Lucas Crandall / Staff reporter
The 4/4 time signature is often considered by music artists as the most common time signature and in turn, most songs use a 4/4 time signature, but what about the artists that don’t?
While there are some artists that use odd time signatures for their songs, good artists will always have a reason to do so. Even changing the time signature to 3/4 or 5/4 can change how the music sounds.
Songs with 5/4 time signatures often sound like they have a wonky rhythm to them due to the extra quarter note on every beat. 5/4 is very comparable to a song with a bar of 3/4 followed by a bar of 2/4.
An example of a song that uses a 5/4 time signature would be the song amply titled “5/4” by “Gorillaz”. This song starts of a with guitar rift in this 5/4 time signature, but after a few measures, drums start to play in a 4/4 time signature.
This offset of the drums and guitar creates with lopsided rhythm that gives more emphasis to every other downbeat where the drums and guitar do line up. Having these parts where listeners are expecting to have a large payoff, but instead creates more stress, makes the parts that have a big payoff even more impactful.
A band that is a master of using odd time signatures would be “The Dave Brubeck Quartet”, who often uses odd time signatures, time signature switches and a mix of time signatures similar to the song “5/4” from earlier.
A great example of their mastery of time signatures would be the song “Pick Up Sticks” which switches between 4/4 and 6/4 time signature throughout its runtime.
Other artists who try this may find it a bit jarring and, in turn, not implement it well, but Dave Brubeck, the band’s song writer, used his strong understanding of time signatures and how they interact with each other to create a song that flows fluently between each change.
Overall, time signatures are just another way of presenting someone’s art, similar to how different colours and line types convey paintings and drawings. While many artists may not think too much about their time signatures, many artists think it is a very important part in making a song.
Cites:
Songs that use 5/4 time – YouTube
Songs that use 6/4 time – YouTube
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