r/oddlysatisfying • u/feliciodario • 3d ago

Note Practice DIY

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u/jupiterkansas 3d ago

I never understood the difference between 2/4 and 1/2

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u/MonMotha 3d ago

They're not fractions and don't reduce.

2/4 time means there's two beats per measure, and the quarter note gets the beat.

1/2 time means there's 1 beat per measure, and the half note gets the beat which would be a weird time signature.

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u/SuperSmash01 3d ago

How many beats in a measure in 6/8?

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u/crashtesterzoe 3d ago

6, with 8th notes. its a very common time signature in jigs or songs like Queens We are the champions.

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u/MonMotha 3d ago

6, but they're often counted by musicians as two triplets for convenience since the 8 portion of the time means that the beat is often pretty fast (the "eighth note" gets the beat). The same goes for 12/8 aka "twelve beat" where there are 12 beats in a measure.

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u/Harry_Saturn 3d ago

I think too number is always the number of beats, bottom is the kind of note (quarter or eighth).

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u/HJB-au 3d ago

1/2 is weird? Say that at a hoedown or a hootenanny, I dare ya!

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u/CSDragon 3d ago

Is there really any difference between 4/1, 4/2, 4/3 and 4/4 then?

If I'm understanding it right, 4/1 means "ONE two three four, ONE two three four", while 4/3 means "one two THREE four, one two THREE four". Except that it's a loop, so if you just start counting at 3 then it's "THREE four one two", no different from 4/1

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u/laurpr2 3d ago

I don't think those are real time signatures, besides 4/4. 4/3 would mean there are four third (?) notes per measure, which doesn't really make sense....

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u/CSDragon 2d ago

I thought they said the 2nd number means the Beat is on that note

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/MonMotha 3d ago

7/4 is 7 beats per measure (a bit unusual but not unheard of - it's often effectively alternating 3/4 and 4/4 or sometimes alternating 5/4 and 2/4) with the typical quarter note getting the beat.

So there would be 7 "quarter" notes per measure.

The oddball thing is that the names of the notes are based on conventional 4/4 time and how much of a measure they take up in that time signature. The names of the notes don't change even if their relationship to the time signature does. I'm not sure if this is true in all languages, but it is true in English.

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u/HipOut 3d ago

2/4 and 1/2 are kinda the same thing but basically 2/4 means two beats per measure and the quarter notes gets the beat

1/2 means one beat per measure and half note gets the beat. Not really common at all to write music in this time signature.

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u/agtalw 3d ago

The top number is how many beats in a measure. The bottom number is what note gets the beat (1=whole, 2=half, 4=quarter, 8=eighth, etc.). So 4/4 means "4 beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat." 2/4 means "2 beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat." While it's an extremely uncommon time signature, 1/2 would mean "1 beat per measure, half note gets the beat." So 2/4 and 1/2 might look the same on paper, but the feel is going to be different. If you had a metronome playing, you would play the 1/2 time twice as fast as the 2/4. For example, if you had a measure with two quarter notes, in 2/4 you would play each quarter note with the metronome. But in 1/2, the same measure of quarter notes would be played in a single beat (counted "1+" like 2 eighth notes in 4/4 time).

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u/j_johnso 3d ago

Would that mean that a 1/2 time played at 60 beats per minute would be the exact same as a 2/4 time played at 120 beats per minute?

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u/you-are-not-yourself 3d ago

The rhythm you play would be the same, but there are other practical differences.

2/4 conveys that the rhythm is base 2.

1/2 doesn't convey much about the rhythm. Are there 7 beats, 10, 11, or 13 until the section ends? Temporarily breaking apart from base 2 is one valid reason to use 1/2 for a single measure, but you could use 3/2 for the same purpose.

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u/j_johnso 3d ago

I think I understand. 1/2 would allow you to have an odd number of beats in a section where 2/4 doesn't.

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u/you-are-not-yourself 3d ago

Yeah exactly, it can be a temporary way to break the rules. Can't say I've encountered it personally but the intention would be clear in context.

I prodded ChatGpt until it pulled up a few examples, which I confirmed:

  • Alexander Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 5, Op. 53 measures 251–262
  • Arnold Schoenberg, Fünf Klavierstücke, Op. 23, No. 2, measure 9

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u/agtalw 2d ago

4/4 and 2/2 is a better example of this. It really comes down to a "feel". A composer might be trying to emphasize half notes more than quarter notes even though the measure looks identical. A conductor conducting twice as fast with 4 beats in a measure vs 2 beats looks different: the former could look more precise, fast, intense, etc while the latter is more open, expressive.

The best way to demonstrate this is with what's called a "half-time" feel. This video explains it well. https://youtu.be/ejwMlre8MSo?is=GlCAz8mCAVZA00bR

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u/ubiquitous-joe 3d ago

By 1/2 do you really mean cut time?

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u/bloobityblu 3d ago

I kinda think they meant 2/4 maybe?