Ah, the time signature debate: 4/4, 2/2, or 2/4?
4/4 means four beats in the measure and the quarter note gets one beat. The way we talk about reels for dancing, this doesn’t work. But when many musicians
start talking about the phrase the call the 2nd & 4th beats are when dancers feet are in the air. Thus:
2/2 and 2/4 both describe a reel the way stepping with the beat correctly.
Cut time is 2/2, not 2/4. Think cut the 4s in 4/4 in half and you get 2/2. Cut time lets the shortest note be the eighth note. Writing out in 2/4 requires
the shortest note be a sixteenth.
Cut time eliminates the fear of the 16th note but—the reason I write out reels in 2/4 — 2/4 lets one use standard beaming grouping helping to see
the rhythmic structure of the measure. At least, it 2/4 makes it easier for a not fast reader like me to see the beat structure of a tune more readily. I believe I’m in the 20 or 25 percent of tune transcribers.
Cheers,
~Erik
From: Rich Goss via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 5, 2024 12:56 AM
To: Neal Schlein <nschlein@gmail.com>
Cc: Caller's discussion list <callers@sharedweight.net>
Subject: [Callers] Re: Resources to turn musicians into dance musicians?
It makes more sense if you think of a beat as a step.
Callers would think of each part (A1, A2, B1, B2) as 16 steps, or beats, each. 64 steps to a dance. Same with the music.
A reel is 4/4 or 2/4. 2/4 is cut time. A jig is 6/8.
Professional musicians would know that by looking at the music. Tempo is usually the challenge for a new-to-dance band. There is an app called LiveBPM the band can use to measure their tempo. The sweet spot for most dances is 116bpm
(beats per minute). The range is generally 108-120. For a one night stand, I would shoot for the low end.
If I’m working with a band with tempo issues, I will frequently pull up LiveBPM so they can see it and know what their tempo is. Sometimes they will simply self correct, sometimes not.
My 2 cents at 4am. Good discussion.
Rich Goss
Vancouver, WA or Austin, TX (depending on the time of year).
On Sep 4, 2024, at 6:27 PM, Neal Schlein via Contra Callers <contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote: