 The Fingering Forum
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Author: Erica
Date: 2004-07-03 13:33
Try dividing the measure into either two sets of 3 beats, or one set of 4 beats and one set of 2 beats. 6/4 time is generally composed of either of those two sets.
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Author: Dee
Date: 2004-07-03 13:50
It may even be counted in 6 beats per measure depending on the tempo.
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Author: Jan
Date: 2004-07-03 16:43
Example: Footprints (Wayne Shorter)
Just count ONE two three FOUR five six
Very much like 6 8...
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Author: Amanda
Date: 2004-07-03 19:07
I would just keep it in six. Instead of 4 beats per measure, there are a few more added. Try it slowly at first, and build up speed when you get the hang of the longer measures.
By the way, don't say it's impossible. It is very possible, and a common meter to find.
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Author: the_oboist
Date: 2004-07-03 20:31
Basically, 6/4 time means there are six quarter notes to every measure.
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Author: dboe
Date: 2004-07-05 03:17
6/4 is actually not as much like 6/8 as it is like 3/2. It varies as to what the interpretation should be, but it should be apparent with whatever phrasing is given. There are a few options:
Think of 1, 3 and 5 as being the stronger beats.
Think of 1 and 5 only as being the stronger beats.
I would definitely say that beat "4" in the 6/4 is not a strong beat; however, one occurence of this could be if the composer was switching from 6/8 to 6/4, and the 6/4 maintained the same rhythym as the 6/8 bar. Even still, I don't think I've ever seen that done in any music I've played.
dboe
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Author: Jan
Date: 2004-07-05 11:42
Footprints is in 6 4 and the strong beats are on 1 and 4.
And the few times I encountered a 6 4, it had to be played with strong beats on 1 and 4.
Unless stated otherwise: 6 (4+2) / 4 or 6 (2+2+2) / 4.
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Author: dboe
Date: 2004-07-06 02:59
In what you just said Jan, the strong beats would be on 1 and 5, or 1,3,5...like I had previously said.
Dboe
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Author: Brilliance
Date: 2004-07-07 09:27
dboe's right. although when conducting 4 may seem like the 'important' beat, mainly 1, 3, 5 come out predominant.
-Brilliance
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Author: TorusTubarius
Date: 2004-07-07 22:15
I've seen pieces that have a (2+2+2) 6/4 beat and ones that have a (3+3) 6/4 beat. It just depends; there's nothing inherent in the 6/4 time signature marking that indicates which way the rhythm is going to "groove" if you will.
A good example of a 6/8 sounding 6/4 would be the 6/4 choral-ish section of <i>Russian Christmas Music</i> by Alred Reed. Another good example would be Melody No. 36 in E Major from the Barret Oboe Method.
Additionally, I would think about 3/2 as merely being a special case of 6/4. By writing out a time signature like 3/2, the composer is deliberately calling attention to the fact that those six quarters add up to three halves. In a piece like that, you can therefore expect to see melodies written with the six quarters primarily grouped into three halves and their equal divisions instead of some other grouping. Using that same reasoning, you can think of 3/4 as a special case of 6/8, 2/4 as a special case of 4/8, and 6/4 as a special case of 12/8.
I expounded upon all this in great detail <a href=http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/BBoard/read.html?id=9452>here</a> in an earlier thread from 03/02/04.
I wonder how you would name the special case of 6/4 which is grouped like (3+3). The rhythm tells you that you're listening to two sets of three quarters of a whole note. Mathematically speaking it ought to be a time signature of 2/1.3333333333333333333333333 ad infinitum. Guess that's why we just leave it alone at 6/4.
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