't HAVE the measure subdivided into beats. You had a few lines, some dots that went up and down, and some markings that meant that some notes were faster than others. Gregorian chants are a perfect example of this. You had some notes that were filled in, which meant that they didn't last as long as the other ones that weren't filled in. Some had dots, which meant that they were longer than the filled in ones without dots, but shorter than the empty ones.
Then we started subdividing once instruments were added; as music became more complex; as musicians needed to be more precise and composers wanted their music to be heard by more than the people who were listening to THEM playing it. We go back to the 4/4, simply because it was the easiest to subdivide. It's easier to write for, easier to memorize, and easier to conduct.
But the high born decided they wanted to dance in three, since step step got boring after a while, they added a pause in there. Step step pause. That sort of thing.
6/8 is simply a combination of 4/4 and 3/4, though faster. Usually 6/8 is conducted in two (two sets of three). If they wanted to do three sets of two, they'd write it in 3/4.
Proof positive that you did ask.
I'll likely address this in much greater detail later this week (oh stop groaning already). But it's time for Dr. Dot to hit the hay.
Roger -Dot- Lee, a big fan of 7, actually, with a budding interest in 11...