The Three Four Time Signature ( ^ )
This time signature is called the three four time signature. It tells you there are three beats in each bar. Three four time is also known as waltz time. There are three quarter notes in one bar of ^ time.
Up to this point, everything you have learned has been in * time. Most songs you play will be in * time, but occasionally you will encounter other time signatures. Three four time ( ^ ) is also based on quarter notes, but there are three beats per bar instead of four. A good way to get started with ^ time is to play the bass drum on the first beat of the bar and the hi hat with the left foot on beats two and three as demonstrated in the following example.
In the following example, try adding the ride cymbal and the snare drum. Remember to count as you play.
A basic swing beat in ^ time can be created by playing swung eighth notes on the second beat.
Here is a slightly more complex two bar pattern. Experiment and make up some of your own beats.
Don’t forget to try out some ^ beats using straight eighth notes as well as swung eighth notes.
The Twelve Eight Time Signature ( + )
This time signature is called the twelve eight time signature. It tells you there are twelve eighth note beats in each bar.
A bar of eighth notes in twelve eight time sounds the same as a bar of triplets in four four time. Although there are twelve individual beats which can be counted, twelve eight time is usually counted in four, as demonstrated in the following example.
Know Your Drums…
Pearl Firecracker Snare Drum
The Pearl Firecracker snare, available in both steel and poplar is smaller in diameter than many snares and designed to be tuned tightly. It can be described as being somewhere between a piccolo and regular snare. As its name implies it produces a loud explosive crack.
Here are some typical beats in twelve eight time.
One of the main reasons for using the twelve eight time signature instead of * is that it becomes easier to count when the eighth notes are subdivided. Since there is a number on each eighth note, sixteenth notes can be counted as + (and) as demonstrated in the following example.
Know Your Drums…
Drum Triggers
Drum triggers attach to conventional acoustic drums and connect to a processor with stored sounds which are activated when the drum is struck. They are used to blend the sounds of an acoustic kit with recorded sounds and also to trigger musical samples, giving many interesting possibilities. The most common use for triggers is to give a consistent bass drum sound in live settings.
The right hand part in this example shows one of the common ways that sixteenth notes are used in twelve eight time.
This example is notated exactly the same as the previous one, but the sixteenth notes are swung. Swinging sixteenth notes is common in twelve eight time.
Here is another twelve eight groove which makes use of swinging sixteenth notes. In the last part of the fill in bar 2, the left hand plays the snare while the right hand plays the floor tom.
Know Your Drums…
Shakers
Shakers come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes from small egg shakers to Latin and Central American maracas to the West African shekere. The one thing that they all have in common is that they produce their sound through small beads hitting a surface of the shaker. Most instruments like this require a lot of coordination and practice to get the beads moving in time and are capable of producing many more sounds than at first may be thought.
