Sometimes is easier just to say… banana-apple-apple which tells you more than 7/4 does anyway.
Sedi Donka is a good one… 25/16 in groups of 7 - 7 - 11 or … Pints of lager, pints of lager, eighteen pints of lager
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“Three to Get Ready” is another good one, and simple to count out: “One two three, One two three, One two three four One two three four, ONE two three, One two three…” and so on, with two 3/4 bars and two 4/4 bars alternating just for the fun of it. The Time Out album is pure gold.
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I’ve always been partial to “Service with a Smile” by Happy the Man. It’s in 11/8. For such a weird time signature, the tune really flows nicely. Here’s a video of a guy playing along on drums.
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I don’t usually notice guys bodies but when that dancer pulls down his suspenders the first time I was floored. How are abs of steel showing through such a loose shirt? From neck down he must have been all muscle.
just tickle the ivory don’t bash it…
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Kelley deal (sister of Kim) wrote a song with normal time signature but with this crazy clapping pattern in the background. I suspect it may be a kids’ game or something. Took me a few minutes to figure out the pattern but it goes 1-1 2-1 2 3-1 2 3 4-1 2 3-1 2- etc
Kinda fun to clap along once you figure it out.
It also only just occurred to me that it was a huge loss to the world that he did not record a fifth in the series: “Dave Brubeck - Back In Time”.
I think “Time Further Out” is the only one I still have in my collection, but while all three are still good, they pale in comparison to the first one. “Time Changes” I remember has a side-long third-stream/classical piece that didn’t impress me back in my 20’s (but my tastes have changed so I should revisit).
I think the other classic in the Brubeck discography is “Jazz Impressions of Japan”, which has what I consider one of the prettiest songs in jazz.
Ha! There is an early one called “Brubeck Time” that is not time-signature related at all, just standards.
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All of the cuts on that album were outstanding in my opinion. One of my all-time favorites.
I can’t remember who said that about Brubeck, and I can’t find it through google. Actually one of the more benign (if still unfair, IMO) criticisms that he got during his lifetime.
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Were you my music director at my college radio station? To quote a note she wrote about a piece on a Morton Subotnick album: “Sounds like someone trapped inside a piano and using a sledgehammer to escape.”
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Brubeck studied with Darius Milhaud and you can hear his influence in Brubeck’s music.
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…someone has said it like the teacher in the movie ‘groundhog day’ haha
but I just said it as it sounded appropriate…
sorry if I misapprehended your mind
Can someone with an education in music explain to me why we force 7/4 onto this rather than just saying it’s 3.5/4? I can count the rhythm in seven if I accept that half of the time the beat is on the up, but it makes more sense to count it as “one, two, three and, one two three and…”
EDIT: OK, listening a few more times, I might have identified my error. If I count the claps as “one, two, three, and…” then there’s a longer than normal pause before the next “one”. But, if I count the claps as “ONE two THREE four FIVE SIX seven…” then the pattern seems to repeat without a pause. Is this the correct approach?
I’m counting the claps on 2, 4, 6, & 7. I think you may be missing the first beat, which is comparatively silent. When you hear the first clap, count it as “two” and go from there.
(one) TWO three FOUR five SIX SEVEN
one TWO three FOUR five SIX SEVEN
one TWO three FOUR five SIX SEVEN
one TWO three FOUR five SIX SEVEN
The dancers take the fun, giant steps on SIX SEVEN. And then when the piano really gets going, you’ll notice how each little piano phrase fits into a seven-beat measure.
In counting beats, the word “and” means the second half of one beat. To include “ands” in the count above, you’d have to count one through seven just as fast as before while quickly fitting in an “and” after each number.
one-an two-an three-an four-an five-an six-an svn’-an
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A most delightful video.
Take Five will forever remind me of my father.
Thank you!
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