Understanding and Using Odd Time Signatures - 6 Examples [MUSIC THEORY / RHYTHM]

This video explains the basics of odd time signatures while also giving tips on writing them, and demonstrating various odd meters from different recordings.

Free online guitar lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. Located in Crystal Lake, Jake Lizzio provides free jam tracks and video lessons for guitar players, as well as music theory videos and other music education content.

Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:36 What Are Time Signatures?
02:30 5/4 Mission Impossible
03:41 Quarter Note Odd Time Signatures
05:21 7/4 "Money" Pink Floyd
05:30 Eighth Note Odd Time Signatures
06:31 9/8 "Scatterbrain" Jeff Beck
07:22 7/8 "Here Comes The Sun" The Beatles
07:42 7/8 "Classical Gas" Mason Williams
07:55 Sixteenth Note Odd Time Signatures
08:45 15/16 "Home" Dream Theater
08:55 Wrapping Up

[rasputinsbeard]

"I was going to buy a copy of 'Abbey Road', but decided against it, because after hearing a 20 second clip of one of the tracks on youtube, with someone talking over the top of it, I think I've pretty much heard the entire album." - No One (ever)

[rickard]

"But there is really nothing to be scared of"
*Dance of Eternity has entered the chat*

[melodyhough]

Dance of Eternity: "Hold my 27/36"

[stevestizzy]

Shocked that no one else is fascinated with your ability to play on time while talking and thinking :P
Wow.... just wow !!
Great job by the way :)

[kfc_pog]

"but there's really nothing to be scared of"
*Dance of Eternity*

[jan_kisan]

man, you're the best music theory presenter i've heard so far

[BoughtByTheBlood]

Really like that you use "real life" examples of each time signature so we can tell what each one sounds like & how it feels.

[KonnerJohnson]

"Schism" by Tool is full of different odd time signatures, including 7/4, 5/8, 9/8, 11/8, 13/8 and 15/8.

[comeacross]

I'm an old guy and remember well the 1959 album "Time Out" by jazz great Dave Brubeck.
"Take Five" was the most memorable song on the album written in 5/4.
"Blue Rondo a'la Turk" another great song in the album was written in 9/8.
In any event "Time Out" was pretty hip in 1959 and caused a lot of discussion among jazz players and fans.
As an aside while not an odd time I love they way Lennon and McCartney inserted four 3/4 measures in "We Can Work it Out." For me it made a straight forward song interesting.
Thanks for posting this and keep on keeping on.

[PabloSaavedra]

Actually... Mission Imposible riff is "- - . ." wich in Morse is "MI"

[AlefSousa]

7:22 Oh, now I understand why the repost. I had this video on my "watch later" list and suddenly I seen it again on the top of my subscription box. Universal Music Group is just so, uuugh.. Hope they don't copystrike my comment for writing their company name on it, hahaha. Anyway, great video as always, Jake! The removed audio clip didn't affect the overall meaning and understanding of the video, which was flawless as always!

[Radien]

Clicked on this suggested video on a whim, and now, I haven't been this intellectually stimulated by music theory for years.

Enjoyed this video very much; happily subscribing now!

[waterglas]

6:07 9/8 Is pretty common in classical western music. But the pulse is subdivided in 3.

[baylinkdashyt]

Hey... uh... Universal Music Group? I have never *in the history of YouTube* seen a video that was more clearly qualified for fair use exemption under Section 107. Never. Ever. Bugger off.

[GogiRegion]

The moment you said swing for 7/4, before you even started playing, I instantly knew you were about to play Money (unlike with Mission Impossible where I didn’t recognize it until you started playing.

[danvol]

Sir, you are an excellent teacher--making everything seem like something I knew all along. Bravo! and keep up the good work.
BTW, an arguably more famous piece in 7/4 might be "All You Need Is Love."
To all who say the Beatles knew nothing about music because they couldn't articulate theory--Birds know nothing about flying because they don't understand aerodynamics.

[devolve]

If YouTube had been around 30 years ago I would probably still be a musician. I took a lot of lessons on various instruments and classes on theory and composition. I had some great instrument teachers, but all the theory teaches seemed to go out of their way to suck all the fun out of it and make it as murky and difficult to understand as possible. There are a lot of great theory lessons on YouTube, both deep explorations of certain concepts, and just quick illustrations that really simplify and make it all make sense. This channel is one of the best. People have so much more education at their disposal now. I'm envious!

[lapdogg]

I could listen to this man read me stereo instructions for hours and all my anxiety will just wash away. Came here for the time signature video & stayed for the hypnotic voice. 🙂🙃🙂

[venahtmusic]

I definitely think an important aspect about learning to write in odd time signatures is that you feel less limited in your compositions by thinking outside the 4/4 box. However, as someone who loves and writes prog rock, you can end up going a little too far and forget how to write normal 4/4 music that people will probably appreciate more. So achieve balance ;)

[NIIVES]

Great video! I love odd time signatures as well, and the coolest songwriting-challenge with it is to make it sound so that most non-musical listeners barely notice it's not 4/4. That way you have best of both worlds: the power and feel of something familiar but the creativity and groove of something odd.