Half-time (music)
In
4 approximate a single measure of 8
8, while a single measure of 4/4 emulates 2/2. Half-time is not to be confused with alla breve or odd time. Though notes usually get the same value relative to the tempo, the way the beats are divided is altered. While much music typically has a backbeat on quarter note (crotchet) beats two and four, half time would increase the interval between backbeats to double, thus making it hit on beats three and seven, or the third beat of each measure (count
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4
Essentially, a half time 'groove' is one that expands one measure over the course of two. The length of each note is doubled while its frequency is halved.
Common-time
Time signatures are defined by how they divide the measure. In "common" time, often considered 4
4, each level is divided in two. In a common-time rock drum pattern each measure (a whole note) is divided in two by the bass drum (half note), each half is divided in two by the snare drum (quarter note, collectively the bass and snare divide the measure into four), and each quarter note is divided in two by a
Half-time
A classic example is the half-time shuffle, a variation of a
In half time, the feel of notes are chopped in half, but the actual time value remains the same. For example, at the same tempo, 8th notes (quavers) would sound like 16ths (semiquavers). In the case of the half time shuffle, triplets sound like 16th note (semiquaver) triplets, etc. By preserving the tempo, the beat is stretched by a factor of 2.
Double-time
In
In jazz the term means using note values twice as fast as previously but without changing the pace of the chord progressions. It is often used during improvised solos.[5]
"Double time [is] doubling a rhythm pattern within its original bar structure.":[6]
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
It may help to picture the way musicians count each metric level in 4/4:
quarter: 1 2 3 4 eighth: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & sixteenth: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
See also
- Drum pattern
Sources
- ISBN 1-59863-330-9.
- ^ YouTube. Accessed 31 July 2014.
- ISBN 1-4234-0818-7.
- ISBN 0-634-01098-0.
- ISBN 0-674-01163-5.
- ISBN 0-9667445-0-0.