97% of pop is in 4/4... let’s look at the 3% that's not

[@camerondrew2766]

Now it's time to do Progressive Metal songs that ARE in 4/4

[@Slurpgerk]

Thats a good idea ngl

[@dcflake5645]

Was thinking about this just today. There's always two or three prog songs that are basicilly pop songs in 4/4 and those are usually the hit the band is known for. Then there's the rest of the album that are all 17 minute soundscapes that go through every key and a dozen time signatures and 200bpm parts and the casual fans will have no idea that's what the band is actually like. Yes comes to mind.

[@otto_jk]

Pull me under - Dream theater Sober - Tool

[@a12i9]

yes please, I'd watch that video

[@Qyro]

Would just be a list of Djent

[@Roflmaolinde]

I basically have no idea what you guys are talking about but I’m happy to be here!

[@0909agnes]

Same

[@readmore6042]

Fr just vibing here

[@valery898]

Same lol. I can’t really hear what he’s talking about but man is it interesting to listen to regardless!

[@panda4510]

I would look up a video on how to read time signatures. It’s very simple but I can’t imagine what this video sounds like without knowing what they mean😭

[@smr6141]

You a little confused, but you’ve got the spirit! Even if time signature isn’t the easiest to understand, the differences in beat/rhythm are still perceivable to non-musicians so I’m glad you got to vibe here ✨

[@juangiraldo2182]

Outkast with Hey Ya really hides that 2/4 really well.

[@jmorgan3977]

Someone Like You by Adele has a couple bars of 2/4 that are neatly inserted too.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

There is a reason some sources say it's in 22/4 or 11/2 Truly gives it a very different feel, no wonder it caught on.

[@alexfraley]

⁠@@HappyBeezerStudiosno one who knows what they’re talking about says in either of those time signatures. The phrase could be called 22 beats long but the time signatures are still 4/4 2/4 4/4 no matter how they wanna try to make it seem like some oddball signature.

[@keithklassen5320]

​@@alexfraleyIt's 4, 4, 4, 2. Not 4, 2, 4. And plenty of people who know what they're talking about say that it's in a *14*, but you wouldn't know that. Cuz you don't know what you're talking about. And that's ok, nobody knows what they're talking about all of the time. The trick is knowing that.

[@JakobConrad-v3u]

@@keithklassen5320no. 22/4 makes no sense whatsoever nor does 11/2

[@oscarramage95]

That’s dedication, listening to 960 songs for a 15 minute video

[@acefaceuk]

Many of which are probably not that enjoyable to listen to...

[@nobody48803]

you can look up the music notes and check it it seems. Still taking a long time.

[@talastra]

It's a piece of work, but you only need to find the transcriptions, and that's probably relatively fast. Might be a database of song time signatures too.

[@talastra]

Not taking anything away from the time involved regardless.

[@bartz0rt928]

@@acefaceuk They're Top 40 songs, they're probably fine. I'd imagine listening to all of them back-to-back would be really boring, though. Like only eating MacDonalds for a week.

[@maverator]

Once again Nickelback fearlessly pushing musical boundaries.

[@Testgeraeusch]

Chad did what no other man dared to do... date Avril... wait, what? Oh, yeah, the 00s were weird...

[@snowiiiiie]

​@@Testgeraeusch not at that time 😂😂😂 2000s Avril Lavigne was married to the singer from Sum 41, moving on from that to Nickelback was quite a shift in the zeitgeist between the 2000s and the 2010s

[@danielwalker5621]

Maybe it was Avril. Both "I'm With You" and "Breakaway" are Avril songs. Although they were married LONG after these songs.

[@johns950]

Want to see a show that only costs 45 cents? 50 Cent featuring Nickelback.

[@justincredible.]

Who?

[@larkermouse]

Differentiating a swung 4/4 and 12/8 by whether or not they use the second note in the triplet is actually a really succinct and straightforward way to put it. Gonna use that from now on.

[@kierankarlsson2524]

I would've counted these 12/8 songs as 4/4

[@Trubbas]

@@kierankarlsson2524 Me to, or maybe half of them as 6/8 - when the drums, guitars and bass strictly plays 4/4 or 6/8, a synth playing triplets isn't enough for me to get a 12/8 feel - Maybe Eila Baila Sola does but that's it

[@Hoozeewoozee]

Electric Feel by MGMT. Something felt oddly hypnotic about it. Years later I realized the feel really was electric - it’s in 6/4.

[@saltiestsiren]

oh shit i didn't know that

[@serenegenerally]

Oh that’s cool! Neat!

[@AndromanKaya]

Thanks for sharing!

[@bobxooolulugod9283]

i love that song

[@SuraiyaAtiyyah]

I js checked it out- you're right! it makes it sound so out of the ordinary and memorable. mgmt is great in general.

[@abhi22]

It's all just 1/1 with tempo changes

[@DynastieArtistique]

Underrated comment

[@chairsmissing]

If it was my video, I'd pin you.

[@UnicorniousEyes]

Genuinely one of the funniest things I've ever seen

[@razriri1467]

everything in life is 50/50 - it either happens or it doesnt

[@CoriusFoxus]

Ha!

[@azureviolet808]

This is the most effective time signature teaching tool that I've ever randomly encountered on the internet The differences between 3/4, 6/8, and 12/8 had always confused me, and having all these examples lined up really helps

[@michaelmiradezandband]

The worst part is there effectively is no difference. The differences are very semantic and really just come down to cultural norms/what is comfortable to read. Personally, I'd rather read 6/8 than 12/8, and I'd rather read 3/4 than 6/8. I prefer reading larger subdivisions at a faster tempo.

[@richarddoan9172]

The "shuffle era" makes you realize how much producers follow the trend.

[@lilwombat]

That's just how people are, they eat up a trend until they get bored and move on. It makes sense to jump on trends early it usually will work

[@valenvillanueva.musica]

The music always have a "trend", take look to the rockandroll/rockabilly style of the 50s and then the move to the beatlemania in the 60s

[@icedragon769]

All art has trends, it's not a bad thing, it's just how art works. Yes, even the niche genres. The prog metal that sells well today doesn't sound like the prog metal that sold well 10 years ago. To exist in a genre is to be in conversation with the genre, and if you're not incorporating the work of your contemporaries and trying new things, then you're not in conversation, you're just following a formula.

