Or, disregarding the Dan Ra^ther reference, what's the (time) signature? A commenter asks in this post:

Uh, pardon me for being clueless, but.....

Can someone explain to me (without using up too much of Rand's drive-space) just what is meant by a tune's "time"? I understand that it refers to the tune's tempo, but the way it's written suggests one quantity is in ratio to some other quantity.....

Yes, I flunked music appreciation in elementary school. :)

We can attempt to explain it to you, but you still may not get it. I've explained it to some very smart people, but they still couldn't get it, even after listening to music that had clear time signatures explained to them.

The top number of a time signature is the number of beats of a measure, which is a unit of music marked off by an accented note. The accent is indicated either by the percussion, in the form of a stronger drumbeat, or by a louder note on the instruments. It's like the accent on a syllable in a spoken word. So if the signature is 3/4, then every third beat (where each beat has an equal spacing in terms of time) will be noticeably different in some way than the other two.

The lower number is an indication as to whether the accent occurs every quarter note, or every eighth note (most signatures are either X/4 or X/8). Generally, signatures demarked in eighth notes will be more up tempo (faster) than those in quarter notes.

If you want to hear the difference, and you have access to specific types of music (you can almost surely find them on the net these days), waltzes (ONE two three ONE two three) are in 3/4 time, jigs (ONE two three four five six ONE two three four five six, spoken twice as fast as the waltz numbers) are in 6/8 time (classic example being The Irish Washerwoman). Hornpipes and reels are in 2/4 (or 2/8) as in (ONE two THREE four ONE two THREE four), and so on. Most rock and roll (and its slower progeniter, blues) is in one of these forms, though it can be in six as well.

Variations on this are syncopated beats, where the accent falls in unexpected places.

Then there are the weird ones, as discussed in the original post. "Take Five" is in 5/4 time, which means that it goes (ONE two three four five ONE two three four five), except that it's slightly more complex than that because of a syncopated beat right after the one and the two. You have to listen to it to understand what I mean. "Blue Rondo a la Turk" is in 9, but it's got subaccents with variations, so it goes ONE two THREE four FIVE six SEVEN eight nine ONE two THREE four FIVE six SEVEN eight nine ONE two THREE four FIVE six SEVEN eight nine ONE two three FOUR five six SEVEN eight nine...

And the Irish have something called a slip jig, which is in 9/8, that goes ONE two three four five six seven eight nine ONE two three four five six seven eight nine...

There are many more, but I hope that helped...someone.

[Saturday morning update]

Lots more good examples in comments, but it just strikes me that one of the most well-known examples of syncopation went out to the stars on the Voyager record.

Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" is in a fast four, and if you listen to the guitar riff that leads the song off, for the first few measures every note is right on or between the beat, but in the middle section, you'll hear them staggered for a few measures, after which it goes straight again to finish off the intro before the vocals. Classic.

Syncopation was also a feature of the Big Band sound. The best example that jumps immediately to mind is Artie Shaw's classic version of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine."

Also frequently encountered is 2/2 or "cut" time, which is exactly like 4/4 ("common" time), but played twice as fast. Another one of the odd ones is 12/4, of which the only example I can think of is the song "America" from "West Side Story" (I want to BE in a-ME-er-I-i-CA-a, ONE two three FOUR five six SEVEN eight NINE ten ELEVEN twelve).

The band Tool is known for playing in odd time signatures. The song "Lateralus", according to the Tool FAQ, is played with a repeating group of three measures of nine, eight, and seven beats, respectively.

Another is which most people have heard (like it or not) is Pink Floyd's "Money", which starts out in 7/4, switches to 6/4 before ending up in 4/4.

Posted too soon.

Another famous piece with 5/4 is the "Mission:Impossible" theme (TV show). And here's a link—Music Theory 0nline - Time Signatures

I once came across a long list of rock songs with unusual times, but can't find it any more.

(I feel like a spammer when I have to substitute common words to avoid a filter.)

Can anyone think of a rock song written in waltz (3/4) time before Jimi's "Manic Depression"?

Hi, Rand,

Thanks for the lesson. I'll have to look up the examples you and the other posters have cited to "get" what you mean, but you've been a big help.

Actually, Patrick, it's easier to get "America" if you think of it as two measures of six with different accents (if only because you can count it in monosyllables). ONE two three FOUR five six ONE two THREE four FIVE six, ONE two three FOUR five six ONE two THREE four FIVE six...

It's been a long time since I've seen the score, though, so I don't know exactly how Bernstein wrote it.

And in addition:
http://www.rathergood.com/kittens/
listen to what the kitten has to say :
...i learned quite a bit about latin music ...

can anyone tell, whats the time signature on this one ?

I swear I once heard a Yes song that, if I was counting correctly, had one part (keyboards) in 13/8 and another (drums) in 7/8, with the vocals in something else altogether. Crazy-making - but in a good way.

I swear I once heard a Yes song that, if I was counting correctly, had one part (keyboards) in 13/8 and another (drums) in 7/8, with the vocals in something else altogether. Crazy-making - but in a good way.

Rand, I can't say I've seen the score, so I'm not actually sure. You are right that it's easier to count in sixes. I'm recalling this information from an event while I was in middle school, which was about eight years ago, so it may be fuzzy. There's also the possibility it's 12/8 instead of 12/4. Beats me.

"Go Back, Jack, and Do It Again" by Steely Dan is also an pretty good example--the time signature changes every two measures.

I believe that "America" is actually written in mixed 6/8 and 3/4. Since it's a fast 6/8, it's actually conducted in 2, and then 3 for the 3/4 measure. It's been a few years since I last played it, though.

And, as a point of fact, 2/8 or 2/4 would be counted ONE two, ONE two, not One two THREE four...

Top number is ALWAYS beats per measure, and you can't (or not supposed to) count past that number of beats.

If I hadn't been a percussionist (or persecutionist as our director sometimes referred to us), I'm not sure how well I'd have been able to pick up on counting and beats in music. Then again, it could very well be genetic, as I've always been somewhat adept at math...

One of the most interesting time signatures I've come across in performance (I used to play trumpet) was "First Circle" by Pat Metheny. It's got measures that alternate between 12/8 and 10/8, with the accents: ONE two three FOUR five SIX seven eight NINE ten ELEVEN twelve / ONE two three FOUR five six SEVEN eight NINE ten. The tricky part was that the melody went on the accented beats, while there was a hand-clapping line that was on the unaccented beats. Definitely fun to play (at about 1/8 note=300 bpm), once you get the hang of it.

Rand, You're right about the time signature in "America." It doesn't change. That particular technique (of dividing the beat without changing the time signature) is called a hemiola.