EVERY Time Signature EXPLAINED (using Nintendo Music)

Let's talk about (almost) every time signature from 1/4 - 31/16 using Nintendo music! MUSIC THEORY

Thanks again to my sister for Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, and Splatoon 2 gameplay.

00:00 Intro
03:37 1/4
04:12 2/4
05:56 3/4
07:13 4/4
08:51 5/4
10:41 6/8
11:57 7/4
13:36 8/8
13:51 9/8
15:01 10/4
16:22 11/8
18:28 12/8
20:16 13/8
21:55 14/16
23:22 15/16
25:28 Intermission
25:45 21/16
27:32 23/8
28:58 24/8
29:57 31/16
31:24 Outro

Tunes used:

[CadenceHira]

TEARS OF THE KINGDOM SPOILERS ON 23/8. SKIP TO 28:58 TO AVOID That is completely my bad, ironically I have no perception of time and thought the game was out long enough.

Also Final Fantasy VII spoiler from 4:20-4:27 but cmon now the game has been out for almost 30 years and is THE most video game spoiler spoiler.

[AndrewsVideoEssays-ylpb]

Ahh, finally. A good video explaining time signatures in a clear, concise way. If there are any Great Value Blueberry jumpscares, I’m going to scream.

[andreworders]

Splatoon’s Frothy waters has a time signature that increases every bar, making it use 10:8, 11:8, 12:8, 13:8, 14:8, 15:8, 16:8, 17:8, 18:8, 19:8, 20:8, 21:8, 22:8, 23:8, 24:8, and 25:8 all in one song.

[fgss]

Time signatures is a way for your band teacher to torture you without getting arrested.

[PIMKAMINA]

it's incredible that music theory has managed to break down and categorize something that for the most part comes down to Vibes

[handlebecauseihaveto]

The reason why you get such strange time signatures almost exclusively for final boss themes is to in contrast with the rest of the games music, put you off balance and enhance the drama by being so different from the more comfortable time signatures you find in house settings, protagonist themes etc. It enhances the direness of the situation

[DavidBennettPiano]

4:12 I think the only way to truly have “1/4” is to have a completely consistent quarter note pulse with no emphasis given to any beat. So in reality that would basically just be a metronome count with no emphasis, just constant, homogenous clicks 😊😅 great video by the way!!

[DogBehaviorGuy]

every single thing that has ever bothered me about time signatures was instantly remedied when you said it's, in practice, typically added retrospectively based on what feels right.
that explains why i couldn't actually math the math and make it math right.

[zeropointer]

I think my favourite weird time signature is Frothy Waters from Splatoon 3.
After the intro, it goes into a 10/8, then 11/8 for the next bar, then 12/8 for the bar after that, then 13/8, 14/8 etc.
It just loops a melody adding another repeating eigth note every bar and it's is just... beautiful

[ace]

Awesome music theory knowledge, and then...
"Prime example"
"This fusion"
"Feeling of dread"
3 Metroid puns in one sentence, you hooked me. Subscribed

[somethingforsenro]

as a musician this has actually helped me learn how to compose in unusual time signatures. i would never have figured out the ‘dotted quarter, dotted quarter, quarter-quarter’ tactic for 5/4, or the triplet/duplet difference between 3/4 and 6/8

[mayochupenjoyer]

can i just say that an interest in time signatures and a stress fracture in my spine combined on one fateful day to lead to me discovering that the beats of the MRI machine were in 19/16

[krackerjackism]

I had no idea Moon was in 15/16. It sounds so clean and pure that I just assumed it was 4/4

[larho]

00:00 Intro
03:37 1/4
04:12 2/4 (Advent: One Winged Angel - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)
05:56 3/4 (Rosalina in the Observatory - Super Mario Galaxy)
07:13 4/4 (Main Menu - Wii Sports Resort)
08:51 5/4 (Gear Getaway - Super Smash Bros WiiU/3DS)
10:41 6/8 (Flipside - Super Paper Mario)
11:57 7/4 (Mother Brain - Super Metroid)
13:36 8/8
13:51 9/8 (Title Theme - The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker)
15:01 10/8 (Trainers' Eyes Meet (Psychic) - Pokemon X/Y)
16:22 11/8 (Forgotten Isle - Super Mario Odyssey)
18:28 12/8 (Remix 3 - Rhythm Heaven)
20:16 13/8 (Shrine Battle - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
21:55 14/16 (Yuga-Ganon Battle - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds)
23:22 15/16 (The Moon - DuckTales (NES))
25:28 Intermission
25:45 "21/16" (Pokémon Mansion - Pokemon Fire Red/Leaf Green)
27:32 23/8 (Demon King Ganondorf (Phase 2) - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
28:58 24/8 (Shrine Battle - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
29:57 31/16 (Fishing Frenzy - Splatoon 2)
31:24 Outro

mightve did something wrong but i think this is right

[justdis]

as a musician, that cut at 20:16 to that combination of music and 13/8 staring me in the soul legit made me jump!

[doodlelala]

14:37 correction! This is not like a jig, but like a slipjig! you can tell because you can say the words “eggs, rashers and sausages” to the rhythm. A jig would be just “rashers and sausages”, and a reel is “black and decker” or “double decker”. I have not yet found a helpful mnemonic for identifying hornpipes. Probably you already knew this, you know more about time signatures than I ever will, but on the off chance it’s helpful, thought I’d comment!

[evanchilson]

I know this isn't what the video is about, but at 10:10, you brought up the Mission Impossible theme, which is comprised of two "long notes" and two "short notes". If interpreted as dashes and dots respectively, the simple 4 note loop is morse code for M.I. -- Mission Impossible.

[FreddeGreddeMusic]

Cool, I've noticed most of these examples when playing the games.

I love odd time signatures and hope this video encourages people to experiment more with their compositions! 😁

[marshallsalmon]

Ok, as someone who LOVES music with odd time signatures (TOOL, Primus, Polyphia, etc.), it's kinda cool to see that that may come from the fact that my childhood as a Nintendo kid has made odd time signatures more appealing to me.

[gnoot]

its very cool that you transcribed all the music you showed as examples of the time signatures, it also helped me a bit to understand more of how music theory works