[@archimedessyracuse8752]

Ngl all those shuffle songs are bangers

[@isaiahromero9861]

I bet you think you're so smart for recognizing an obvious musical trend lmao, that's how art works buddy

[@frtzkng]

There should be an award for "Second Song in 7/4 that hit the Top 40" cuz the first one was probably _Solsbury Hill_ and that was decades ago

[@reineh3477]

Money by Pink Floyd was 4 years before Peter Gabriel. Spoonman (Soundgarden) from 1994 was also in 7/4.

[@Alfonso162008]

​@@Lorenzo_der_RitterDavid literally talked about Money at the end of the video. It didn't reach the top 40 best selling singles of that year.

[@monoscopes]

All you need is love is partly in 7/4. So the award for "Second Song in 7/4 that hit the Top 40" could go to Solsbury Hill.

[@reineh3477]

@@Alfonso162008 don't know who Lorenzo is but I wrote it before I knew it was top 40 "of the year". I believe same goes for Spooman which isn't a pop song and only was on the top 40 for a few weeks.

[@Alfonso162008]

@@reineh3477 I wasn't responding to you (in fact, I didn't even see your comment, we must've written ours more or less at the same time, because yours wasn't there when I wrote mine). My reply was to a guy who said that Money should also be in that list that the OP was talking about, and I was correcting him. It appears he now deleted his comment? 🤷‍♂️ either way, sorry if it caused you confusion.

[@YouKnowWhereYouWentWrong]

4/4 has it's place, yes. Mostly on the dance floor. But I DO love it when any bit of music goes a bit sideways.

[@LaplacianDalembertian]

+, so basically all non44 are coming from metal, alt-rock and alt-blues variations. Not POP :LUL: 😎

[@adamrichardson2227]

It's like when I bust the drum set out and wanna play Tool or something. I just gotta feel it because I can't do calculus that fast counting with time signatures :D

[@user-nb6zu3rk4f]

There are still basically 3 meters used (4/4, 3/4 and 6 or 12/8), it’s a shame that there isn’t a single top song with 5/8 or 7/8. I especially like 5/8, as in The Burning Babe by Sting

[@TechieindahHood]

There are some cool 3/4 EDM pieces but they’re definitely more the kind of music you listen to than dance to (unless you want to try and waltz to it 😂)

[@proxyprox]

I'm obsessed with weird time signatures and this channel is a treasure to me

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you 😊

[@cinnamon9390]

Did you love Symptom of Life by Willow Smith?

[@AlexDriscoll]

@@cinnamon9390 It's amazing and I'm so glad David put me onto it!

[@woomy7.7]

ω-3 has a lot of interesting time signatures. Maybe you can check them out

[@christineplaza3599]

Most unusual I know of is Money by Pink Floyd -> a 7/4. What are your favorite ?

[@Local_Hitman]

The dedication is there but the way you said "Ella baila sola" killed me.

[@OdaKa]

that was pretty funny

[@Lil_Mozart_V]

Came here to say this.

[@BernardoPatino]

there was an attempt

[@RERM001]

Never thought a zoomer pretending to be regio would be on this channel, but here we are.

[@evanhdez]

Hahahah, came straight to the comments once I heard him say it

[@digitalprty]

I’m a sucker for songs in 6/8. My favorite, by far. Love the flow.

[@connaeris8230]

I love Fallin, and yeah it has a way of flowing...

[@kaimanthelizardwizard1248]

Has this retro vibe that I can't explain

[@MedlifeCrisis]

This filled in so many blanks in my head about why certain musical eras ‘felt’ a certain way, without realising what I was noticing were the time time signatures. But the first time I remember noticing a non 4/4 beat in pop music was Artful Dodger’s ‘Do you think about me’ back in 2000, I guess it wasn’t big enough to make the top 40 for the year. Congrats on 1 million!

[@SuperFlashDriver]

Oh yeah, by the time the 2000s and 2010s came around, it became a standard instead of experimental like it used to in the 1990s and before. Hence why if you listen to 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s music, you'll notice that some songs follows the 4/4 measure, while others are vastly different. Hence why if you listen to heavy metal, rock, soul, R&B, or disco, you'll notice that some of the song pieces don't even stay in 4/4, while others do. It just depends on the BPM of the song at the end of the day.

[@TatsumiOga682]

Love your videos man, whens the next one coming

[@PaintballBoomer]

Can we get a Dr. Rohin Spotify playlist?

[@Professor_Utonium_]

Look up the trend with changing keys for the final verse. Used to be incredibly popular and all but died out (in pop music at the very least) around 2010 or so

[@julif7267]

​​@@Professor_Utonium_ people used to refer to the Barry Manilow Key Change because he used it in everything 😂

[@legionaireb]

So I took a public speaking course in college and one class I did a speech about music (including cello demonstrations) and there was one person in the class who ABSOLUTELY REFUSED to believe that time signatures other than 4/4 existed.

[@peggy_bobeggy]

i hate music non-believers

[@2112jonr]

MAGA by any chance ? 🙂

[@kloudi9618]

everything can be in 4/4 if you count wrong enough

[@Fractured_Unity]

@@kloudi9618Or use extremely convoluted notes 😂

[@DavidBennettPiano]

What gets me is when these non-believer types are adamant that nothing exists BUT 4/4. But why 4/4? Surely by their logic it may as well be 1/4 time signatures all around.

[@skyhighflying1525]

Love how this is a nostalgia trip as well as an interesting video learning about time.

[@nicolasbuitrago1801]

incredible how I swallowed the whole video not understanding any of what you said but enjoying the video

[@felixmarques]

You can't possibly have watched it and seen the beats counted before your very eyes without understanding what the video's saying.

[@nicolasbuitrago1801]

@@felixmarques yes i did

[@loveboat]

@@felixmarquesYes you can. Nothing special happens at the blue spots or whatever.

