What Would a "Triple" Time Signature Be? | Q+A #56
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- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
- Also, thoughts on Talent vs. Skill in music, and cultural appropriation in music and why it's not really a bad thing.
Many thanks to Lewis Aitcheson, Zach F., Andrea Caputo, cecelilyklaine, Jesse, CanSpqr, and gh hg for their insightful questions!
Neato analysis of Meshuggah that talks about hypermeters more
urinieto.com/wp-content/upload...
Japanese musicians playing slip jigs
• Slip jig set (Hardiman...
ON NEGATIVE TIME SIGNATURES
• Negative Time Signatures
• On Negative Time Signa...
0:34 What would a "triple" time signature be in music?
2:42 Talent vs. skill?
4:47 Sungazer is awesome
5:03 You used a racial slur in your last video
6:17 I love your anti-clickbait
7:05 Don't give away the secrets!
8:21 Do US schools teach other kinds of music besides Western music?
9:17 Is Cultural Appropriation in music bad?
(⌐■_■)
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Peace,
Adam
A bunch of people mentioned that Jacob Collier already talked about triple time signatures in the second June Lee theory video, where the third number refers to the subdivision of the pulse, so 5/4/4 would be 4/4, but the quarter notes are divided into quintuplets - I can see that being useful too! We might even take it a step further - QUADRUPLE time signatures!
One of the extra numbers refers to the hypermeter, and the other refers to the subdivision. so 5/4/4/5 would be 5 measures of 4/4 subdivided into quintuplets.
This is totally stupid and impractical, but we're about the memes here, so enjoy.
Repetition legitimizes
Legitition repetimizes
Joel Gerhardt no.
Legitition repetimizes
Legitition repitemizes, also I love your videos nice job!
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
Repetition legitimizes
not if you ask all the Lego Star Wars fans on penguinz0's channel, it doesn't
no
Legetition repitimizes
@@gxexrxmxaxnx : Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho
X88X these are the lyrics of a wise man.
Stephen King said something like "talent is a dull knife. You have to put in the work to sharpen it ".
I've tried to read King, we must have different concepts of talent.
@Cachorro Velho " Any claims
that the drugs and alcohol are necessary to dull a finer sensibility are just the usual self-serving bullshit. I’ve heard alcoholic snowplow drivers make the same claim, that they drink to still the demons. It doesn’t matter if you’re James Jones, John Cheever, or a stewbum snoozing in Penn Station; for an addict, the right to the drink or drug of choice must be preserved at all costs. Hemingway and Fitzgerald didn’t drink because they were creative, alienated, or morally weak. They drank because it’s what alkies are wired up to do. Creative
people probably do run a greater risk of alcoholism and
addiction than those in some other jobs, but so what? We all look pretty much the same when we’re puking in the gutter."
-Stephen King also
+maxxramman
I don't think he was claiming it's necessary. I think he was referring to the fact that Stephen King wrote four books in under a year, fueled by tons of cocaine. Later, he couldn't remember the majority of what he wrote, so when people came asking for movie rights, he had to read them to remember what they were trying to buy!
Spot on!
👏🏾
When 21/32 with 9 note tuplets isn't enough j a z z
Y O U L I K E J A Z Z
🇮 🇱🇮🇰🇪 🇯🇦🇿🇿
21/32?
(Master of Puppets intensifies)
@@herpderpinson6117 woke
J A Z Z J A Z Z J A Z Z J A Z Z J A Z Z
I love how smoothly you tackled the racial slur and the cultural appropriation subjects
Yuval Nehemia Same, it was good.
Yes!
Yes! Otherwise I would have been so offended that I wouldn't have been able to comprehend the music analysis! But since I now know that he understands that "colored person" is very racist and "person of color" is very respectful, it is clear that he isn't a neo-nazi and his music analysis is now appreciable by me. This is VERY important in music!
@@Ryan-dg5mt well I dont want to hear a nazis opinion on music as they are fuckin dumb in at least one aspect of their thought process.
Edit: and their musical taste is shit
@@layladystay I don't know, WWII German military marches are pretty good, honestly.
But otherwise, that's a pretty narrow thing to say. What if someone you'd call a neo-nazi liked the same music as you? Would that mean that you also have bad taste?
Can't wait for your analysis of quadratic function time signatures!
What about triple algebraic time signature? Like 2a/6b/77f
Just wanna say - Thank you for all the consistently relevent, easily digestible and informative content, Adam. I wouldn't have started my journey into music theory in general if it weren't for you, so cheers from South Africa. Keep it up man. B A S S!
🅱🅰🆂🆂
Omg
I'm also from SA
🅱️🅰️💲💲
Hypermeter sounds like a pretty cool prog metal band name
Darkthony Progtano
Hyper anything does! First time I heard the word "hypervisor" I was like, whoa that's a rad word, I should call something that!
Hyperbola
@@pixiepandaplush Absolutely!! HYPER PIXIE PANDA PLUSH
Roxfox Not always, Hyperview is Title Fight’s worst album
Re: anti-clickbait, thank you for also not doing video titles in all caps!!!
I mean, Adam's videos are so infrequent and of such high quality that it doesn't need any type of eye-catching tricks to stand out among all the videos.
Or that awful thing of Capitalising The First Letter Of Every Word.
@@bordershader a.k.a. title case. It is a widely used convention in the English-speaking world.
@@ltu42 I know. I was taught to capitalise all but the small words (of, the, and, by etc.) so as not to impede the reader's eye. That seems to have turned into blanket capitalising of every word, which is cumbersome.
5:46 "People who say that words don't matter deny that words have any meaning at all, which is contrary to the idea of communication." THANK YOU! I've been dying to hear somebody succinctly put this into words.
As an Irishman, I'm thrilled to see Japanese people enjoying Irish music, and I'd like to think they'd enjoy seeing a western musician using the Kumoi and Hirajoshi scales. It's nice when people embrace different cultures.
Jacob Collier once talked about how he adds another number onto time signatures to show how each beat is subdivided. For example, 5/4/4 would be a normal bar of 4/4 with each beat divided into 5 equal subdivisions (quintuplets.) I'll edit this when I find the video he talks about it on.
