Help, need 6/4 time signature ideas

James Mol wrote:
Hi All,
One song I would like to play into garageband has 6/4 time - but 6/4 is not an option. Not having much theory under my belt, is there any way to get an equivalent using 12/8 or 3/4 and cutting or doubling the bpm?

Are you sure the song is 6/4? It may be 3/4 or 6/8.

In any case, two common alternatives would be those I mentioned above: 2 measures of 3/4 for the equivalent 1 measure of 6/4; or 6/8, where the eighth note gets the beat instead of the quarter note.

James Mol wrote:
Time Signature is 6 over 4.

Since you state that ": 2 measures of 3/4 for the equivalent 1 measure of 6/4" then the bpm could remain the same. Sound like something to try.

Thanks

You're welcome.

As long as whoever is playing it (/playing it in) doesn't emphasize the downbeat of each measure, but continues to feel it in 6/4 - every other measure if you're in 3/4 - there shouldn't be a problem.

Good luck!

James Mol wrote:
Sounds like a plan to me. It would be nice for GB to add 6/4 in the options.

Thanks for your insight

You're welcome... and I agree! It would be nice to have the 6/4 option (also, it would be nice if they included more Apple loops in 6/8)!

like some menu that I am overlooking in Garage Band?

yes, the GarageBand menu

6/4 I'm familiar with is really a 4/4 bar with a 2/4 bar either proceeding or following.The meter stress is different than with 6/8 which is a 3 meter.
6/4 is a duple meter..

6/8=123-456
6/4=1234-56
or
12-3456

Check out a few songs by The Beatles

Across the Universe,
in the verse ON "po-SESING " and caressing me... starts a 2/4 bar followed by a 4/4 ...btw there was a 5/4 bar before that!!!! John was the rhythm meister.

Here comes the Sun
(sun ,sun, sun ,here it ...(ON)"comes" starts the 4/4 bar on an A then a2/4 bar of E7

Jeff Beck
Blue Wind the intro section is all 6/4 = 4/4+ 2/4

There's many more that sound "labored" to me like all of Rush!!! hehehehhaw!:)

YES was also really slick about duple meter.


BP

I'd bet that Lennon, and maybe Harrison too, wrote those with no thought of time sigs. The songs came out that way and it was left to those transcribing them later to figure out the timing. Actually shows how brilliant they were; it was innate.

Which reminds me of some very early transcriptions of English folk songs in the 19th century taken from "untrained" (but very capable) singers by highly trained musicians.

The singers would hold notes for indeterminate amounts of time and phrasing would vary from verse to verse. The transcribers struggled to represent this in notation and ended up with transcriptions showing a 4/4 bar going to 9/8 on the third beat and suchlike 🙂

butchp wrote:
6/4 I'm familiar with is really a 4/4 bar with a 2/4 bar either proceeding or following.The meter stress is different than with 6/8 which is a 3 meter.

I agree that most 6/4 is usually 4/4 with a 2/4 bar either before or after.

But I'd say most music written in 6/8 is (felt) in 2, not 3. The emphasis for 6/8 is typically on 1 and 4: 1 (2, 3 ) 4 (5, 6), like 2 beats with 3 subdivisions each, which is why conductors typically conduct 6/8 in 2.

You're welcome, and... sounds like a cool song!