Exploring Time Signatures in Jazz

So for most of its history, jazz was played in 2/4 or 4/4 time. However, in the 1950s and 60s, a few musicians started experimenting with time signatures like 3/4 and 5/4.

Musicians like the drummer Max Roach and the pianist Dave Brubeck, who wrote with Paul Desmond, had a hit with Desmond's tune "Take Five" in 5/4.

Time in 3/4

We're going to play a tune in 3/4. Let's explore the implications of that:

• With three beats to a bar, you would normally play a little Dorian loop from G to C and back:
  • 1 and 2 and 3 and
  • 1 and 2 and 3 and

But if that was in 6/8, it would still have the same number of notes and would sound like this. It's really fun to try and combine those two!

Metronome Exercise

I'm going to put the metronome on at 120 in 3/4 and play alternate bars of 3 and 6:

• 1, 2, 3.

Remember that 6/8 and 3/4 can coexist. Jazz musicians love to imply a 6/8 feel in 3/4 to make it sound less like a waltz. In fact, this approach is often called a jazz waltz.

Accents in Time Signatures

• The 6/8 time signature has two beats in a bar. With the metronome clicking in three, or your foot tapping in three:

  • Strong accents will be on 2 and 1:
    • 1, 2 and 3.
    • 1, 2 and 3.

To help you grasp these two time signatures, let's clap some common rhythms in 3/4:

• The accent can be on 2, or on 3, or on every beat.

But if we're doing something in 6/8, the strong accents will be halfway through between 2 and 3, like this:

• 1, 2, 3.

I suggest you try mixing those up.

Combining Time Signatures

Let's go back to our loop and play two bars in 3/4 and two bars in 6/8.

• The notes you're playing in the right hand are exactly the same, but the accenting is different.

Here it is in straight eights, a bit slower:

• Here's the left hand, and here's the 6/8 left hand.

Although we're playing the same notes, the accent's in a different place.

Swing Feel

Now let's do exactly the same thing in swing feel rather than in straight eights:

• A 1, 2, 3.

Try to get comfortable with these rhythms using the G minor Dorian scale as preparation for G minor waltz, which we'll play next.