Counting Time Signature: 6/8

Counting time is an important part of playing with accuracy.  Without that accuracy your rhythm will suffer and the over all sound of your music will fall apart.  Learning good rhythm habits is as important as understanding the depths of music theory.  So pay attention to the pulse of your songs and learn to count your music out properly.

Counting in 6/8 Time

If the song you are playing is in the 6/8 time signature than you would count each measure or musical bar as follows.

…1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and… 1 and...

The “down” beat would be each number.

The “up” beat would be each “and”.

The strongest beat in every bar is the 1 beat.  If you don’t play any other beat you have to play the “1” if you expect others to follow your rhythm. 

The second strongest beat is the “4” beat.  It is not as strong as the “1” but it is stronger than the “2”, “3”,“5” and “6”.

The third strongest beats are the “2” and “5”.

The fourth strongest beats are the “3” and “6”.

I often think of this time signature as a rocking motion. The 1 thru 3 beats go left while the 4 thru 6 beats go right.  This helps me think of the rhythm and feel the pulse.

Feel vs. Counting

Some of you out there think that you can feel the pulse of the song and you don’t need to go any further.  I will make the suggestion that you test your theory and buy a metronome.  They are cheap (because everyone hates them so much) and will show you exactly how in accurate your rhythm is. 

They will help you learn how to count and improve your rhythm.  Just two weeks work with a metronome will strengthen your understanding of a songs groove so much that you will learn to love it.

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