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MRmehman
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 1:34 pm
Posts: 789
Location: The Painted World of Ariamis
PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 4:35 pm 
 

Simple question, how do you tell the difference? I always seem to mistake 6/8 for 3/4 and I want to know how to tell the difference. Anyone know how and if so, could you provide some examples of songs/riffs in their respective time signatures? Thanks in advance.
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Insin
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 12:16 am
Posts: 50
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 3:08 am 
 

It's really about where the accents lie and where the snare hits are (at least this is how I've always thought of it as a drummer) - it's more based on the feeling of the song than anything else. When I think of 3/4 I imagine a traditional waltz (as in classical music, plenty of examples there). One unaccented beat followed by two accented beats is typical, or it could be two unaccented and one accented.

6/8 often can have a more "epic" feel, and there is usually only one accented snare hit (bass drum on beat one, snare on beat four). The song that comes to mind first is "The Spirit Carries On" by Dream Theater.
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thrashinbatman
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2010 6:31 pm
Posts: 1534
PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 2:41 pm 
 

The grand majority of the time, 6/8 subdivides evenly and 3/4 does not. The most common accents for 3/4 is ONE-two-three-ONE-two-three while 6/8 typically subdivides as ONE-and-two-AND-three-and. For good examples of 6/8, the main riff of Testament's "Into the Pit" or Exodus' "BTK" demonstrate the way 6/8 most comfortably subdivides. If you can count out 6 notes but it divides into two even sections, it's probably 6/8.

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MRmehman
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 1:34 pm
Posts: 789
Location: The Painted World of Ariamis
PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 8:04 pm 
 

Thanks guys. Are there any examples at all of riffs in 3/4? I really like the sound that they give off but like I said, I couldn't really find anything metal in 3/4. Seems quite rare in blues-based music.
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hakarl
Metel fraek

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:41 pm
Posts: 8816
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 10:41 am 
 

MRmehman wrote:
Thanks guys. Are there any examples at all of riffs in 3/4? I really like the sound that they give off but like I said, I couldn't really find anything metal in 3/4. Seems quite rare in blues-based music.

I think Deathspell Omega might've popularised it a little bit in black metal, with songs like Sola Fide. It changes between 4/4 and 3/4. The waltz time is used cleverly to give the build-up of the song a much more frantic, hurried feel, and the climax of the song is given more space with the longer bars, which allows the grand melodies to stretch out properly. The transition from 4/4 to 3/4 after the first chorus of the song has a very intense feel to it.

There's also a great theme on the Paracletus album in 12/16. It doesn't sound like waltz time, but the time signature can be reduced to 3/4. It's more specifically a pattern that consists of two bars of 6/8 and one bar of 12/16.

Although the song is mostly in 4/4, this is one of my absolute favourite 3/4 parts (Svartidauði): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJhvGAtglQY&t=7m45s

It might be rare in blues-based music, but to say that styles like these have transcended the boundaries of blues would be a stupendous understatement.
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Marras
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:21 am
Posts: 72
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:46 am 
 

From recent times, Suru By Ajattara is one of my favourite songs in 3/4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKqlWQfrHeE
Or actually, that is only metal song in 3/4 that comes to my mind right now. Interesting.

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tomcat_ha
Minister of Boiling Water

Joined: Fri Oct 27, 2006 8:05 am
Posts: 5570
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Nov 27, 2017 8:26 pm 
 

Gallows hymn by primordial is pretty much entirely in 3/4

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Hare Kristmas
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:25 pm
Posts: 9
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 3:06 pm 
 

In written music, eighth notes in 3/4 will be in groups of 2 (i.e. two stems connected with a flag), but in 6/8 they'll be in groups of 3 (i.e. 3 stems connected with a flag). If the accents in your melody or rhythm typically happen on the first and fourth eighth notes, then you'll want to write it in 6/8. If they're typically on the first or other odd-numbered eighth note, then write it in 3/4.

So just think about how you'd write it first, and that should in most cases determine how you talk about it.

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