June Lee interview part 2, 11 minute mark
Its the 2nd Jacob Collier interview of June Lee's channel at 15:10 :D
But that's the same as those "irrational" time signatures isn't it? So 5/4/4 for jacob collier would be something like 16/20 for Adam
@@justusotter5388 16/20 doesn't exist. Collier's notation helps if the whole song has 4/4 divided into quintuplets and therefore makes it easier to notate and read than 4 mesures of 5/16 since they go by so fast
Exactly! I remembered that aswell and to me it seems like a more useful way to use a tripple time signature than the hypermeter.
Thanks so much for the detailed answer. It's exactly what I wanted to hear (and honestly I kind of expected that from you). Keep it up man!
I love that you are very thoughtful to your approach on things that may be considered offensive to others. True in the end a word is just a tool, but the misuse of a tool is another thing entirely. You don't use a hammer to force someone to agree by wacking them over the head with it. Instead you build a bridge with that hammer and encourage them into a mutually equitable trade agreement.
Aylbdr Madison Agreed! It's so refreshing given how much outrage makes the news rather than measured response.
As a guitar instructor of nearly 30 years, I always find your videos inspiring. This is another information-rich video, and I love it! Thanks for your great content in general.
Hey Adam, I watch your videos all the time to refresh my thoughts on music and have learned so much from you, keep up the great work. Music theory in my opinion is the grammar and understanding of crafted rhetoric for music as it is analyzed and I think it’s so cool that you look to share the knowledge of music with others. Like a child learning to speak, it takes time and effort and the pain of not always being able to express, to learn how to express. Not being able to walk and learning how to stand on your own two feet. Feeling so uncomfortable and newly awkward holding a piece of wood and steel sting, to being able to create all the things we only ever heard outside ourselves or in our head. Your videos inspired my desire to learn and let what was within come out of myself. It’s all just a feeling and words and wiggles within the air. Writings on some comment board. Not too sure where I was going with this, but I just felt like sharing. Thanks fam.
I've loved the idea of what he called triple measure and I wrote a song that at one point is in 3/3/4, I called it "super waltz" and it has a really intense sound. Glad to see it discussed
Next do 3 bar phrases of 9/8 (subdivided as like a compound 3/4) but the 16th notes are swung in triplets
I miss the good ol’ days of
Allen Needy’s Vase Linens
Aaron Nandy’s Bait & Tackle....
Angelo Nodule’s Mercantile....
Andrew Nestle's Beef Lasagna
Congestion and Dancer Time with a Denim Wheelie
Arlan Nelly’s Brass Legends
I love you even more the way you handled "opportunities can lead to some advantages for people" and "your words matter." Thank you for not being headstrong/ignorant about important issues like that, especially when that's not a focus of your channel
Love your channel and your approach to music, theoretical experiments and novations which could add something new to the modern music
All content of your channel covers the immense amount of information that can be useful to absolutely every not indifferent and inquisitive musician. Keep doing what you're doing, Adam
Practicing hard is important, but it’s more important to practice correctly and effectively. I have wasted countless hours practicing badly, or even learning things incorrectly and then having to unlearn and relearn. So work hard - but make sure you are working effectively.
I know teachers who say that for every time you play something wrong, you have to play it correctly at least twice: your time playing correctly should exceed your time playing incorrectly. Many players - including me for a long time - do the opposite. I would hack at something 50 times, get it right once or twice and think “Ok, now I’ve got it”. Then I’d blow it in performance (surprise!).
Hard work is essential, but it can be counterproductive if misapplied, and unlearning is much harder than learning. (Try unlearning your native language, for example).
*YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THE SLOWEST MUSIC IS?!??*
Lmaoo
@@amj.composer 12 EXTREMELY SLOW PIECES OF MUSIC! #7 WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!!!
Read this as he said it lmao
*GONE WRONG!*
0.000000001 BPM?!?
I have also noticed and appreciate the anti-clickbait. It's a mark of honesty that's especially necessary on videos above 10 minutes in length, and I can honestly say I wouldn't have found your channel without it-and that would suck.
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your videos. It is always amazing to see how little I know or even know I don't know.
I am of Romani descent, and we all call ourselves Gypsies. It's not a derogatory term, it's what we call ourselves and what we take pride in. Like you said, context is what's important when using such a word, because anything can be used as an insult.
I speak for American Gypsies when I say we much prefer the term "Gypsy" over "Romani" because we never use that word! And it's always nice to hear people talk about us in videos or movies, even if it's being used offensively we laugh about it! You officially have the G-word pass from me, especially since you were speaking about the music genre :D
I have a similar relationship with the word "Polack". My family used it so much to refer to ourselves that I didn't even know it had a pejorative meaning until I was in high school, when I got in trouble for using it (to describe me).
However, I am at least two or three generations removed from a time real polish racism was a thing. Now, I'm just basically another white american. The idea of racial prejudice against me is so abstracted that it fails to have a real emotional meaning. So I don't care if people use the term "Polock" or tell polish jokes.
However, I'm positive that it'd be different if there _was_ still a strong anti-Polish sentiment, and I actually felt threatened by it.
@@dalegaliniak607 Polak is the polish word for a polish person, though, an autonym. Not quite the same as "gypsy," which is an abbreviations of "Egyptians" from other languages, or "tsigani", coming from Byzantyne Greek for "untouchable". These were originally slurs.
I've personally never heard it used as an insult or slur so that part of the video confused me. Ive only ever had to use gypsy for the music style as well, as there's no one of that decent in my circle of people I know in Louisiana.
It isn't really your permission to give. It's used pejoratively by people still, and maybe other people of your culture won't like this. Maybe nobody you know.
Do you speak for your entire culture? Does your entire culture know that you are the one who calls the shots?
It's fine to offer individual permission, but trying to offer blanket permission like this never really makes sense.
@@blarghblargh I completely disagree. Words are just words, he wasn't using it in an insulting way. I don't think this kind of fear does anyone any good. Perhaps if it was a fresh wound, but the word and people have been around for a long time now, and he was talking about the genre that is literally called "Gypsy music".
Also, there is not and probably never will be a representative body for gypsies! We are spread around the world and have all adapted different cultures. I think this time it all comes down to if you want to use it or not.
