Songs that use 11/8 time

And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇

0:00 11/8 time
2:18 TOOL
3:14 11/4 vs. 11/8
4:32 Dave Brubeck & odd time signatures
5:28 Hooktheory
6:13 one-off bar
7:11 11/4 time
9:22 piano outro

[detoslp]

TOOL is such a great band for looking at wacky time signatures. Schism is amazing because of the odd feel it gives when constantly switching between time signatures (I think it switches like 47 times or something like that). Truly insane.

[TheDeadOfNight]

0:58 honestly I'm not surprised to find 11/8 in video game music, video game soundtracks often explore a lot of interesting time signatures and scales and nonfunctional harmony and I wish we got more of that in "pop" music

[SplotchTheCatThing]

I don't think I've ever written a whole song in 11s but I love using it to break up sections or just create a riff where the song's normal rhythm gets lost for a bit. It's a long enough number of beats that I can put the song a little off-balance with a few sections of just one or two bars each.
Makes it a very expressive sort of meter to use in short bursts.

[goldfishyearbook]

I love that videogame music often has so much conceptual depth to it!

[Spudeaux]

When I was in high school, a band called Luna Halo released an album that my brother purchased. The 11th track on the album featured a verse that was in 11/8 and the chorus switched between 12/8 & 11/8. I think it must have gotten to me, because I was trying to write a song on piano in a completely different genre, but I couldn't figure out how to notate it. I had the free version of Finale at that time which didn't allow changing time signatures, and I thought my song was in 12/8. Turns out I had a handful of 11/8 bars in there. Wasn't able to notate the song for a while, but I won the school talent show when I played it!

[cooliojonesI]

I saw Mario and Tool in a thumbnail how would I not click

[adasmi]

Thanks for including a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard song. I actually didn't realize "Altered Beast IV" is in 11/8 before, but generally many of their songs are rhythmically really intersting. Another example is "The Cruel Millennial" which is mostly in 11/8 too (although I always thougth about it as alteranting 5/8 and 6/8, but actually it's exactly the same). It's also kind of unique because the beats are grouped like 3+2+3+3 so rather than being in 12/8 but skipping the last beat, the song feels more like a 5/8 but with a beat added every other bar (and for some parts it actually becomes temporarily a regular 5/8).

[samuraigoldi]

I was listening to Eleven by Primus, when my I wanted to explain to my dad why it sounds like that. I explained it by telling him to imagine a waltz, but every fourth bar you trip over your shoelaces.

[theredshirts]

There is a lot of Bulgarian folk music that is in 11, or other odd time signatures (usually with a corresponding folk dance)- Gankino Horo is one example of 11/8 (or 11/16 depending on how it’s notated).

[AlexPies]

the song "Forgotten Isle" from Super Mario Odyssey is in 11/8, or perhaps 11/16, which i think is super fun. it's a tribal type folksy song, you should give it a listen if you haven't yet

[boomerbear]

I thought "Whipping Post" as soon as I read 11/8 (though it's really 11/4) but somehow the Mario Kart 64 results music escaped me even though I've heard to it for years. Video game music really is underrated I think when it comes to some very advanced composition. I'm actually impressed that there are enough songs using this rare signature to make a video but music is full of surprises! Nice video David!

[IAmisMaster]

Came for I Say a Little Prayer, Whipping Post, and Here Comes the Sun and was not disappointed. Even got a little Yes!

[brandonkennedy]

I’m so happy you mentioned Sagat’s theme, I don’t even care you called him Sajit. LOL. Seriously though, I love that song, and it’s great to know what this time signature is called. I totally forgot that Mario Kart 64’s race results theme uses it too.

[willbowling]

To be honest you could have made this entire video with just TOOL

[oscarj]

Here are a few more:
- "First Circle" by Pat Metheny Group is mostly in 11/4 and it features a clave starting with one 8th rest through the whole song, the subdivisions are felt in 8ths so it completes a 22/8.
- "Ekko's Theme" from League of Legends is mostly in 11/8 since it alternates bars of 6/8 and 5/8.
- "Pantagruel's Nativity" by Gentle Giant, the bridge section (about 2:11) is full in 11/4, a very long bar.
- "A Passion Play (Part 1)" by Jethro Tull has also a nice 11/8 (6/8 + 5/8) section starting from about 10:30 and also the Ian Anderson's flute solo stills in 11.
- "As I Feel I Die" by Caravan is in 11/8 when the full band enter (about 1:45) in form of 3+3+3+2 followed by a 6/8 + 5/8 movement for the organ's solo.
- "Herandnu" by Weather Report, fathers of jazz fusion, they are jamming the whole song in 11/8 (4+4+3), the bass shines because it was composed by Alphonso Jhonson.
- "Slightly All the Time" by Soft Machine also pioners of jazz fusion the first bridge (about 5:42) is in 11/16, is like a 4/8 + 3/16. The following section is in 9/4.
- "Eleven Wives" by Avishai Cohen Trio has a memorable 11/8 time very acclaimed in contemporary jazz scene, can also be felt in 22/16.
- Simon Phillips playing in "33/8" track, there is a shuffle movement that happens twice in which he plays a triplet 11/4 that equals the 33/8.
- "Cotopaxi" by The Mars Volta intro and outro are in 11/8 (4+4+3), the chorus in 4/4 and the bridge section in an interesting 9/4.
-"Herd Culling" by Porcupine Tree of their new album is in 11/8, similar to Soft Machine's 11 but a 4/4 + 3/8 and then the chorus in 6/8 + 5/8 form.
- "The Sky is Red" by Leprous is one of my recent discoveries of a full song in 11/4 with differents phrasings and there is a polypulse in the coda section in which the drums are playing in some kind of 11/2 over the 11/4, like a half time but in 11.

Surely there are a lot more of 11s out there, mostly in progressive music and jazz fusion worlds. Also but more unusual in videogames / film scoring. 😅

[Kerosian]

The Sky is Red by Leprous is an excellent example of 11/8 grooviness.

[DaneInTheUS]

Right in two is one of my all time favorite Tool songs. Thank you for using it!

[pwhite]

diamond eyes by the deftones is 11. I think it's pretty cool how it's simple but they use the crash to distract from the odd signature and make it feel like 3

[hamishspencer]

Favourite song in 11, although it's probably 11/4, is First Circle by Pat Metheny. It's also one of the greatest songs ever recorded.

[Rude_i_Wredne]

Funny thing about 11 is that every time you highlight the grouping, it feels wrong and I feel it in a different way, and every time you don't show them, I can see a very clear grouping idea.