# What time signature is this?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-signature-is-this/445723>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [April 17, 2008, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-signature-is-this/445723 "2008-04-17T13:59:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![percussion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@percussion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percussion)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-signature-is-this/445723/61 "2008-04-20T15:27:51Z")

</div>

The underline drum part in RD’d clip are playing in triplets

also, the lead drum frequently accents the dotted quarter

I also think that writing that in 4/4 using triplets gives the same idea as writing it in 12/8 which would of been divided the same way, 4 beats subdivided into triplets…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-signature-is-this/445723/62 "2008-04-20T18:02:49Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=Musicat]  
Note that the text on that page even suggests 6/8, but the notation examples are in 4/4. Using "3"s to force it to fit into a 4/4 framework only makes it harder to read or visualize.  
[/QUOTE]

But that’s one of the main points. Playing the 6/8 pattern in a 4/4 context. It’s a method book.

Further, I imagine that 9 times out of 10 a piece of music employing these sorts of grooves will be written in 4/4 and not 12/8 or 6/8, so doing everything in 12/8, say, will be doing a disservice to the student, ultimately.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-time-signature-is-this/445723.md?page=3)