"Knowledge rationing" happens in many jobs as well. People fear if they teach someone how to do a job, then the person doing said job becomes less valued
wouldn't it be more that they can take your job and now you have a problem
Another reason for "Knowledge rationing", especially by a teacher, is that some things are better learnt the hard way. I would describe watching videos like yours as a form of "passive learning" I'm gaining knowledge, but you have jumped me past all the hard work of thinking stuff through and going down deadends, and distilling the information down into a concise and engaging script. It's a joy to watch, but to be quite honest, I will forget most of it by next week. However if I have to figure it out from first principles (ie "active learning"), do all the dead ends and distilling my self. That knowledge will end up much more ingrained in my mind than any youtube video will every be able to achieve. I think my distilled(ish) point here is giving someone the question and the answer is satisfying, but not always as useful as forcing them to walk the road in between.
"Sharing as much knowledge as you possibly can" = gratitude once again, man!
"Thank you for coming to my Ted talk"
why are you fucking literally everywhere
Ily Justin Y.
Love u
Justin Y. We meet once again
why do i see you everywhere
Stolen from Reddit but Pirates of the Caribbean is just the Licc in 12/8
I don't hear it
Great. Now I can't unheard it
This actually blew my mind
Screw you! You've ruined PoC for me forever! Now I can't hear the theme without getting hit with a flood of meme thoughts.
Oh my God it really is
Hey Adam! I appreciate the thoughtfulness you put into these videos. Keep it up!
Hey Adam, great video as always! One thing that popped into my head was about your comment about "knowledge rationing" in science. I'm a musician and also a science communicator by day job. There's a concept in a lot of science education called the "lie-to-children." For example, we first learn that electrons are little balls that circle an atom like little moons. If we go on in our physics/chemistry education, we then learn that they're actually quantum waves that form particular resonance forms* around atoms. The first can be thought of as an oversimplification, yes, but if we're looking at it more bluntly it's basically a lie to make things easier to understand! On a less prosaic level, of course, there's all kind of interpersonal shittiness in the science world that leads to people hoarding results or techniques to prevent other people from using them or taking credit. So I think this question of when and how to share knowledge, and what kind of knowledge to share, is a really interesting topic across a lot of fields!
* On a super geeky note, I'm wondering if you've ever made a video about how the same techniques that are used to analyze music at a sound level, like Fourier analysis, are also used to analyze the underlying nature of reality? There's a ton of really interesting stuff there without getting too much into woo-woo "we're all vibrations, man!" nonsense. Even though we, uh, kind of are.
Jacob Collier suggests using triple time signatures to denote embedded polyrhythmic tuplets... such as 3/6/4 is a bar of 6/4 but each single quarter note is subdivided into 3.
What you described is just subdivisions? It could be a convenient shorthand, but again, new notation...
@@israellai i was writing a reply to you but then noticed that adam neely already basically wrote what i just wrote and commented on his own video so i deleted my comment and wrote this instead
8:40 my dad is the head of my school's music department and takes the stance that it's more important to understand music from around the world in the current musical world because of how it influences music throughout history and he believes that listening to Eurocentric music should be secondary in music education. In the first 3 years of high school, we all study gamelan, Latin American and African music before we study classical music and so far, it has led to the best results in the UK for a state school. I think this approach would work so much better in the curriculum as a whole.
I really appreciate you putting the answer to the title right in the beginning of the video.
He always chooses the last question in a way so that he can have a dramatic finish. Very nice!!
Hey Adam, Quick Question for you next Q&A: How long does it take you to find questions for Q&A's?
When will your TED talk be online?
Ted talks
But does Ted listen???
@@dariocaporuscio8701 I bet Ted listens when money talks
@@DjCzubaka I think Ted talks and his children listen to the story of how he met their mother for like 9 season
guys can somebody actually answer this question seriously?
I'm pretty sure it already is
I’ve been calling Meshuggah’s rhythms run-ons until you educated me about hypermeter. God bless you sir
Adam, fascinating video as always. Really appreciated your "treading lightly" and thoughtfulness around use of words. I loved your example around the term "people of color" vs. "colored people" especially, because... in South Africa, post-apartheid, the term "colored people" is used (with no concerns that I could tell when I was there) to describe people who are neither black nor white but are so-called "mixed". My hosts when I stayed in South Africa (near Capetown) were black and took great delight in seeing me shudder every time people were referred to as "colored". Context really does mean so much. Thanks for the great work you do.
Just wanted to add that an exception to the Western-centric academic agenda that most American music institutions have is California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, CA. Taking world music ensembles and classes is required no matter your degree, and there are world music majors as well, who spend very little time playing any conventional western music. Just thought it was worth sharing!
What do they define as World Music? I know what it was when I worked in a record store. It was largely western artists using the grab bag approach, often mixing influences from several continents. (Think Mickey Hart) And then a few Peruvian pan pipe bands and some Indian Raga.
Could a world music major focus on an Indonesian musical subculture? Or traditional Persian music?
@@Markle2k I think the term "world music" has become quite obsolete. Apart from a section at the record store which gets more and more subdivision nowadays. I think with internet, and especially youtube, people are coming to understand that it is not "the world vs western culture".
I've studied instruments and music form all around the globe for the last 20 years, still, I never heard myself say I was playing "world music".
Let's be the change and show common people the nuances of music from everywhere.
7:30 We already have that, it's called 'journals'.
Congrats on your new release! Vol 2 sounds so awesome.
Hey Adam,
I’m in my first year in a college level jazz studies program. I’ve played guitar for now over 10 years, as well as bass. I’ve primarily been a rock guitarist during that time and didn’t focus a whole lot on music theory until middle school and high school where i played bass in school jazz ensembles and orchestra bands for several school musicals. I have always considered guitar to be my primary instrument because I have so much fun playing it and creating with it, but my lack of theory knowledge has taken a toll and I feel really behind a lot of my peers, some who haven’t played for nearly as long as I have. There are times where I’ve considered almost dropping out to pursue music with my own band and do things in my own way, but I also know that I need to have a good theory basis and wide musical vocabulary to play/write/arrange music professionally. Music is what I know I want to do for the rest of my life, and my question is how does one stay motivated to keep pursuing music at the professional level? I love music theory and I have a deep respect for those who are fluent in it, but no matter what I always feel like I’m falling behind.
Adam watches Tom Scott? Nice
I had the same thought!
My biggest takeaway from this video!
*nice*
Damn I missed it
Hey Adam, could you makes your video “Writing in Sibelius for 10 minutes” into a series or at least an expanded topic video on notation software and how it’s best used to make music in this growing world of internet composers? I ask this not only for others by myself because I have been jumping from free trials with Dorico and Musescore trying to find my way but not really knowing what to do and which software is best. The input would help.