[@egyptiansushi]

@@felixmarques You are speaking as someone who already knew about time signatures (as am I do so I do understand the video). But I've tried to explain counting out 4/4 to pop songs to people with no music/dance training and they just cannot get it easily. They don't understand what's special to make something the beginning of a bar - they'd just as happily count to 1000 over an entire song than 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

[@victoria-gx8sb]

Literally same

[@als_pals]

In 2003 and current day, Avril Lavigne wasn't/isn't Chad Kroeger's wife. They married in 2013, divorced in 2015.

[@annagizziatlas62]

Thank you I thought I was going crazy

[@uhpenyen4291]

Or just omit that pointless information from the video. He doesn't do it to any other artist; and it doesn't add to the content of the video anyways.

[@flaxseedmilk]

yeah i hate that she was reduced to some man’s wife when she’s had a greater impact on pop culture

[@thewingedporpoise]

​@@flaxseedmilkliterally cannot think of who Chad Kroeger is, immediately know of Avril Lavigne

[@noahsdragonfruit]

​@@flaxseedmilk I don't even know that guy 😭 definitely a weird choice

[@MapacheGuevara]

13:18 seeing british people absolutely butcher spanish pronunciation will never not make me giggle

[@kijiji93]

It’s embarrassing. All he needed to do was google how to pronounce and it wouldn’t be cringe

[@ingongo25]

Ellah bayla sollah 😂😂😂😂

[@morriskaller3549]

Because Spanish doesn't have the same presence in the UK as it does in the US

[@coasternut3091]

To be fair, they do it with French and Italian as well. Ever heard them say "pasta"?

[@justjoannak]

​@@morriskaller3549 Don't you mean, US, instead of mentioning the UK twice

[@tabitha3861]

03:53 'Breakaway' by Kelly Clarkson was co-written by Avril Lavigne, so not too surprised that it and I'm With You are both on the list!

[@als_pals]

Not sure how cowritten it was, from what I know Avril Lavigne wrote it fully and gave it to Kelly Clarkson who changed the word snow to rain haha

[@buddhaforme]

@@als_palsKelly doesn’t have a writing credit on breakaway FYI

[@dcarbs2979]

Just shows how few can make hits away from 4/4. Barely one hit a year this century and 5 of those came from 2 families: Chad/Avril 3 together husband and wife, Alicia Keys had 2

[@DrAndyShick]

She also wrote I Do Not Hook Up

[@MarieLehleitner]

​@@dcarbs2979 Chad and Avril weren't together when those songs came out (and they're divorced now). They got married in 2013 and divorced in 2015.

[@DZ-DizzyDumm]

2:57 THANK YOU I'm so tired of people saying that Hey Ya is in 11/2, when it's much more intuitive to think of it in mixed meter

[@terdragontra8900]

The group of eleven half notes is important to its sound, and the subgroups of 4 are important too, so, really I just think time signatures are a pretty sloppy notation for how music is actually organized

[@UnkPoker1]

I came to the comments to note this…I’m not musically knowledgeable to know which is “correct” - but I’d only heard 11/2…

[@jrm2fla]

I am a drummer in a band and we love playing HeyYa… a real break from most of the beats we play… We also play Here Comes the Sun… another “palette cleanser”

[@DZ-DizzyDumm]

@@terdragontra8900 you're mistaken. The removed half note is what gives it its sound, not an 11 half note monstrosity stream

[@karlhendrikse]

Yep it's just an absolutely regular 4/4 song, except that half a bar (I would argue two and a half bars) is missing

[@BGDMusic]

0:11 i'm sorry to hear that

[@mrmeeseeks2534]

Sounds like hell to me

[@the6278]

Celeste player jumpscare

[@BGDMusic]

@@the6278 true

[@darth_autie_117]

​@@the6278 boo

[@Moonyaltchannel]

​@@BGDMusicnot really.

[@amyshaw893]

So TIL that i like songs in 12/8 haha. Didnt even realise that they were in a different time signature

[@eeph4eva]

I haven't watched the whole video yet, but so far most of the songs he listed as 12/8 are actually 4/4 with shuffle/swing feel like he said. Meaning they're not really in a different time signature, just a different feel (sos, i kissed a girl, the flo rida one). The most classic example of a proper 12/8 song is "somebody to love" by queen, so you can try to think of that as an example of the classic 12/8 sound. The main difference is that in the actual 4/4 songs, the 4 quarter beats are very punctuated and you can really feel the 4/4 pulse, whereas in more "proper" 12/8 songs the feeling is more flowing and might even sound closer to 6/8 than 4/4

[@northcub]

@@eeph4eva If each note is divided into 3 divisions instead of 2, then it's in 12/8. Somebody To Love is 6/8.

[@griffinhan-lalime4357]

@@eeph4evaOk so this is interesting. I also haven’t watched the whole video, but the first four songs David mentions (around 5:00 in), imo, all occupy varying positions on the spectrum of swung to shuffle. The Katy Perry one sounds the most swung and the Gwen Stefani one sounds the most shuffled; this is all getting me to think that the difference comes down to how much the middle triplet is or is not emphasized. If you can hear that middle triplet a lot in both the beat and the melody, it’s shuffled; if you mostly only detect notes on the first and third triplet, it’s swung.

[@griffinhan-lalime4357]

Ok yeah, he immediately goes over this, lol

[@wyv3rn1]

This is funny cause this video helped me realise that my least favourite songs through life have been in 12/8 timing lmao

[@Daniel00232]

me watching the entire video not understanding what is 4/4

[@mussy9387]

You can count most songs with a 1, 2, 3, 4. That is basically what 4/4 time is (very rough definition).

[@mrewan6221]

Usually: If the bottom number is 4, the top number is how many beats there are in a "bar", also called "measure" in some parts of the world. You can count from 1 up to the top number repeatedly, and is will sound right. If the bottom number is 8, divide the top number by 3 (this will nearly always be possible), That's how many beats there are. For example, for 6/8, because the bottom number is 8, the number of beats is the top number (6) divided by 3 (6÷3=2). You can count 1,2,1,2,1,2,1,2… and it will feel correct. There is a whole world of time signatures, counting, and rhythm beyind these simple rules, but for pop songs, this will get you most of the way.

