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Thanks SX poet
as for counting the last beat of the 1st bar which has an 8th with a 16th then a dotted 8th…it’s hard to explain in writing so just listen to how the lyric goes;
“so this-is xmas” the word “so” gets the 1st 8th note, the word “this” gets the 16th note, and the word “is” gets the dotted 8th.
now if you listen to how I played it or listen to Lennon singing it, it will make sense….I hope!
So the dot adds another quarter note or beat. Thanks Johnny.
to be precise the dot adds on half the value worked out.
1/8 + 1/16 + dotted 1/8
say the word
less-ter-shire or Da-D-Dah and swing it
so-this-is
Thanks Johnny
ultimately you want to count a 12/8 bar in 4; 1,2,3,4
so there’s 3 counts before the first note is played; 1,2,3 so-this-is-xmas
That sounds a bit easier John, getting worried then!
when you’re comfortable reading compound time the goal is still to count in 4.
each group of 3 8th notes is a quarter beat.
if we were to write the song out in 4/4 almost every beat would be a triplet and that would be silly so hence compound time.
the triplet feel is constant but we can (and should) still count in 4/4
Compound time is used a lot to swing a tune.
If you listen to music in 6/4 time you play a straight 1 2 3 4 5 6 ex just like you would play a Major C scale.
In compound time ex 6/8 time
if you played 1 2 3 4 5 6 what you would do is play the 1 and the 4 a lot louder than the 2,3,5,6 notes.
What you want is swinging movement back and forth between the 1 and 4, so the whole idea is set the metronome to play 2 beats to the bar (ie set it to 2/4).
If you need to play more compound time music, it is worth practicing a major scale in compound time
go up c-d-e f-g-a b-c-d e-f-g a-b-c go down c-b-a g-f-e d-c-b a-g-f e-d-c
play the 1st note of each triplet loud and softer on the 2nd and 3rd notes.
It’s a completely different way to play a major scale
a good 6/8 marching tune,
look at the music sheet and listen to how the triplets are played and the various combination of notes in each group
ex the groups of (1/4 and 1/8 notes), groups of (three 1/8 notes) etc
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