I agree, it would be really nice
That's a complex question. In my opinion Finale and Sibelius are both rubbish. Where are the arpeggios? The scales? The modes? Not to mention the slurs that are impossible to drag where you want. Then there's the issue of it becoming a crutch; I uninstalled Finale after 2 years because its chord checker was like a life jacket and I needed to make chords myself. But for some people these programs might do what they want. I just wouldn't pay for this garbage. Finale also decided to become the world's copyright police in its latest version. It removed pdf score scanning.
I currently use Sibelius (as does Adam Neely to the best of my knowledge). It's a very professional program, but has a LOT of wonky bits to it. It takes a little while to get used to it, but once you do, the workflow can be quite fast and you can create very professional looking scores (as in, many professional publishers use Sibelius).
However, if I were starting out learning nowadays, I'd go with Dorico. It's much more logically laid out and it quickly becoming favored by many musicians. It's created by many of the original creators of Sibelius, but since it's a new project, it's clear they're considering UI a lot more with Dorico. I imagine by the end of 2019 or shortly thereafter Dorico will be able to do almost anything Finale or Sibelius can do.
If money is an issue, though, go for Musescore, I'd say. Many things drive me crazy about Musescore, but there's a lot of support for it and it's free. If you know what you're doing, you can get pretty good results that will suffice for the majority of musicians.
Your points on information rationing and cultural appropriation were excellently articulated and much appreciated. Good stuff as always!
Hey Adam, I'm still a newbie when it comes to music, but I wanted to say that I appreciate the non-clickbait titles :D
Other classical musics (other than the western) are often taught under Ethnomusicology. Problem of course is that that's musicology, which is more a cultural study than a music study.
For next Q and A: I play trumpet and I'm currently teaching myself guitar. I enjoy improvising (on trumpet), as jazz is one of my favorite genres. However, when I improvise I find myself using patterns I've used before on previous improv sessions. No one wants to hear the same thing twice. How do I get out of this "loop" of repetition?
Honestly the use of patterns isnt a bad thing, once you know what you're comfortable with try to create slight variations to the idea. Say instead of playing a major pentatonic lick you know really well off the 1 of a maj7 chord, try playing it transposed off the 2 (making a lydian sound) or off the 5 (accenting the maj7th). You can play the same lick in a million different ways and sometimes it leads to the creation of a completely new musical idea.
Say I'm using a blues scale. Bb for example. I seem to do the same thing over and over when i start. It just seems over-repetitive if you get what I mean.
@@LavenderTownWasTaken basically when I use a particular scale I seem to use the same patterns on that particular scale everytime.
On guitar it becomes very easy to fall into the “boxes” and noodle around in those boxes. Rather than doing this, when you’re practicing your improvisation, try to include all 12 musical notes while still remaining in a certain key. Finding “outside” tones that you like the sound of will help you find your own voice on the instrument, and sometimes the “wrong” note can sound stylish and really cool if you play it with conviction and purpose. Of course, learning new phrases, songs and styles will revolutionize your playing without you even realizing it. If you dive into the blues or jazz or rock or whatever, over time your ear will naturally gravitate toward the phrases that are common in these genres. Anyways, it’s a fun journey so enjoy the process!
@@unchien2069 thanks to both of you this advice will definitely help
my dude always gets a like. i appreciate what you do and think that you're an important figure in the world of music. sungazer is pretty sick and i look forward to your future ventures
Great stuff. One of the best ones so far. Thanks so much for the awesome free content. Gonna do that Patreon thing soon. :)
Jacob Collier has an inverse answer to the title question of this video that he addresses in an interview (interview part 2 i think?), where the 3rd number in the time signature denotes the number of subdivisions of each note, which i think is more interesting and versatile than using it for hypermeasures. there's a ton of interesting ways to nest tuplets that are very easy to express using that kind of time signature
yeah, it's the June Lee interview part 2, he starts talking about it around 11 minutes in, specifically he uses it as a way to notate the idea of "playing drunk" that you talked about recently, making more loose feeling grooves with unusual subdivisions.
It seems easier and more standard to just write in "with a septuplet drunk-feel" over the staff. There's no need to propose new notation for a fairly obscure/idiosyncratic way of performing.
Hey Adam, I hope you read this. Re your last section, specifically: "is it wrong to learn another language? of course it isn't, no" - you really shouldn't write that off so strongly as a question. Language is a part of culture, and embeds cultural knowledge. Perceptions of ownership of knowledge differ between cultures - in some (specifically I'm thinking a few Native American nations), knowledge may be seen as being owned, exclusive to either the nation as a whole or select individuals within it, and language is not an exception. As far as I understand, the Jemez don't allow their language to be written; I am also aware (although I forget which community it was) of a linguist developing a dictionary that the community refused to allow publication of, not wanting the language shared.
A concrete example of problems that can arise: there have been cases of traditional knowledge (often encoded in language) about the local environment being exploited by outsiders for e.g. resource plundering, or the creation of patents for traditional medicines. A great article on examples and attempts to explicitly protect exclusive knowledge is in the Pacific Standard ("Breaking a Sacred Trust: On the Exploitation of Traditional Native Knowledge": psmag.com/social-justice/breaking-a-sacred-trust). There's also a small section on the ownership of linguistic and ethnographic data in this paper by Keren Rice (rnld.org/sites/default/files/Rice%202006.pdf). I could go on, but hopefully you get the gist.
I am happy to see that at the end you emphasized the importance of seeing if there is a power dynamic at play - certainly in these cases there is, and language cannot be considered as neutral if it is also cultural.
Lmfao what a pathetic world you live in.
@@Va11idus He's literally just saying there's cultures that don't want their language to be shared
You are literally knowledge rationing
I finally checked out Sungazer after many many months of meaning to. This is excellent, thanks for the tunes man!
Hey Adam. I wanted to share some insight on how I think people make music, relating to what Andrea Caputo said in the second question. When I hear people talk about “natural talent” in a certain person, I always find one thing to be constant. Said person with “talent” is always very good at audiating (like you say), or coming up with meaningful notes/chords/melodies that are more than just letting your fingers play. I believe this is the only thing that separates musicians, and it can often be overlooked. Most people start the learning process from listening, replicating, and more importantly, feeling what they are hearing/playing. But I believe that the “feeling” aspect of this can be lost over time due to a narrow focus on other aspects of playing. Ive seen musicians that sound really proficient, with great technique (and some not so much) that just don’t make you feel much with their playing. In my mind, audiation is the translation of our “feeling the music”, to new notes inside our head, which we then produce out our fingertips to create more music. 🔊➖🖤➖🧠🎶➖✊🎸 But, ya know that’s just how I’ve made sense of it in my mind. Keep making good videos
What do you think about distortion heavy bass players like cliff Burton and Lemmy?
