Hi Everyone
This is the last stage of year 3 of the SSG. We've had a diverse range of assignments through this year but I thought for the last few we'd try to go more off the beaten track.
For this week's assignment I'd like you to write a song in 3/4 time. For those of you who are unsure of what 3/4 time is think of a waltz and for those unsure of a waltz ask your parents. Essentially instead of 4 beats to the bar, as most music is today, there are only three beats to the bar.
Easier to understand if you try to count it out loud it's just 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3.
Have fun - the song can be about anything you want
Bob
You are what you eat, eat well
mmmm sorry I don't know 3/4 or 4/4 I/'m only begining this music stuff can some one tell me a song that has 3/4 so I can listen to it please ?
sorry but 123 / 123 / I don't know any songs that go like that.. well at least I don't think I do . But I am probably wrong about that as I'm not too sure what Iam listening for .
Here is to you as good as you are
And here is to me as bad as I am
As good as you are and as bad as I am
I'm as good as you are as bad as I am
Just about any country song is written in 3/4 time.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- "WOW--What a Ride!"
waltz #2 by elliott smith
also his songs waltz #1 and miss misery, amongst others
currently number 60 in total posts... and shooting for number 1!!
mmmm sorry I don't know 3/4 or 4/4 I/'m only begining this music stuff can some one tell me a song that has 3/4 so I can listen to it please ?
Hi Hilch,
When people talk about what “time†a song is in, it refers to a sort of “pulse†that runs through the music.
Many of the songs that you know will be in 4/4 time, which means that each bar of music has four beats in it. "Three four" time means that each bar has 3 beats in it.
The "four" in "three four time" refers to the note length, but don't worry about that right now. Just look at what the 3 means.
The easiest way to understand it is probably to look at a song you might know.
Slim Dusty's "Pub With No Beer" is in 3 / 4 time.
It goes like this:
It's | lone – some a | -way from your | kin – dred and | all by the | camp – fire at | night where the | wild din- goes | call …..
Apart from the opening "It's", each bar has 3 beats. When you sing or play there's a slight emphasis on the first note of each bar. It doesn't have to be a big emphasis (like I've given it with the bold type) , but it gives the song its beat or pulse.
Each beat isn't necessarily a single note. For instance in the section |all by the| the word "all" is spread over two beats and "by the" is sung quickly as two half beats. In written music we use different note shapes to show how long each note lasts.
Another old song in 3 / 4 time is Botany Bay. Again it starts with a single beat and then settles into the 3 beats per bar.
Fare| -well to old | Eng – land for | e – ver - |
with the “ver†of ever stretching out for two beats.
I hope that's not all too confusing. :?
Cheers, Chris
Just to extend that a bit.
One way to get the feel for writing songs is to practice by re-writing songs you already know.
I learned to build houses by working on a few demolition jobs, and paying attention as I pulled them apart. Then I used what I'd learned to design and build my own house.
You can do the same with songs.
Take Pub With No Beer, for instance. Try and see how the rhythms within the lines work. Then try substituting a few words. Some will be too short, some too long. Some will be the right length but just have the wrong "feel". Fiddle about, a bit at a time.
As you get the feeling for the job, replace whole lines. Then whole verses. Then the whole song. It works best with a song you know well, because you already know how the pulse of the song works.
So Hilch might draw on his sporting days and change Pub with No Beer to:
Oh it's lousy away from your team-mates and all
When selection time comes and you don't get the call
Oh there's nothing so lonely, you might shed a tear
When you're dropped from the team with no money for beer.
Hey Presto - a "new" song in 3 / 4 time. There's nothing in the SSG rules that demands new music, just lyrics. So if anybody is struggling with a way to tackle this week, maybe you could just rejig an old song. Chances are we won't notice anyway. :wink: :wink:
Cheers, Chris
hey thanks chris
I love your re worded pub with no beer , I'll start to try and write my own version of it . I know that song really well.
be nice :!:
Hilch
Here is to you as good as you are
And here is to me as bad as I am
As good as you are and as bad as I am
I'm as good as you are as bad as I am
I'm gonna try that one too Chris. You don't wanna know how frustrated I was yesterday night because I couldn't work it out ;) Thanx!
[edit] Is my avatar too big? [/edit]
I am having a tough time too Karla and I listen to country mostly. But I am glad we're doing this. Dont get better without going through some struggle.
Geoo
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
I'm gonna try that one too Chris. You don't wanna know how frustrated I was yesterday night because I couldn't work it out ;) Thanx!
[edit] Is my avatar too big? [/edit]
Hi Karla,
I'm still grappling with it too! Time is not my strong point. I've been slack about metronome work, so I just play whatever feels right at the time. And that can vary from bar to bar. :?
A great many songs can be re-arranged into different time signatures by a good musical arranger. So the lyrics by themselves don't automatically tell you what the time signature is.
I know what different time signatures mean, and I can follow them off a sheet of music, but if I'm just given the words I could end up with something quite different to what was intended. So I'm going to try mapping out the structure on the page first, before I fit the words in. Otherwise who knows what time my song will end up in!
Avatar:
I started out with my avatar about your size, but quickly got tired of seeing it leering at me every time I posted, so I made it smaller. You might find the same, but it's your call. Looks Ok to me at the moment..
Cheers Chris
I know what different time signatures mean, and I can follow them off a sheet of music, but if I'm just given the words I could end up with something quite different to what was intended. So I'm going to try mapping out the structure on the page first, before I fit the words in. Otherwise who knows what time my song will end up in!
heers Chris
The same happens to me... I've reached a fairly high level with my clarinet, and I can play about anything, no matter what measure it's in. Also when I hear a song, I can say it's 4/4 or 6/8, but I never recognise a 2/2 for example, or a 3/4.
But when I tried to write lyrics for it, I couldn't tell wether it was going to be 3/4 or whatever, so I made a guitar arpeggio (or hows it called? :oops:) first, and lyrics to accompany that later...
That's why I just love this assignment, it widens my view. And that's what this is al about right =D
I was having a terribly difficult time (pun intended) with this exercise. Seems that when you through in the rule that it has to be in a certain time, it really hinders me.
SO, what I did to overcome this (I am almost finished with my song) is I downloaded a program where I could program my own drums. I set those drums to 3/4 time and I just strummed along for a while. That set up the basis for my rythem which made the creative process for writing lyrics easier.
Not sure that will help anyone else, as it seems that everyone else has pretty much overcome this lesson already, but I hope that it helps someone.
Geoo
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
Geoo,
Now why the heck didn't I think of doing that!! :oops:
I've got a drum machine sitting three inches from my hand as I type.
I did try the metronome with the bell that clangs at the start of every bar, but somehow it didn't seem to set the mood, even though I tried a few different speeds.
I even tried slowly waltzing around the loungeroom while singing the song! (Yep, can't waltz either, so it looked pretty darned odd...)
I eventually just used the old tap foot, slap thigh, method until the foot seemed able to go it alone. Then lurched into the song...
I still only managed it fairly slowly though. I found quite a few songs in 3/4 time - like The Beatles Norwegian Wood, The Times Are A Changing, and several other Dylan songs, which aren't exactly slow waltzes. Didn't have any trouble singing them at a reasonable clip. Just lost the beat again when I stopped. :D
Ah well, blame the decline of "zee leettle grey cells".... :?
Cheers, Chris
