What's the difference between 3/4 and 6/8 time?

📌NOTE: I chose to cut "Subterranean Homesick Alien" by Radiohead out of this video due to copyright issues. Sorry!

There is often confusion and disagreement when it comes to whether a song is in 3/4 time or 6/8 time. Although some songs can fit equally well into 3/4 or 6/8, usually one of these two meters is the far more obvious and intuitive choice when transcribing or conceptualizing a given piece of music. Let's look at the differences between these two time signatures and also at how they interact with similar meters such as 9/8 or 12/8.

Thank you to Young Man for his feedback on this video! 🎵
And, an extra special thanks goes to Vidad Flowers, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

0:00 Introduction
0:26 3/4 vs. 6/8
2:48 how does 3/4 actually sound?
3:20 how does 6/8 actually sound?
3:53 "America" from West Side Story
4:23 slow 6/8 sounds like 3/4
5:09 fast 3/4 sounds like 6/8
6:15 GUESS THE TIME SIGNATURE!
8:57 3:2 polyrhythms
9:54 6/8 vs. 12/8
11:17 3/4 vs. 9/8
13:50 outro

[DavidBennettPiano]

📌NOTE: I chose to cut "Subterranean Homesick Alien" by Radiohead out of this video due to copyright issues. Sorry!

[thepatternplayback]

This is what I've been needing. 3/4 is a waltz feel and 6/8 feels like a pendulum. Subscribed just for that bit alone. Great information!

[violacola]

If we're waltzing, it's 3/4. If we're swashbuckling, it's 6/8.

[nemonomen]

I used to be so confused by how these were supposed to be different.
Now I understand that musicians just love to invent new ways to give themselves migraines.
Great video!

[mikeprice]

As soon as you said swinging like a pendulum I understood the whole thing

[JayForeman]

What time signature do you think Back to the Old House by the Smiths is? My brain latches onto completely different rhythms on the acoustic and full band versions.

[lloydsumpter]

The thing I use to differentiate 3/4 and 6/8 is the strength of the first beat of the triplet. In 3/4 it's always the same, but in 6/8 there's a BOOM-da-da-Bim-da-da... in other words the first beat alternates between strong and not-so-strong.

[felipegalvao]

I believe that the key to discover a song's time signature is the drums. It gives you the way a song feels.

[GoviaM]

of course there's a beatles song in this video

[QuirqUK]

It's a lot easier when there's a drumkit, just see where the snare falls

[katariina]

I was like "Ah, pendulum!" and proceeded to get almost none of the songs right. I still like the metaphor.

[dimitreze]

what a coincidence
I'm writing a song right now that is in 6/8 with some parts in 3/4

I'm using Dig a Pony as inspiration. It's no really clear if it's 6/8 or 3/4.

[JonathanGasper]

The clue is in the articulation, for example: In the Alicia Keys song, relationship between the kick drum and snare makes the 6/8 clear, where in otherwise might not be.

[singerofsongs]

Wanna melt my heart? Put a song in 6/8 and give it a rolling piano arpeggio.

[cmyk]

I like to use the non-music-theory term “ticks per beat” to explain 3/4 vs 6/8.
3/4 has 3 beats per measure, 2 ticks per beat.
①・②・③・
6/8 has 2 beats per measure, 3 ticks per beat.
①・・②・・

[fshepinc]

The classic song "Send In The Clowns" from Sondheim's A Little Night Music is usually thought of as a waltz in 3/4, but it was written in alternating 12/8 and 9/8 -and is often transcribed in different meters, including 4/4 with the addition of triplets.

[warfalcon]

I have been asking this question for years. No one has explained this in such a concise and easy-to-understand form. Thank you so much! I had never heard of simple vs compound time. This makes a lot more sense now!

[commiecunt]

I've always wanted to know the difference between 3/4 and 6/8, its so confusing

[GlibiettopGringoNorman]

in summary, one is ABABAB and one is ABBABB.

[nee_nee_]

Watching these videos I feel like when I was little answering to Dora the explorer.