On 29 Jun 2005 at 13:29, Christopher Smith wrote: > On Jun 29, 2005, at 12:58 PM, David W. Fenton wrote: > > > On 29 Jun 2005 at 3:59, Darcy James Argue wrote: > > > >> I didn't realize that the 2x3/4 division was more common than the > >> 3x2/4 division, but of course you're right about the correct rests > >> in that case. > > > > 6/4 has always been a 2-beat measure, just like 6/8. > > > > If that were not the case, there'd be no reason for either meter to > > exist at all, as 6/8 divided into 3 beats is just 3/4, and 6/4 > > divided likewise, just 3/2. > > > > Why would anyone use a 6 for 3 beats? > > Well, as an alternative to 4/4 + 2/4, for clarity, as a situation I > was in recently. > > The piece was in a medium 4/4, but at one point we needed an extra two > beats (two half notes turned into a half and a whole) so rather than > insert a measure of 2/4 and screw up everyone's bar numbers, I made it > a measure of 6/4. That made it very clear that the beat was a quarter > note, and there were six of them in that measure, rather than whatever > 3/2 would have implied (beat is a half note, with three of them? More > confusing for sight reading, IMHO, especially if I beat it in 6, which > I did.)
Well, to me, the confusion comes either way. If I saw 6/4 in that context I'd think "two beats of dotted half," which seems a much worse alternative than 3/2 implying "three beats of half note." The former is completely contradictory of your intent, while the latter at least lines up the strong accents in the right place. I would think the smartest thing to do is to use 6/4 with a dotted barline, or to simply write out what you mean, which is 4/4 + 2/4, or even 4+2 over 4. I'm not at all clear on what is wrong with the switch to 2/4. If you want to make sure that the 2/4 is not landed on like a downbeat, then 3/2 seems to me to work very well. > There are numerous Afro-Latin beats that are written in 6/8 or 3/4 or > 6/4 or 12/8 that divide into 3+3 and 2+2+2 in alternate measures, or > alternate halves of measures, as well. . . . Well, that goes back to the Renaissance convention I talked about in another post. In that case, you're not in one meter or the other, so it's something of an arbitrary choice which time signature you use. > . . . There is one that I am playing > right now with a band, ostensibly in 12/8 but at any moment you can > hear each measure not only in 4 (dotted quarters), but in a big 3 > (half notes), a medium 6 (quarters), or even a medium-to-small 8 (!) > (dotted eighths) depending on which instrument of the rhythm section > you are listening to at a given time. > > I suppose what I am saying is that even though there is ample > historical precendent for 6 generally being in 3+3, just about > anything goes these days. I don't think your latter example contradicts the point at all. I was responding to the idea that a piece that is really 3 half-note beats would be notated as 6/4, which makes no sense to me at all. Once other metrical divisions of the beat come into play, 6/4 has its merits and 3/2 becomes misleading and wrong. -- David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associates http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
