Super Time Ultra
Why 6/8 does not feel like 3/4
Keep six eighth notes at the same speed and change their grouping. Hear three groups of two become two groups of three.
Six eighth notes fit into a bar of 3/4. Six eighth notes also fit into a bar of 6/8. Counting the notes, on its own, does not tell you how the bar feels. Start the example in 3/4. You will hear three groups of two: ONE-and, TWO-and, THREE-and. Switch to 6/8 and hear two groups of three: ONE-and-a, TWO-and-a. The small notes keep the same spacing. Only the accents change.
What this tool includes
Listen for the larger steps
In 3/4, the usual main beat is a quarter note. Each of the three beats in the bar divides into two eighth notes. In 6/8, the usual main beat is a dotted quarter note. Each of the two beats divides into three eighth notes. That gives you two different ways to organize the same six small notes. The difference is easier to hear if you tap only on the strong clicks. Your tapping changes from three larger steps per bar to two, even though the example has not sped up or slowed down its eighth notes.
Be clear about what the tempo number means
The control in this comparison always shows quarter-note BPM. That is a fixed reference so that changing the grouping does not also change the speed of the little notes. At the displayed 80 BPM, the quarter-note interval is three-quarters of a second and each eighth note lasts three-eighths of a second. A 6/8 dotted-quarter beat contains three of those eighth notes. Its rate is therefore about 53.3 dotted-quarter beats per minute. The display is not claiming that both kinds of main beat happen 80 times a minute.
Try the change without the player
Count the six notes evenly and stress every second one. Then keep their speed steady while stressing every third one. You do not have to move your hands faster to change the grouping. When that feels clear, play a short phrase and make its accents agree with one grouping. Then try the other. Accent placement is a demonstration of meter, not a claim that every real piece in 3/4 or 6/8 must stress exactly these notes. Melody, harmony and phrasing also help a listener hear the larger pattern.
Practice tips
- The arithmetic in the tempo example is calculated from this player’s fixed quarter-note reference. In a score or rehearsal, check which note value the tempo marking refers to.