Sucks
@@agustinares930 could you elaborate?
@@Faulheit asking someone that made a one word reply to elaborate is funny :) In answer to your question I think distortion heavy bass players are great as long as their playing style fits the music/song and the other musicians/fans like it. Your question is so loose that the one word answer is appropriate, btw. You should refine your question if you want more detailed answers.( I am giving this detail because I found your and Agustins interaction very funny and wanted to make myself a part of it). To elaborate, the two examples you give are of successful musicians - what ANYONE will think is "fair play to them, they found a style they liked and it worked for them". If you are asking about ALL bass players in the WORLD that are "distortion heavy" your question becomes slightly different.. in regard to those players I think they should explore the enormous world of "no distortion" bass. You really should define "distortion heavy"... do you mean "too much distortion at a given time" or do you mean "too regular use of distortion in general".
Now, perhaps you see what I saw and the joke that Agustin reply is actually perfect. Is Agustin telling you they think the two players suck? The "style" sucks"? Or that YOUR QUESTION "Sucks"
@Faulheit Seconded. I would love to hear what he thinks of Cliff Burton, at least. (Lemmy, less so.)
One word negative answers are usually the tool of the troll. If the person had any meaning or feeling behind what they were saying they would have said it in the initial reply. "I don't like it because you lose some of the tone of the bass" or "I feel like it muddies the foundation of the music" or something. Personally, I love the sound of it as a rule, but it if it doesn't fit the song or the style that the band is playing it can sound 'forced', if that makes sense. I've heard live bands where a distorted bass just kinda deadens the rest of the band and makes it all kinda meh.
Hey Adam, what are your opinions on Musescore? Why do you use Sibelius?
He's said before (don't remember which vid exactly) that he's cool with musescore, and likes it, but he's got the experience and workflow down pat in Sibelius and doesn't see the need to change.
Also he'd still have to keep Sibelius to be able to access his back catalog, so it's not like he'd be getting rid of anything. The file formats of notation software are horribly proprietary (except MuseScore) and not even consistent across versions, so if you switch programs, you leave behind everything you did in the old one.
I've even had a problem trying to open Encore 4 created files in Encore 5. Basically, it crashes the program. The only workaround is to install Encore 4.5 -- which only runs on 32-bit Windows, it'll crash and burn on 64-bit Windows -- so you can open all your files and immediately save them again. After that, Encore 5 will be able to successfully read them in. So sometimes notation software isn't even backward compatible with _itself,_ let alone cross-platform.
I have an Acer Aspire One from 2009 in my closet for times like these. I don't have 32-bit Windows installed anywhere else.
@Logan Searle Wat. It's popular, sure, but it still uses a proprietary save format by default. MusicXML is the industry standard format for sheet music.
Knowledge rationing is something done by many professions and artists. This is changing to some extent with moves to explain things more in plain language by excellent CZcamsrs like yourself.
You answer touchy questions with finesse. Salute!
When is the next Musica Analytica!?
Adam! Question for your next Q&A: I'm coming up to 17 years old, and I'm struggling with listening to music, Everything I listen to is either boring or becomes boring very quickly (after just a couple times listening through) to me. I was wondering if you've either experienced this or have some advice, even just some suggestions for new stuff to listen to would be helpful, I love everything you do, keep it up :)
I have this problem as well. I used to be fascinated and entranced by the music I listen to, now everything just goes right through me and doesn't do much. Adam please help lol
What stuff have you listened to already?
@@bordershader I've tried lots, I loved and still love brass big band music (but Im struggling to find more of that, my favourite is probably youngblood brass band) I've also tried people like snarky puppy and vulfpeck... I'm a fan of all the classic 1920s jazz and also like classical music xx
@@Pheobe2424 it's sometimes so hard to find new stuff, my background is punk/grunge/alt and I got a bit trapped in the past and wanted to know what new directions were afoot. So I bounced around CZcams and Amazon "if you like that you'll probably like this..." kind of thing and unlocked masses of new stuff. Spent £100 on new music in an afternoon eek! Lol But that was a while ago and I think the algorithms have changed.
I'm also very into American country/folk and I got a whole new load of directions from reading the credits and finding collaborators. If you don't have the CDs, Wikipedia can be quite good (to a point).
Also now I'm really into the historical context of music. Like the whole Beat scene in 50s/60s America, tempered by (arguably, of course) the Civil Rights movement, post-war whoopee, McCarthyism... this can then lead into finding out who else was on the scene outside of jazz (political folk music, for instance)... looking at the lineage of UK punk is embedded in British politics of the 70s and has seen me develop a new respect not just for those who found a voice and spoke out (in this case, reggae, ska, British folk as well as punk) but also of the history of my own country.
Finally I think nothing of connecting with the musicians themselves, asking who their influences are, what they would recommend. Obvs that's not so easy if you're into 20s stuff, but are there specialist record shops or modern-day musicians you can track down? I'm actually reviving much of my interest through discussions with a lecturer on a masters programme at one of our local universities!
Good luck, anyway. I'm in my 40s and it's taken me too long to really start pulling together all these different strands; where would I be if I'd done this in my 20s? I'm excited for you!
thanks, @@bordershader there's allot to work with there :)
You're such a kind and thoughtful person, Adam. Even though your channel is focused on music, you have a way of making it far more relevant and appealing to human experience and life than just "here are some cool theory nuggets. Enjoy and practice."
I hope if we ever get the chance to meet I can buy you a beverage of your choice and pick your brain a bit. Cheers!
Hey Adam. Thanks for pinpointing Adam Neely on the screen at 0:01. Helped tremendously
5:17 "Context does matter when using certain words" This. Intent also matters. If someone doesn't mean to be hateful or derogatory, they're not being hateful or derogatory.
Here's a case of "the joke is on me": I learned in high school Spanish class that "I don't understand" is expressed as "no comprendo." But on a trip to Mexico, when the kids in the street talked too fast, I told them "no comprendo," which put them in convulsive laughter. I later learned that on the street, "I don't understand" is expressed as "no entiendo"; "no comprendo" means "I'm an idiot"! No offense taken.
