finger-picker - Posted - 03/14/2021:  13:43:52

Is there a simple mathematical way to arrive at the BPM of an alternate time signature if, say, I’m playing at 50 BPM in 3/4 time? I have a piece that is in 9/8 time, is this just a matter of multiplying the BPM by 3? I feel like my high school Algebra teacher is laughing at me here.

Brian Murphy - Posted - 03/14/2021:  13:47:59

The metronome clicks on beats. It doesn't care how many there are in a measure. I might be misunderstanding the question.

finger-picker - Posted - 03/14/2021:  14:25:28

quote:

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Originally posted by Brian Murphy

The metronome clicks on beats. It doesn't care how many there are in a measure. I might be misunderstanding the question.

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OK so 50 BPM is 50 BPM regardless if I’m playing in 3/4, 4/4, 9/8, etc.? 

Brian Murphy - Posted - 03/14/2021:  15:15:04

As I understand what you are saying. The "numerator" is how many beats are in a measure. The "denominator" is what not gets a beat. A lot of bluegrass is in 2/4, but played in 16th notes. So every four sixteenth notes = a 1/4 beat. Think about a forward/backward roll. The 3-2-1-5 are four 16th notes. The 1-2-3-1 are the second. The beats are the 3 (in the first part) and the first 1 (in the second part). If you're thinking "Boom-Chick" in terms of guitar backup, the "Booms" are the beat. In 2/4 time there are two Booms.



Some people are thrown by emphasis. For example in 3/4 time, people think Ooom-Pa-Pa with the a heavy emphasis on the first. But all three are beats. Which ones you emphasize is a different issue.



I'm not great at explaining this, but think of it this way. The metronome only cares how many Booms or Ooom-Pa-Pa's there are per minute. It does not care what note gets the beat or how many beats are in a measure. It can't know that. It's just a stupid metronome. But with many (like the Matrix MR-800) you can set it to have a different sound every so many beats. Mine will do more of a chime on the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth beat. So if you are playing in 3/4 time, it will play Chime - Click - Click. Here is an online metronome where you can set the time signature and there are phone apps that will do the emphasis or different sound like the MR-800. metronomeonline.com/

Edited by - Brian Murphy on 03/14/2021 15:25:40

beegee - Posted - 03/14/2021:  16:47:54

Beats are beats. Time signatures indicate how many notes you divide a measure into. 3/4 means there are 3 beats per measure and a 1/4 note gets one beat. 2/4 means there are 2 beats per measure and a 1/2 note gets one beat, etc. Do not confuse meter with tempo. You can play a fast 3/4 time or a slow one.

finger-picker - Posted - 03/14/2021:  17:57:40

quote:

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Originally posted by beegee

Beats are beats. Time signatures indicate how many notes you divide a measure into. 3/4 means there are 3 beats per measure and a 1/4 note gets one beat. 2/4 means there are 2 beats per measure and a 1/2 note gets one beat, etc. Do not confuse meter with tempo. You can play a fast 3/4 time or a slow one.

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Ah yes I think I was thinking meter and tempo were inter-related but sounds like that’s not the case. 

banjoak - Posted - 03/15/2021:  04:28:00

quote:

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Originally posted by finger-picker

Is there a simple mathematical way to arrive at the BPM of an alternate time signature if, say, I’m playing at 50 BPM in 3/4 time? I have a piece that is in 9/8 time, is this just a matter of multiplying the BPM by 3? I feel like my high school Algebra teacher is laughing at me here.

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Shouldn't need to do any math.

3/4 is a simple meter;  pulse group felt in 3; with division of 2. -

TIck-and-Tack-and-Tock-and / TIck-and-Tack-and-Tock-and / ...

9/8 is a compound meter;  pulse group felt in 3; with division of 3. -

TIck-a-tee--Tack-a-tee-Tock-a-tee / TIck-a-tee-Tack-a-tee-Tock-a-tee / ...

The BPM is typically referring to those main pulses. Metronome is typically set to that.

Edited by - banjoak on 03/15/2021 04:31:00

thisoldman - Posted - 03/15/2021:  10:43:32

Here is an online metronome, with which you can set an accent note, like every 1st beat in 4/4 time.  metronome Like ring dit-dit-dit-ring-dit-dit-dit. Then you can set the tempo. 

banjoy - Posted - 03/22/2021:  03:20:01

quote:

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Originally posted by beegee

Beats are beats. Time signatures indicate how many notes you divide a measure into. 3/4 means there are 3 beats per measure and a 1/4 note gets one beat. 2/4 means there are 2 beats per measure and a 1/2 note gets one beat, etc. Do not confuse meter with tempo. You can play a fast 3/4 time or a slow one.

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Typo maybe? 2/4 means two beats per measure and 1/4 note gets the beat. The denominator always tells what kind of note receives the beat as noted above.

But to add to the answers, yes, there is no difference or adjustment to make to a metronome. However, SOME digital metronomes allow you to enter beat groupings, for example, 4/4 time, the first beat of four receives a different sound for emphasis. Set for 3/4 time, the first of three beats receives emphasis. But that's about it as far as metronomes go. A beat is a beat no matter the time signature (how many and what kind of notes receive the beat) or tempo (how fast those beats are).

beegee - Posted - 03/22/2021:  10:37:50

yes typo.

SpencerR - Posted - 04/08/2021:  19:00:03

Hi all,

I am brand new to the banjo but not brand new to music.

I want to try to clear up a couple things that would have sent my Music Theory professor apoplectic.

Time signatures are NOT fractions, there is no mathematical relationship between the two numbers. In fact while there is a connection between the two numbers it is better to think of them as separate entities.

The top number tells you how many beats are in a measure. So 2/4 is two beats, 4/4 is four beats 3/4 is three beats 3/8 (uncommon but legal) would be three beats with eighth notes getting the beat.

The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets the beat. so 1= whole note 2=half note 4=quarter note etc. So a 2/2 time signature would be two beats, with a half note representing the beat. 3/8 (uncommon but legal) would be three beats in a measure with eighth notes getting the beat.

In music that is triplets, we call that a compound (don't worry about this word) time signature, common compound time signatures are 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8. Here the top number of 6/8 indicates that there are 6 beats in a measure and the eighth note gets the beat.

But we don't tap our foot six beats in a 6/8 measure, we tap two beats you say. Correct, we group them into threes aurally by accenting the first note in every group of three, but if you take out the accent you could easily count 1 2 3 4 5 6 for each measure in a 6/8 time signature.