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Question: As a guitarist how do I go about learning complex time signatures!?
What is good autodidactic method of teaching myself odd time signatures!. I find myself capable of playing songs that are in irregular time signatures but i'd like to know how to count it and really understand it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I don't know if this helps much but you know when you look at a time signature whether it is is 4/4 or 6/8 - you ask the question okay what is the top number telling me!? Answer how many beats are in the measure!. Then you ask your self what is the bottom number telling me - Answer: So if the top number is a four and the bottom a four it is saying there is Four beats in a measure quarter note gets the beat - if you know your basic note tree from there you should be able to figure any complicated rhythm out - If it gets difficult I would make a note tree to show the division of the beat so you know what the down beat of the note looks like and the up!. I am assuming you know what a note tree is!. If not it pretty much shows okay I have a quarter note how many eighth note go into 1 quarter note and breaks down as far as you need to know!. - Another thing Consider taking a tough section and writing the counting above the music that can sometimes help out a lot!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

If you download the trial version of Guitar Pro, and get TABS ( I can't believe I'm telling a guitarist to use TABs - that's like blasphemy because TABs are for monkey guitarists, but it's sadly the fastest way to learn Time Sigs) for songs that you know are compound, such as Dream Theater tracks for example!.

It will show you what time sig it's in, and you can slow it all right down, and use the metronome to really count it tightly, but it's generally pretty simple once you get into it!.

In fact, don't use TABs!. Get a cheap metronome from somewhere, set it to anything other than 4/4, and just work out riffs and make up sections in those time sigs!. You'll learn tonnes more that way, and faster!.

With things like 15/16 time, or 32/33, which seem daunting, it's all about breaking them up into managable chunks!. So if you see 15/16, you know that you can play it in 4/4 for 3 bars, making 12/16, and then 3/4 for the last bar, completing the 15/16 time signature!.

It is a bit tricky to start with, but persevere and you'll crack it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com