5:21 it’s okay we’ve all read to kill a mockingbird in 8th grade
I didn’t
9th grade for me
Great Q&A. Definitely sharing with my students. Thank too for putting so much great info out there.
Dear Mr. Neely,
I have recently began regularly watching your
content and have been mesmerised by the deep explorations you make into
the world of music. Having watched this Q&A video, I have been
inspired by your embracement of music from different cultural
backgrounds. For example, in this video, when you replied to a turkish member of this community, you seemed very open to new material concerning music from other parts of the world. Although, specifically, you asked for potential material about turkish music from him, I feel I also have an interesting suggestion.
As such, I would like to inform you about Byzantine Music,
the purely phonetic liturgical chant used by the Greek Orthodox Church.
Due to its peculiar nature, complex music theory (!) and exotic notation system, I
believe it is worth investigating, as a way to discover 'alternative'
forms of music from a non-western viewpoint.
I do have one question, however. Having looked at your CZcams channel's 'About' section, I have found out that the e-mail is labeled as one for business enquiries only. Therefore, I would kindly like to ask you if this e-mail account is available for more generic purposes, or if you have another account for communication with members of your community, as I already have material I would love to send.
I am at the very beginning of my musical journey and have lots to learn, but I enjoy the passion you put into the content you make and, in the end of it all, I would love to contribute if you, of course, are interested.
Kind Regards,
Andreas
Appropriation, to my uses, isn't copying or borrowing but instead the obfuscation of the original by the copy. E.g. Japanese whiskey isn't cultural appropriation of the Irish because everyone knows which is the copy and that the original exists. If the copy's identity overrides the original to the point that either the original is unknown or not recognized as genuine, that's appropriation. And I think that aligns nicely with the concept of harm. I would say similar to the difference between piracy and theft, only the latter is subtractive.
Knowledge rationing can be beneficial in situations where knowledge gained out of order can be harmful. E.g. a beginning math student may be denied a calculator (temporarily) to be forced to endure an educational constraint. If someone hands you all at once abag of musical bird parts you might be tempted to construct your peacock by the feathers first and not on top of well-placed bones.
Japanese whisky (they don't use the "e") distilleries long ago sent their crews to Scotland to train with the masters. Those masters knew exactly what they were going to do with it, which was to make a Japanese whisky reminiscent of and also _as good as_ the original. By the look of reviews in the last 10 or 15 years, I'd have to say they succeeded.
The notion of "teaching the fundamentals" is a valid one for those who are actually going deeper into the field, but it's kinda overkill for someone who just wants to strum three chord songs by a campfire, or needs to know how to make change for a dollar.
Hey Adam. I'm a guitarist and i want to record some stuff on my own. I want there to be fretless bass on it. Should i get into playing bass on a fretted or a fretless bass?
@@AspynDotZip I really love the sound of fretless tho
@@SkeledroMan If that sound inspires you, go for it, but be prepared to have to work harder to get something recorded, because having to intonate is an additional thing to pay attention to.
Best music CZcamsr out there, definitely improved blue Monday for me!
I like how this one was a lot more about the culture of music than usual, interesting vid Adam!
When you see folks blatantly roll their eyes at anything dealing with notion of cultural appropriation there should be a red flag. It's not that it doesn't exist. As you said, you don't want to use the advantages of your cultural background to take credit for the traditions of others. I recently played guitar with along with a Konnakkol video. Konnakkol is the art of performing percussion syllables vocally in South Indian Carnatic music and is a rich tradition that is thousands of years old. I did NOT want to tread lightly. I sought approval from the original authors of the video and spent over a 100 hours on it, like literally, watch it. I think it's quite apparent I approached their tradition with respect and dignity, along with utter awe and reverence. It's such a rich and beautiful language, I don't think I could have executed the video in the way I did without this underlying respect. Yes I believe cultural appropriation is real. No I don't think that means we should live on isolated, cultural islands.
Cultural appropriation is a rather young debate. So it still needs time to be digested and nuanced. There are an infinite number of exceptions. Indian music is a good example of the will to share a culture with the world, but still keep a certain control and credit over it. You cannot just go and decide to make a career in carnatic music. The years of work, studies and the efforts it takes to play even the simplest composition acts as a natural filter over appropriation. It's like you cannot evolve in this path without facing the idea of respect for the masters and for the culture. Quite the opposite of what's happening with yoga in America.
@@hnatyshyn I had a friend that wanted to get some cheap tablas from Musiciansfriend for a hundred bucks to use for a part on his record. My other friend who studied percussion in Brazil made a poignant observation that I won't ever forget. With that tradition there's 'no shallow end of the pool'. It's a very distinct sound that's underrepresented in western music and people dedicate their whole lives to it. My friend decided against what he ultimately realized would be a fast food version of tabla playing in favor of hiring one a few the tabla players around. Yes you could buy cheap tablas and beat on them, and yes people will roll their eyes at you and accuse of presenting something with a rich history you know nothing about.
@@koalanights Boy! Some lesson there. I whish someday those ideas will be part of the basic musical education. Instruments of other culture for one thing, but also the big scam of cheap instruments dealers. I feel lucky I always had nice opportunity and guidance to get many decent instruments at good price.
Adam, much respect on your response to the Gypsy comment. In today's day and age, it can sometimes be hard to know what is actually appropriate; many people would have responded defensively rather than thoughtfully. It seems that, regardless of modern dialogue on the use of Gypsy to refer to Romani people, genres of music (e.g. Gypsy jazz) and other genre descriptors are seen as historical and inoffensive. I appreciate your willingness to stick to your guns (because you'd actually put some thought into it) and also the value you put into communicating thoughtfully.