[@sweetwhitechocolate483]

​@@mrewan6221how does 9/8 make sense then

[@mrewan6221]

@@sweetwhitechocolate483 It's 3 beats, each subdivided into 3 pulses. Its music theory name for it is Compound Triple time. Compound because each beat is divided into three pulses (rather than Simple, where each beat is divided into two pulses), and Triple, because there are three beats (rather than Duple - two beats, or Quadruple - four beats). The most famous song of all time in 9/8 is "Juse, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Bach. One of the songs in this video (the one in 3/4 with triplets) could have been written in 9/8.

[@mrewan6221]

@@sweetwhitechocolate483 It's three beats, with each beat divided into three pulses. The music theory name for this is Compound Triple time. Compound means the beat is divided into 3 (rather than Simple, where the beat is divided into 2). Triple means there are 3 beats, rather than Duple (which means 2 beats), or Quadruple (which means 4 beats). Here are some examples: Simple Duple: 2/4 "Mon-day Tues-day" Simple Triple: 3/4 "Or-ange Sil-ver Pur-ple" Simple Quadruple: 4/4 "Thir-ty For-ty Fif-ty Six-ty" Compound Duple: 6/8 "Se-ven-teen Se-ven-ty" Compound Triple: 9/8 "Ger-man-y I-tal-y Port-u-gal" Compound Quadruple: 12/8 "Hy-dro-gen He-li-um Lith-i-um Ni-tro-gen" Most pop songs are in 4/4. Four beats. The rest seem to be mostly 6/8, but if you merged each pair of bars, they'd be 12/8. Also four beats.

[@Kat-u1d]

Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson was also originally written by Avril Lavigne who was deeply disrespected in this video by being referred to merely as "chad krogers wife"

[@trinity6302]

Or maybe it was making a reference to the relationship between her and literally the artist he had just mentioned right before, I don't think it's that deep?

[@bernhardkrickl3567]

So, you can go from 4/4 to swung 4/4 to 12/8. Slowing 12/8 down you go to 6/8. By not distinguishing the 1 and 4 in 6/8 you arrive at 3/4. By introducing Swing again to 3/4 you go to 9/8. Now make a song like that and get it in the Top 40. :)

[@darksecret965]

Progressive Pop

[@NotJeff3]

not to mention you could keep the eighth note tempo and switch directly from any -/4 tempo to any -/8 tempo, so make a song that switches from 5/4 to 5/8, and make that a constant switch every measure.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Just recently had to put a song written in 3/4 into 4/4, and I just went over 12/8

[@lunyxappocalypse7071]

@@NotJeff3 Acceleration and deceleration helps alot with this. You can also do the same with variplaning in microtonalisim/xenharmony.

[@WayneD42]

I wish that Paramore's "That's What You Get" would have made the video. I love how the song switches around between 3/4 & 4/4, including having various instruments switch at different points, such as when the drums (& Hayley) are in 4/4 while the bass is still playing in 3/4. The intro is also a fun 2-count triplet followed by a 1-count drum break, making it sound like it's in an uneven 4 even though it's actually in 3. In my estimation Hayley always sings the verses in 4, even when at the start of the first verse the entire band is playing in 3.

[@courtneyf6041]

I’m with you 100% I was expecting to see it here. I even ended up googling how it charted (25!!)

[@TheDGomezzi]

He’s using year end lists for this, not top position on the charts. Otherwise, the video would be endless

[@nectarinedreams7208]

3/4 is almost as common as 4/4 so it's not as weird or interesting as the ones listed here. There are also quite a lot of instances in pop where a song switches from 4/4 to 3/4 for one bar or a small sequence, then back to 4/4.

[@TheDGomezzi]

@@nectarinedreams7208 "3/4 is almost as common as 4/4" Did you watch the video?

[@stevenkelly1689]

Yes that’s the one that immediately came to my mind

[@aepokkvulpex]

1:05 You gave me the best explanation I've ever heard of what distinguishes 6/8 time from 3/4, god thank you

[@adv4287]

Bro I’m a songwriter who’s taken multiple music theory courses and this video alone made me understand the usefulness of 12/8 lol

[@qfcbv]

12/8 is 4/4 but *exotic*

[@formerlyknownaseasrob]

12/8 sounds like it’s 4/4 but you wanna *spice it up* to really *make the song fun* (in most cases)

[@kitgodsey]

Seriously. I always wondered why we didn't just shift music down to 3/4 or 4/4 when I was in band but I never got a music theory explanation for most stuff we did

[@kloma5027]

Which is: useless. Just 4/4

[@jfinnweddle4629]

As a drummer I have never, ever seen or played 12:8, whereas being asked to play 4's in swing is common. Weird how different instrumentalists see tempo's differently.

[@andrewjpalla]

Fascinating video. I'm surprised because all the 12/8 songs mentioned do kind of "feel" similar despite me not knowing any of the musical theory behind it.

[@maevemilless4561]

I’m glad you mentioned tolerate it here, listening to songs in weird meters like 5/4 are really interesting and I remember trying so hard to figure out what the time signature was when I heard it for the first time😂

[@tamaspolyak5564]

You say SOS, I say Tainted Love.

[@edwardblair4096]

Thank you. I knew it was familiar, but I was drawing a blank. But it still has the problem of: is it really 12/8 or 4/4 with swing?

[@sweetpeachnectar]

and if you say right round, I say you spin me round (like a record). how even became that lazy cover a hit?

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

Yes, Soft Cell. And would be good to get a similar analysis to those 80s hits (or 90s or even 70s like PF's Money) just to get an idea if this 4/4 thing is as standard as it seems to have become.

[@josephwest124]

But it's also as reworked by Rihanna's people as "Tainted Love" was reworked by Marc Almond for Soft Cell from Gloria Jones's original version.

[@cnwd3295]

​@@sweetpeachnectar You can say Right Round is bad or in poor taste, but some effort went into changing the chorus from 4/4 to 12/8 (and adding new verses)

[@Petch85]

Would be cool with two more videos, "90's and 80's" and "70's and 60's". Then we could see if the % 4/4 time is changing over the decades.

[@Alfonso162008]

I honestly don't think it would change *that* much compared to now, at least not in the Top 40. It's still a neat idea, tho, it would be interesting to see a series of videos on this subject.

