[Dixielandjazz] So many musicians, so little time

[David Richoux]

  I have been the Semiconductor (Drum Major) of the Los Trancos Woods  
Community Marching Band for many years. Conducting a 3/4 (or 6/8)  
song in "1" is a heck of a lot easier on the arm!

The hardest (and most interesting) time sigs for me are quite common  
in Eastern European bands - if you ever have a chance to hear a good  
"Balkan Brass" or Gypsy band (or recordings of the late Don Ellis  
Orchestra) you will hear improvisations in 13/8 or such. There is a  
growing world wide interest in this sort of music -
http://cocek.com/bands.html  is a good entry, also a Yahoogroup at:
  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/balkanbrass/

Dave Richoux

On Jun 30, 2007, at 11:17 AM, eupher dude wrote:

>
>
> PS   5/4 is just one MORE beat in the bar than 4/4   5 beats in the  
> bar, quarter note is one beat.   Time signatures are relatively  
> easy to decipher, if you forgt about "quarter note is one  
> beat".      In 6/8 time, or 12/8 or 9/8 or 7/8 or 5/8 or 1/8 or 3/8  
> or 11/8 or 2/8, the EIGHTH note gets the beat.  And yes, there is  
> such a thing as 3/16, 5/32, and 9/64.   The question should be  
> 'WHY', since that's getting a bit ridiculous.
> Secondary question comes up:  Why 6/8 instead of two bars of 3/4?   
> The feel is a little different, and it's a lot easier to read.
>
>