The talent thing was really cool. I agree with you on that. I think a lot of people just accept that some people are talented at certain things and others just aren't, but the truth is that talent itself has to be built. Some people will be better at building those talents, whether it be through innate advantages or just who they are, but it's not like you can just have talent. People who are good at singing sounded WAY worse 10 years ago. The reason they sound good is because they've practiced singing. They may not have put in an actual conscious effort to practice, but any time they have sung has helped. Whether it be trying to sing songs and match complicated runs, or improving vibrato, or anything else. The only innate part of that is that some people may naturally have bigger vocal ranges, and unfortunately, this isn't necessarily something that we can change. For instruments, this point is especially true. Because of the internet, most instruments, barring classical instruments, are actually incredibly easy to learn, contrary to popular belief. Literally anyone can buy an acoustic guitar for 150$ off amazon, make a list of about 5-10 songs they like that utilize guitar, and google either tabs or chords for those. They can just google chord formations too, which are laid out in fairly intuitive diagrams most of the time. You can become competent at guitar surprisingly quickly. Now, of course, there's more you need to actually become truly good at guitar. You need to know certain techniques and postures, you need to start learning what notes are where on the fretboard, and of course, and this goes for any instrument, you should probably invest in gaining a basic understanding of music theory, like the scale, what notes and chords sound good in what keys and why, and what notes make up certain chords. (For guitar, if you're learning chords for more complicated songs, particularly on the jazz, RNB, or soul sides, I'd spend time in learning what modifies a chord. For example, what notes do you have to add or remove from an F chord to make it an Fmaj7? Theoretically, you'd take the highest note of the chord and replace it with the major 7th, but what is a major 7th, what note is it, and where is it on the fretboard? And how does Fmaj7 connect to other chords and back to the F chord? Well, on guitar, Fmaj7 is effectively moving the D string's 2nd fretted position down a string, so now the G string is fretted at the first fret, keeping the A string at the 3rd fret, and taking away the barre, leaving the B and high E strings open. Also, I'm not discriminating against genres or anything, just from my experience, rock and pop don't tend to really use very complicated chords. At least not nearly to the same degree.) Now, some people will innately be able to pick up guitar faster. Maybe they have better focus, more time, or they're starting with an understanding that's greater than yours. Maybe, they have more dexterous fingers, longer fingers, or bigger hands, which makes playing chords, switching to chords, and putting your fingers in the correct position easier. Maybe they like a genre that's easier to learn than the genre you're trying to play. But ultimately, it IS possible to get to that level.
I subscribe to what I call the "rubber band" theory of talent. Some of us are born with smaller rubber bands, some with bigger rubber bands. It's the work and effort you put into improving your craft that stretches the "rubber band." I feel this is true for any complex skill, not just music.
It's a good idea to learn a different language or play a different region of music because it brooding your chance to be good. Let's say for example if you want to learn how to speak Spanish you can start at high school or in college. My point is Adam is why can't a band student in the U.S learn more than just one region of music.
@@LavenderTownWasTaken thanks for that info I'm a 14-year-old boy
I have a lot to learn...
I love the discussion of “talent” and that hard work is actually needed. I play guitar and am getting back into piano. I feel a little discouraged playing it sometimes and just wish I was “naturally good.” But hard work is just as satisfying and no one should stop music just because of the hours it takes. This was very interesting.
Saw this on Facebook: The legendary cellist Pablo Casals was asked why he continued to practice at age 90.
"Because I think I'm making progress," he replied.
Love the new Sungazer Adam! Thanks for the insights and knowledge as well!
Gypsy is not a slur.Some don't like being called Roma people and refer to themselves as gypsies (cigani),others don't like being called that.In general it doesn't even matter. I'm from Bulgaria :D
No, white elitist Americans say you're offended… just accept it.
Christ it's like everything is a slur nowadays. People need to not be so fucking offended at every little thing.
Gypsy is a misnomer (they don't come from Egypt), but I'd say there are two things that could make it a slur:
1) It's not a term the people use to describe themselves (caveat, unless it was established as a slur then reappropriated, see also "queer" and "N.... Ope, I'm not going to type that one out.
2) It is used exclusively or primarily to refer to those people in a derogatory manner
It's a fact that most of the population in the Balkan don't like them for the majority. It could be used to describe them in a bad way but often it's justified with their deeds. There are exceptions of course but so is the case with all people. In general I'm sick of SJW. Thank you
@@InverseAgonist I'm not a native English speaker but where I'm from, in Spain, gypsy is not derogatory... is the only word to describe the culture of those people who btw are as Spanish as myself, have shape our culture and no longer have anything to do with Romanians
how about complex time signatures like (3+2i)/pi*i
all notes are now played on a graph instead of a staff
Well how about sqrt(-1) / sqrt(-1)?
First time listening to Sungazer right now... Holy frack, this rips!! Kudos, Adam!
I am a danish musician, who has spend some time in Turkey studying the Turkish Makam music, and my teacher recommended me the book "Turkish Music Makam Guide" by Murat Aydemir and Erman Dirikcan. That is a very good introduction including 2 CDs for referencing the different makams.
"Imagine if there was knowledge rationing in science"
Paid academic journal access.
and this is why all scientists still pray to the gods of Sci-Hub and Library Genesis...
1:40 Why would you need this when phrase markings exist? This “problem” was solved hundreds of years ago.
That was my first thought as well. Maybe because phrase markings can clutter up the page?
One advantage would be that it removes the ambiguity between slurs and phrases.
+FacePomagranate
So does making the phrase markings a little more squared off than slurs. Or, slurs should look like a wet noodle, and phrase marks should look like bent paperclips.
Besides, if it's that ambiguous, i'll usually throw in double bars between phrases just to make it really clear without cluttering the page.
i feel like our professors at UMBC did a considerable amount of the "knowledge rationing" and it left some oddly pervasive negativity in how I viewed myself and others as musicians. It's absolutely detrimental to the art as a whole, thank you for addressing it :D
That watermark saying "please don't take this out of context" is genius, I'm not sure why more people don't do it. It's such a simple solution to keeping media outlets from doing exactly that!
Adam is wrong about talent. Many musicians (like me) who have very little talent, but who worked hard to get to where they are don't like believing in natural aptitude, because there is a perception that it diminishes all the work you've put in through school to get the outcomes you have. It doesn't, but that's irrelevant. Upbringing is a good argument, but my dad's a classical musician, who showed me notation flashcards before he showed me words. I've played piano from 4 and moved to bass from 14 and I've played enthusiastically my whole life since doing my best to understand music. Fifteen years later, I'm 'good' at bass purely because when you've been doing something forever, you become competent, but I still understand music pretty poorly, and nobody I know would ever refer to me as talented. Compare this to the sax player in my band who works as a tradesperson, doesn't have a single musical family member, and can just feel his instrument in ways I can't follow. He is (and I say this out of love) not a high-intellect person, but he can reproduce anything he hears on his intrument. Any riff, any hook, and he can improvise super-well for someone with zero theory at all other than knowing what key something is in. He never plays his instrument at home either, because he doesn't have to. How can it be possible that he and I both have the same talent level? It just doesn't add up.
