Quote:
Originally Posted by stanron
It's too slow for 6/8. If you insist on the division by two then 6/4. The bottom number refers to the length of the beat. 6/8 is jig time. This is slower than standard waltz time. It's slightly faster than slow waltz time. Also all the beaming problems in scoring this go away when you move from 3/8 or 6/8 to 3/4 or 6/4. Also the half bar of 3/8 amidst the rest of the 6/8 disappears. Clarity trumps.
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Guess I need to respond to this -- for educational purposes
, and to reassure the OP that he hasn't made a horrible mistake.
First, this is a compound meter (2 groups of three) not a simple meter, there's no question about that. It's indicated by multiple elements in the music, such as the way the bass notes fall on the downbeat, and the kick/snare groove in the main song. Scoring this in simple meter (3) would simply be wrong.
Second, tempo is NOT a deciding factor when choosing between 6/8 and 6/4. Just because a jig is fast, doesn't mean everything in 6/8 is supposed to be fast. Look up "Loure" or "Siciliana" -- two SLOW dance forms that are also in 6/8 meter.
As for clarity? Actually, beaming is extremely helpful to the sight reader. Beaming in 6/8 gives visual cues to rhythm, syncopations, etc. that would be obscure in 6/4 (without beaming). Beaming helps you track the groups and accents -- helps to keep track of BOTH rhythmic layers in this compound meter. Most sight readers are going to find 6/8
easier to read than 6/4 -- precisely BECAUSE it's beamed. (Readers also tend to prefer 4/4 over 2/2. That's why even when a tune IS in 2/2, we score it as if it's in 4 and call it cut time.)