[@chrisrj9871]

There was also a ton of 12/8 in the 50s. I think that needs to be mentioned as well.

[@NeonBeeCat]

​@@chrisrj9871blame doowop and other ballads

[@NBrixH]

@@Alfonso162008no it definitely would, 6/8 and 12/8 were huge in the 50’s and 60’s especially in soul. Through the 70’s you get bands like Yes who were huge, so they gotta have some time signature changes here and there.

[@peddr.o]

grunge would have some

[@towerofspunk]

With the use of dotted and tied notes and triplets, you can write anything in any time signature. Pick the one that is easiest for the reader to interpret.

[@stevenjones8575]

I'm a 3/4 / 6/8 / 9/8 truther. Triplets for life.

[@iconofsin1043]

Saame

[@tkmfischerman2582]

You're not a truther yet. You still believe in the lies they tell you if you see 3/4 as a triplet. Join me in the in the sacred knowledge of the true 3/4, and the 3/8 everyone refers to as 3/4, together you and i could achieve great things

[@gonzoengineering4894]

2+2+2+3 gang rise up

[@ataraxianAscendant]

love it when a 9/8 song goes 12 12 12 123

[@MajorOctofuss]

Same. The way 6/8 swings back and forth like a pendulum calms me down lol

[@lydiareifsnyder9782]

Another song in Olivia Rodrigo's "Sour" that dabbles in Mixed Meter is "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back", where the verses are in 12/8, but the chorus immediately switches to 4/4. It wasn't released as a single, thus not showing up on this list.

[@allanmelvincomia2766]

Wow, can you tell me if there are others as well in GUTS?

[@Gingobingo]

Not only that, but All I Want is mixed too, although it is mostly in 4/4. It intersperses 3/4 measures occasionally between verses

[@CareyEvans]

@@allanmelvincomia2766 Happier is very 6/8, you can hear it easily by counting the piano arpeggios as they go up and down. GUTS was all 4/4 to start with, though Lacy has an unusual rhythm, but I think Scared of My Guitar is either 6/8 or just swung.

[@Trang283]

thank you for putting it into words! i could always hear the time change but couldn’t figure out exactly what the verses were

[@SMFAHgirl98]

Sooo happy you brought up From Eden. It's one of my favorite songs ever since it came out. The time signature and his blues style in general always felt so fresh to me, glad to know it's for good reason!

[@fluffyfluffykatz]

As a Mexican, I'm glad to see "Ella Baila Sola" in this list! Since it's a "corrido tumbado" and is therefore a Mexican regional song, it's worth mentioning that a lot of traditional Mexican music has this "huapango" style rhythm that can be read as either 3/4 or 6/8 (kind of like how "America" from West Side Story switches accented notes after each bar).

[@kane2742]

13:18 That might be the most English pronunciation of it I've ever heard, though! 🤣

[@luisleal7301]

​@@kane2742ele Beile sole

[@TimaiosGottfried]

​@@kane2742 That fucked me up I'm ngl. Would I have been drinking something, I'd have spat it out.

[@yaretzzii]

@@kane2742it honestly caught me off guard 😭😭

[@leviathan3630]

Ela Bayluh Soluh was insane 😂

[@myheartisomg17]

Wow. I'm just realizing that I apparently love 12/8 time signatures. Thank you for enlightening me.

[@Lyonsgg]

Valid opinion but 12/8 just should not be counted as meaningfully different from 4/4 like it's literally the same

[@EndlessNameless5]

​@@Lyonsgg I will always remember a comment from another video that said: "Every music is 4/4, but sometimes they have extra steps"

[@Schindlabua]

@@Lyonsgg That's not true generally speaking. Like yes all examples shown here are "just 4/4 with triplets" but that's not the only way to subdivide the 12 beats in a bar--listen to "Tool - Schism" for example which divides 12 beats into groups of 5 and 7 for a wonderfully psychedelic feel. What you're referring to is called compound meter. Your basic four-to-the-floor 4/4 is called the "simple quadruple" meter because it's just 4 beats. The shuffle style 12/8 music is "compund quadruple" because it's also four beats but divided into triplets. (For reference, 6/8 we most often subdivide into 123 123 or 12 12 12 which would be "compound duple" or "simple triple" respectively. And then anything else is referred to as complex meter)

[@Y38w]

Alot of people love fast paced music

[@huntermorgan4201]

Exactly what I wanted: analysis, examples, qualifications/other opinions, and no judgment. Well done! Also thanks for reminding me of From Eden; I adore that entire album

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊😊

[@esmockingjay9730]

I’m so glad From Eden got an honourable mention, I adore that song.

[@stationdisatrous647]

Funny that you mention "I'm With You" and "Breakaway". Avril Lavigne was the main writer of them both. So it makes a lot of sense that they both have that 6/8 verse style. Great video.

[@Peacebunnie]

Well TIL! 🎶

[@iandean1112]

"I'm With You" is so special to me

[@Jud7h]

🖤🖤

[@meghansullivan6812]

In with you was such a crazy blast from the past to hear

[@Smoke---]

I KNEW there was something different about “Hey Ya”! It’s always thrown me off every few bars 😂

[@MeredithHagan]

An important thing about “Breakaway” is that is was also written by Avril Lavigne.

[@mann882]

Bro the pronunciation of Ella Baila Sola has me ROLLING

[@rebeccarae2884]

Same. I had to pause the video I was laughing so hard 😂 Love this guy, but WOW that was a crazy pronunciation attempt

[@sc3k]

I HAD TO PAUSE BROOOOOO NOOOOOOOO

[@Thedjbj2]

Hearing that made me feel better about my own Spanish speaking skills lol.

[@meghansullivan6812]

Oh fuck I'm so ready for it bahahah

[@YoutubePez]

10:53 "Singin' from Ha"🎶🎵✨

[@hiitsme2427]

😂

[@donaldmilne5352]

I'd somehow not realised until now that Hero is riffing on Kiss From A Rose...

[@psicopato2460]

I only realized when reading your comment, damn

[@BaghaShams]

Holy crap. I was a huge fan of both those songs and never made that connection.

