Whats the difference between 6/8 and 3/4?

[machinesmith]

Rather late - but Thank you All for your input(s)! I don't think I'm able to produce any accents/emphasis/pulses yet into any of my compositions (or perhaps I have, I just dont know it yet!) Till I actually incorporate these nuances in my own pieces (which, primarily being techno, will never see the light of day in mind....hmm nice title for a song!) I'll have to satisfy myself with whatever I've learnt here. Also Thank you Harbinger, song properties is exactly what I've been playing around with and far as I can tell I set the patterns to my song  to a 3/4 measure (which originally fired up the question)  

Also thanks to Psichock for yet another Do'hful eyeopener - either you've gone through the exact same issues I have OR you are to this forum what Mel Gibson was to the movie `Payback' - genuis!

Also thank you to `the-mysterious-person-who-most-probably-is-LPchip' who changed the topic for me.

[LPChip]

Also thank you to `the-mysterious-person-who-most-probably-is-LPchip' who changed the topic for me.

You're welcome.

[rncekel]

Western music traditional writting arose from the need of explaining how something must sound without just playing it, only reading.
Bars try to give the player a good idea on how to play the music. A 6/8 bar try to say ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three, and a 3/4 means One-two One-two One-two. I remember that when I was in a medieval music group, one day we had a lot of discussion about a song; some people thought it was in 3/4 and other that it was in 6/8. The only difference is where the accents go, and I knew versions of this song with both ways of accents. In fact, changing from 3/4 to 6/8 is very easy, and it is very much used in spanish (or spanish like) music (remember, for example, America, from West Side Story), where 6/8+3/4 is the usual notation for the "seguidilla". But if you write explicitly the accents, and even make them change from one bar to another, it is all the same; you might then even write all kind of music in 4/4 (although it would be quite uneasy to read it).
A fine example of this is Stravinski's "The Sacred of Printemps" (I think this is the correct translation to English), in which bars change almost every one bar (and the accents not always correspond, depending on the particular instrument you read).

[Sam_Zen]

A very nice stating, rncekel.

I think it's indeed about the accents within the cycle that matters.
So 6/8 could also be played as One-two One-two-three-four. This is not fitting in the 3/4 scheme.

In indian tala this division is quite essential. So a cycle of 11 beats could mean a scheme of 3-3-3-2.
So One-two-three One-two-three One-two-three One-two.

The first One in a cycle is extra important, because it gives indian musician the opportunity to play
complicated rhythms mixed, like cycles of 7 and 8 simultaneously, to stop the song at the first common One
of the next number of 56 cycles.

If you look at a concert, and it all goes well, you'll see the musicians smile to each other at the end,
when the song was ended properly, succeeding in their counting.

[Harbinger]

A fine example of this is Stravinski's "The Sacred of Printemps" (I think this is the correct translation to English), in which bars change almost every one bar (and the accents not always correspond, depending on the particular instrument you read).

Stravinsky is for advanced users!  If you ever looked at the score for that piece, you're right --- there are a LOT of time signature changes. 6/8 to 5/8 to 7/8 -- a conductor's biggest challenge! A fine example of music for listeners with little regard to conductors or performers (even the ballet choreography is quirky).

Actually (not to be nitpicky) "Le Sacre du Printemps" is French for "The Rite of Spring".


But i digress.... :wink:

[uncloned]

here is a portion of the score (reduced to piano) that Harbinger is talking about

http://home.comcast.net/~cjv01/pwpimages/002.jpg


This diagram may be of interest to those curious as to how classical music fragmented in the 20th century - full spectrum from ultra control to almost none.

http://home.comcast.net/~cjv01/pwpimages/001.jpg