Some people are objectively more talented than others. It doesn't mean some people can't do music, but it does mean some people are going to excel faster than others.
I suggest you give a second listening of what Adam says about talent. Although I don't agree 100%, it seems there are some subtleties you may have missed.
For example, he says "is talent necessary for success?". Well, first we have to define success. Let's say it is success in a career in music, I would say that even if music is natural for somebody doesn't mean he or she has the skills to manage a career (booking gigs, organize rehearsals, do p.r, choosing repertoire, writing charts, etc)
IMO, aptitude in music is an irrelevant idea. It is more a package deal of many aptitudes. Like dexterity, capacity to learn a language, memory skills, passion, patience, imagination, tenacity, communication, organization, ear perception, curiosity, and so on. These are all skills or aptitude that we have at a certain degree that will mostly define what kind of musician we can become. So being good at music is not limited to being good on your instrument. Let's say you put those in order of importance (for you), you may see it differently, see better what are your strengths. For example, if your best aptitude is organization, then you are better than many to put up a band and setup a tour, and that is a rare talent among musicians. My point is, it all depends on what you compare yourself to in terms of aptitudes. If you compare yourself with the virtuose part of music, you are probably screwed. Learn how to make profit of your strengths, this is where you will get the more satisfaction for being a musician.
Personally, I have not much difficulty learning an instrument. The result is I work less, I am a lazy musician. So when it is time to get gigs, I am often left behind. I envy less "talented" musicians who have way more success than just because they are good at business or at making contacts. Anyways, I hops this gives you another perspective on the matter.
Early gang?
yes please
Yes
I appreciate you putting the title and thumbnail first! Others would put it last for za moneyzzz. Keep it up dude!
I started to learn music theory just to learn to play Salsa/Latin/Cuban music. And from the little I learned in Salsa, I figured out other genres without anyone teaching me. I unintentionally learn to make and play in my piano all the genres. music is universal, it has no age limit or border limit, learn it all, it brings more joy..
Yes there are DEFINITELY people who have natural MECHANICAL APTUTUDE and people who have natural ability to DIFFERENTIATE AUDIBLE TONES and FOLLOW RHYTHM as well as people who have advanced MANUAL DEXTERITY.
I have higher than average natural abilities stated above.... but I rarely practice... so I SUCK to a certain extent.
Example, I can pull off Freedom by RATM almost any time I pick up a guitar... but if I havent played in a month, Laid To Rest by Lamb Of God would take me three days to relearn and be able to play the song all on one shot.
Having said that... I dont have a natural penchant for a lot of prog/metal type playing and I feel I'd basically be a beginner in trying to enter that genre...
..... regardless...PRACTICE YOUR ASS OFF
Jacob Collier gang
I love how he changes the lick like so good
Coming at this from a sequencer programming point of view, the “hypermeter” approach is actually a good way of thinking about chained sequences. Take, for instance, a TB303 bassline. You get a 16-step sequence, but you can sequence the sequences by chaining sequences together. The top number of the time signature would be the number of sequences you chain together, where all the sequences are in the time signature of the bottom two numbers.
cultural appropriation is still okay even if their is some negative market dynamic between the cultures. unless you a exploiting someone directly, using their culture cannot disenfranchise that person. you can be borrowing something from French culture and not be enriching yourself at the detriment to the french. it's not possible to disenfranchise a group of people by adopting something that that group of people do.
The idea that culture can't be used by people who have not originally adopted that culture is antithetical to the idea of a culture entirely. culture is meant to be shared. it's how a behavior becomes considered part of a culture to begin with. I don't think anyone can claim the exclusive rights to a natural culture just as no one can claim the exclusive rights to a natural language.
Matthew Randolph you missed the point completely lmao
@@bryanzzz748 I'm not really responding to his point. I'm augmenting it. reading comprehension should really be taught in school.
Adopting elements from other cultures in a respectful manner in order to create something new is perfectly fine. But there's a real problem in westerners nitpicking concepts from other cultures and traditions and combining them in a superficial, postmodern manner without actually caring about the deeper aspects of said concepts, their long history, and the unique worldviews that they express.
I dont remember when the attitude qualifier was added to the definition of art. perhaps if you want to take a contrary view to mine, you could address my point so that I can understand your position. otherwise, you look a bit totalitarian. it's not a good look, I assure you.
@@MatthewsPersonal Sure, then let's look at the example Adam alludes to in his video. Much of early blues rock in mid-20th century America descended from a long jazz tradition led by African-American musicians. As the music industry expanded and profited off of sales of this music, these profits did not go back to those same African-American musicians. In fact, for a long time, their role in building jazz and rock was ignored altogether. The original musicians couldn't compete against the new ones, not because the new musicians played the tunes better or added their own contributions to the lineage, but because the new musicians were white and that's all the public would buy. This is an example of someone, or some industry, managing to "disenfranchise a group of people by adopting something that that group of people do."
Your point was that some negative market dynamic is still acceptable. Maybe your point was that what happened to African-American musicians in the 1950s is cultural appropriation, but there is more nuance to the definition than "negative market dynamic." That's fine, but nothing else in the rest of your post suggests this level of nuance.
I'm not sure if my view is contrary to yours, since your view isn't particularly clear and doesn't really seem to augment Adam's point like you say. I hope I've addressed your point at least.
The only reason I look forward to Monday's
Thanks for these thoughtful answers!
Of course, you could also have QUINTUPLE time signatures, such as 3:2/5/5/4/5.
5 measures of 5/4 subdivided into quintuplets, with 5/4 being split into groups of 3 quarter notes and 2 quarter notes.
to clarify:
*3:2* /5/5/4/5 tells us how to group the beats of the main time signature.
3:2/ *5* /5/4/5 tells us what tuplet the beats are subdivided into.
3:2/5/ *5/4* /5 acts like normal time signatures do, 5 meaning number of beats and 4 meaning length of note.
3:2/5/5/4/ *5* tells us the number of measures it should be thought of in.
So in conclusion, a quintuple time signature would tell us how to group the beats of the main time signature, what tuplet the beats are subdivided into, what number of beats is in a measure, how long each beat is (half note, quarter note, eighth note, etc.) and how many measures the song should be thought of in (maybe to measure where the chord progression loops, or for some sort of clarification purposes).