[@mandalorian_guy]

I had a similar revelation with Stacy's Mom which last year I learned interpolates "My Best Friends Girlfriend" & "Just What I Needed" from the Cars with a dash of "Mrs. Robinson" and "Jessie's Girl". Adam Schlesinger is a genius.

[@Scriptadiaboly]

And now I can't unhear it

[@zenverak]

Holy shit….

[@Testgeraeusch]

I had completely forgotten the techno-shuffle era; there was also this so-called big-room house trend around 2014 or so where the "drop" would often feature tripplets just like in the Peas song. Tsunami for example, and pretty much ever other big-room remix of a pop song would use two drops: the first being in 4/4 and then the second in 12/8 to change it a bit. Dubstep also often used triplets. As for specific songs: Awolnation - Sail. I guess it wasn't charting high enough? I felt somewhat big back then. Also, i find it funny that in the 10s it became fashionable to switch from 4/4 to 12/8 to "up the tempo". I know a few synthpop songs from the 80s and 90s that do the opposite; start in 12/8 and the got to 4/4 to gain momentum (Victory of Love by Alphaville and On the Other Side by Silke Bischoff) but it could be a coincidence that these two got stuck in my head; they are probably too far removed from pop.

[@alexhenderson3364]

It is my solemn obligation to go listen to Sail on repeat for the rest of the day anytime I see if brought up. Thank you, stranger!

[@CricketStyleJ]

Personal Jesus is in 12/8, and that was a hit song. Not top 40 of the year, though.

[@Testgeraeusch]

@@CricketStyleJ Master and Servat also goes to 12/8 in the extended mix after some time

[@silver6380]

Oh yeah, Sail is definitely 12/8! It was sort of a "hidden hit." I think it holds, or at least used to hold, some kind of record for longest time spent on the Billboard Hot 100? It just kind of hovered around #90 for like two years or something.

[@Testgeraeusch]

@@silver6380 This feels like one of the questions asked on a quizshow about the decade hosted in 2050 or something. "Which hit song stayed on hot100 for almost two years but never got bigger than 80?"

[@leonessbutterfly8813]

Woooowww! Those songs are timeless too! I would say the most different, Hey Ya is the most dynamic! This is a great video.

[@zenethra3391]

I needed this exact video in my life. Time signatures confound me, but I know there's something to the non-4/4 that sound more interesting.

[@gubblfisch350]

I understand that time signatures are subjective and I'm on board with almost all of your choices here. But I just can't think of Perfect by Ed Sheeran as a 12/8 song. To me it is in 6/8 and I'd even call it a really quick 3/4 or something similar rather than 12/8. The main reason is that it's definitely made to be danced to. It's probably one of the most danced to Viennese Waltz's in the world since it came out. And you just can't notate a Viennese Waltz in 12/8. Also I feel the "triplets" way more than I feel the overarching 4/4 beat, just as you pointed out.

[@really-quite-exhausted]

My thoughts exactly! A whole turn in Viennese Waltz is 6 steps i.e. 2 sets of triplets i.e. one bar of 6/8. It would feel really weird to need two rotations per bar, especially when you can't always guarantee an even number of rotations in any one section of your routine.

[@simonmalmo7008]

I would say a lot of these are completely wrong. Just playing triplets over 4/4 beat still makes it a 4/4 beat.

[@derekprice7229]

​@@simonmalmo7008My thoughts exactly lol

[@zacharybarkey5711]

I am a casual music enjoyer who barely plays or reads music, and this video is bloody brilliant at describing time signatures. For instance 12 8 vs 4 4..... at first I was like "mate that's literally just 4 4" but you explain so well that... sure, it COULD be written like that, but there are certain underlying feelings and tendencies that separate them. It's not just about what the meters can be written as, but how it makes the most sense to write them.

[@palpytine]

Just for giggles, can you do this for the 20 years *before* 2000?

[@fuckcensorship69]

Hell, just do 66 to 76. Best decade in music

[@xxPenjoxx]

Oh yes please, it would be interesting to see how diverse the percentages are

[@frameturtle]

are you sure they would be so diverse? ​@@xxPenjoxx

[@keithparker1346]

​@@xxPenjoxxI suspect it will not be significantly different

[@dcarbs2979]

I think we can safetly add: You Spin Me Round Like A Record (Dead Or Alive) and Tainted Love (Soft Cell), both sampled here. At least if using UK charts instead of US.

[@gianmarcocostanzo1380]

Always amazes me how I think all those as 3/4 but they are 6/8. I'm not surprised by the quantity of 12/8. I hear it everywhere and it's so catchy to my ears.

[@snerttt]

Wouldn't a 3/4 and 6/8 just be identical? This video confuses me as someone who knows nothing about music

[@dylankempthorne]

​@@snerttt 3/4 has 3 main pulses and 6/8 has 2 main pulses

[@SirBenjiful]

@@snertttThere are lots of cases where you could be justified in transcribing something either way. Different people can feel the strength of beats in a groove differently.

[@snerttt]

@@SirBenjiful ah I just read the Wikipedia, I originally interpreted it as some sort of fraction (indicating the divisions of a bar), but in reality, the top number is the length of the beats and the bottom is the amount per bar. Makes sense now

[@SirBenjiful]

@@snerttt Yeah, because there's no easy way to type out time signatures people often write them "fraction-style" even though they're not actually fractions and thinking of them that way can lead to confusion. Glad you sorted it out! P.S. It's actually the top number that's the number of beats & the bottom number that's the note value of each beat.

[@hermiona1147]

This explains so much why music sounded different after 2005

[@bryanvickers]

Seal had probably the biggest hit 3/4 song since the Baroque era when he released Kiss From A Rose. That song is incredible. The meter and the modal interchange in the chords, and some of the most fantastic melody writing and arranging in a pop song of the last 30 years.

[@MattNolanCustom]

Biggest hit 3/4 song in the UK since Mull of Kintyre, which it certainly surpasses (sorry Paul).

[@qfcbv]

Check out Shostakovich Waltz from Jazz Suite No. 2. Written circa 1960. Not much older

[@eRisforus]

I think Kiss From A Rose is 6/8.

