minstrel: 12/8 time signature

[Cynthia J Ley]

Would it work if you tried it in 3/4?

Arlys

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 11:04:15 -0700 warden <warden_2 at comcast.net> writes:
> Greetings to the list!
> 
> I have a question regarding time signatures in music.
> 
> I was listening to some Scot Joplin rag time a while ago while 
> looking 
> at the sheet music and noticed that the syncopation is written as 
> triplets, in other words, a quarter note and an eighth note combined 
> as 
> a triplet for one beat.
> 
> Recently I heard a medieval song called "Da Que Deus Mamou" by 
> Alfonso 
> X, which has the same syncopated rhythm (although slower).  It was 
> written in 12/8 time with alternating quarter notes and eighth notes 
> for 
> the fast part and dotted quarter notes for the slow part.  If I tap 
> my 
> foot really fast, I can do 12 beats to the measure, but I realized 
> that 
> rhythm is actually 4 triplets per measure. The natural foot tapping 
> mode 
> is 4 beats per measure with the dotted quarter note getting one 
> beat.
> 
> So my question, is how best to describe this.  There doesn't seem to 
> be 
> a convention for this type of time signature except to write it as 
> 12/8, 
> which doesn't reflect one beat for the dotted quarter note.  The 
> alternative is to write it out as triplets so that the quarter note 
> gets 
> one beat.
> 
> Any thoughts or comments appreciated!
> 
> -Robert
> Caer Galen
> (Boulder, CO)
> 
> 
> 
> 
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