[@bryanvickers]

@@eRisforus the intro and interludes are fully 3/4, the verses and choruses could be counted in either 3/4 or 6/8

[@eRisforus]

@@bryanvickers oh, you’re right. Some parts are 3/4. I guess it used mixed time signature then: 3/4 and 6/8.

[@EmmaMMusic]

Fallin’ is my go to song when I teach 6/8, I had no idea I was being so basic. Thanks for giving me some new choices!

[@aidencates3553]

Seeing how old these songs are really puts in perspective how fast time flies.

[@evanlee93]

Chad Kroeger and Avril Lavigne haven't been married in almost a decade

[@GayAnnabeth]

yeah lol

[@mueesli4745]

And I am pretty sure they were not married back then when those songs came out, so this isn't an excuse either.

[@mortazam.qassem5194]

Refering to an artist as someone's wife/husband is kinda disrespectful if the context doesn't call for it.

[@kittydaddy2023]

@@mortazam.qassem5194 Well, I'm for it then. They both deserve the rake

[@infuryify]

@@mortazam.qassem5194 It's a fun fact, which I and maybe other viewers enjoyed. There's nothing shameful in being married to someone, in my opinion.

[@aa23music]

Wow i actually didnt realise there would even be 3 percent of not 4/4 music in the 21st century charts lol

[@Testgeraeusch]

i was also a bit confused until i realized "oh, yeah, techno-shuffle and slow 6/8 ballads..."

[@Tedris4]

It helps that most of the ones that aren't are basically just 4/4 with triplets

[@aa23music]

@@Tedris4 for real

[@NeonBeeCat]

Kid named country ballads

[@keithparker1346]

It will be little different in other decades. There's a reason 4 4 is great

[@crazycoolbanana1631]

This may not be the most popular song, but Aijā, Latvia's song for Eurovision 2023, switched from 5/4 to 6/8 throughout the song. Auto jää by Antti Tuisku (ft. Käärijä) is also in 6/8.

[@tzoreehandler9163]

Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish starts on 4/4 and later shifts to 6/8.

[@taico5764]

And Hostage (another song by Eilish) is a 3/4+4/4 meter for the verses

[@specialtramp]

And I hear Bury a Friend as 12/8 shuffle beat

[@paulgeuecke764]

idontwannabeyouanymore is in 6/8

[@Lukas4182]

Great Video! The "12/8-phase" makes me want to learn more about the recent musical history.. lots of developments that often go unnoticed I assume

[@Novous]

March of the Pigs is one of my favorite non-4:4 songs. Many off-4:4 songs are really simple or subtle with their time signatures and simplistic/reserved musically due to artists lack of familiarity with them. March of the Pigs is in your face. It goes everywhere. Its not drawing in the lines, it's taking the pencil and shoving through the page. Three 7:8 bars then one 8:8 bar leading to "effectively one long 29/8" measure. Industrial metal with blues scale piano breakdowns. It's an absolutely wild mosh pit at a live concert. Also, there's actually a lot of SNES role-playing games from Japan that used wild and crazy patterns, often using "odd numbered measures (/7, /9, /11, etc)" to create a disjointed, repeating, machinery feel.

[@slidenaway]

What a great concept for a video!! Awesome to put actual stats behind this

[@dustylaperriere9019]

My 13 year old cat and dog are named Coheed and Cambria, respectively. They won't live forever, but like this band, they will always be in my heart ♥️

[@Kkubey]

This explains why I liked some songs I sometimes didn't really like otherwise - because they felt a bit different. It just gave me a different feeling I couldn't understand.

[@yusdrum91]

it's fantastic that every musician can feel time differently, me as a drummer, most of the song you mention here I feel it differently, like most of the 12/8 I feel (and counted) in 4 with triplets just like you said in the video, or like Alicia Keys' If I Ain't Got You, I count it as 6/8 because of drummer hit the snare in the 4th beat, so 6/8 is much more make sense to me as a drummer. I do completely understand about the transcription part though.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Turn a 4/4 song into a 2/4 song by playing the quarters as eights :D

[@David-iv6je]

6/8 is going to dominate. It's a pretty standard time that satisfies people's ability to follow 4 but adds some cool swing.

[@keithparker1346]

Interesting

[@eRisforus]

6/8 is also used a lot in Metal genre.

[@normalguy246]

recalling Breakaway in real time and then seeing it included just as i predicted was the most satisfied i have ever felt in my life

[@BubboPants]

You absolutely deserve a thumbs up for the research and effort put into this video. By specifically examining the top 40 pop songs of the last 24 years, It serves very well as a gateway for people who have no background in music theory to the wonderful world of rhythm and how it impacts musical experience. Exposure to what music is made of often lures people into the house of music creation, and that is a good thing. Kudos, David.

[@philiphumphrey1548]

The famous slow movement from Mozart's 21st piano concerto is in swung 4/4 (or 12/8). Although it's nominally a slow andante, the triplets give a relentless 200 beats per minute rhythm in the background that I find deeply unsettling. I notice the same effect in some pop songs.

[@321Lopper]

The appassionata is in 12/8 and the magic and challenge in performing is the relentless heartbeat of the piece which keeps the quiet and tumultuous parts together

[@BrunoBazilio99]

What is the cherry on the cake of Hey Ya is the intro, with the counting 1-2-3-4 but when he sings "4", it's actually the time "one" of the song, with all band entering. To me, the best pop song ever. Ps.: I remembered that this song has one more thing that I really like: I awalys thought that the sequence end was a Em chord, but it's not. Actually it uses a modal interchange, instead of using the Em that is in the key, it uses E, a chord out of the tonality.

[@Lefty7788tinkatolli]

In the 60s there was likely a surge of huge hits not in 4/4 because of the Beatles.

[@MyNameIsNeutron]

Yeah, I can't think of a single Beatles song in 4/4. They were basically a commercially successful Dream Theater.

[@_vixen_4504]

@@MyNameIsNeutron Please do not compare them to Dream Theater, they are not bad, however, they can not even be compared to the Beatles. It is the Beatles that we are talking about.

[@paperbackfilms3211]

​@@MyNameIsNeutron nah, The Beatles were quite experimental but never as technical or complex as Dream Theater.

[@isaiahneilguitaristofficia549]

@@MyNameIsNeutron I want to hold your hand 4/4, Help 4/4, In My Life 4/4, huge Beatle Fan however they did have plenty of songs “hits” in the top 40 that are in 4/4. Only a few were in odd time signature and the only one I can think of that is “Odd” is just the middle “Sun,Sun,Sun” part of “Here comes the sun” which besides that part is 4/4..

[@nstrug]

@@isaiahneilguitaristofficia549woosh….

[@paulinho_da_viola]

so much work for this video, omg. thank you! great video!

[@griselidis1]

For old folks' singalongs, you can't beat triple time...."Tulips from Amsterdam", "How much is that doggy in the window?", "On top of Old Smoky", "Daist Daisy", "Crusing Down the River", "Home on the Range", "i'm forever blowing bubbles". The list is endless. So, if you want to write a song for community singing, put it in 3 time.

[@TheZenomeProject]

No wonder I like Hozier. He's clearly the guy that's bringing musical complexity back to the mainstream.

[@keithparker1346]

By having 2 hits over a decade...😂

[@TheZenomeProject]

@@keithparker1346 Hozier is more an album artist than a singles artist, if you get my gist. 20000 people came to his headline show in Raleigh a few weeks ago, and normally it takes way more Billboard hits to get a crowd of that size to show up in my city. That's usually evidence of a deep discography.

[@keithparker1346]

@@TheZenomeProject nice try but you know Hozier is not really a big enough artist to change things

[@sawyer02dk]

​@@keithparker1346I'm looking for who asked

[@kj23000]

​@keithparker1346 those hits arent even the better songs he has (music and lyrics wise). Take me to Church is admittedly better that Too Sweet in terms of lyrics, but he has a really strong fanbase with popular songs. From Eden, Cherry Wine, Someone New from his first album were pretty popular. And now some more songs (Work Song, Like Real People Do, Arsonists Lullaby) are growing in popularity. His music is complex and his songwriting is elite, but having hits is not a measure of success, especially in a tiktok world. Like how Jacob Collier is considered a pioneer in music, and hes a musicians musician, but not a lot of people know about his songs.

[@JoshuaM141]

I really appreciate the video, and I understand your main language is probably english but, my god, you got me absolutely giggling by how you pronounced "Ella baila sola". Anyways, love the videos. Keep them up!

[@capital_factor]

This was also a good video to get reminded of some the good old classic pop songs from the 2000-2010 era, that have got forgotten by time.

[@meghansullivan6812]

Fr!!!

[@philb2972]

thank you for giving us 7/8 lovers something in the outro!

[@stevenking4617]

"Fallin" was actually the very first one I thought of, nice!

[@LudiosAnimations]

10:19 something also notable about the album this song is on. The sixth song, From Eden, is in 5/4 time. Thought it was something nice to mention for anyone who hadn’t seen the video from this same channel about songs in 5/4 time

[@Buzzy913]

Thank you for this; its so tough to find this stuff. Very well put together video. Also that ad segment was smooth and effective.

[@QueMusiQ]

5:59 these 12/8 times are almost definitely because of new synth arp settings, likely in something like ableton or logic.

[@rocketcello5354]

11:30 the point about slow 12/8 being a double 6/8 really makes sense to me, cause i play a decent bit of baroque cello, mostly Vivaldi's cello sonatas, and in some slower movements that are in 12/8, it's much easier to think of as in 6/8, with the bars being vague indicators of where different phrases start.

[@davidberesford7009]

I had to watch this to see if a specific mention was made of Money from Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, which has an unusual time signature and uses sounds of cash registers, originally played on a long loop of tape. I am glad that you included it!

[@katiukulele]

I love your deep dives, David! You've given me so many ideas for mash ups when you do these! Keep being amazing at what you create!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!!

[@katiukulele]

@@DavidBennettPiano You actually are credited (and actively so) for giving me the idea of my last short. "A Swift Relationship." Your video where you dove into the most common chords in Taylor Swift's songs had me decide to do a mash up, then I realized the songs I chose created the time line of a relationship. Your videos are amazing, educational, and really inspiring. Sorry I'm getting wordy now...

[@Hunnydew]

This is very helpful to visualize with notes thank you

[@treepoder]

P!NK - Walk Me Home is one that also stands out, it uses bars of 7/4, 6/4 and 4/4 and always catches my attention whenever it comes on, i thought would've been worth a mention!

[@WumBuh17]

I love hearing your 7/4 meter song in the end credits of your videos. Keep up the great work!!

[@bellaxo1115]

9:57 i also like the idea of interpreting take me to church as a mixed meter 4/4 and 2/4 combo in the verse! the pulse is a much faster this way, but it gives it an interesting feel. and of course back to 4/4 in the chorus! Not 100% functional for notating, but it completely changes the flow

[@shannonpincombe8485]

'Break Away' is excellent. Well sung and a great tune. 'Runaway' by The Corrs is another swung this way. Excellent.

[@dakotakeller1606]

I know you don't speak Spanish but that would be "ey ya" The word for she Ella baila sola= she dances alone Gave me a good laugh tho, love the video man

[@latech7671]

3:48 Interestingly enough, "Breakaway" was also written by Avril Lavigne 😉

[@elizabethfeuerbach5006]

That's so interesting. I thought 3/4 was gonna be the main time signature for the songs you mentioned. Songs like "Breakaway" and "Perfect" sounded like they were, but I had no idea they were in 6/8. Great video!

[@leikfroakies]

Functionally, there's little difference between 3/4, 6/8 and 12/8 except for the fact that 12/8 can also be a 4/4 song depending on how it's written

[@lounolastname4477]

Congratulations on 1 million, wow! Thank you for interesting and informative content, you have made music easier for me to understand x

[@_sinescape]

Thank you for putting a 7/8 song into the credits which then alternates between 7/8 and 8/8 in its chorus. Much appreciated.

[@rosiefay7283]

2:25 This felt like a cool relaxed 4 in a bar to me. Then you showed the rhythm, and I realised that I was counting each bar as a beat!

[@kjdude8765]

Same! Totally counted it as a slow 4/4