);2
); etc.Inpopular music,half-time is a type ofmeter andtempo that alters therhythmic feel by essentiallydoubling the tempo resolution or metricdivision/level in comparison tocommon-time. Thus, two measures of4
4 approximate a single measure of8
8, while a single measure of 4/4 emulates 2/2. Half-time is not to be confused withalla breve orodd time. Though notes usually get the same value relative to the tempo, the way thebeats are divided is altered. While much music typically has abackbeat onquarter note (crotchet) beats two and four, half time would increase the interval between backbeats to double, thus making it hit on beats three and seven, or the third beat of each measure (count out of an 8 beat measure (bar), common practice in half time):
12 34 12 3412 34 56 7812 34
Essentially, a half time 'groove' is one that expands onemeasure over the course of two. Thelength of each note is doubled while itsfrequency is halved.
Time signatures are defined by how they divide the measure. In "common" time, often considered4
4, each level is divided in two. In a common-time rock drum pattern each measure (a whole note) is divided in two by the bass drum (half note), each half is divided in two by the snare drum (quarter note, collectively the bass and snare divide the measure into four), and each quarter note is divided in two by aride pattern (eighth note). "Half"-time refers to halving this division (divide each measure into quarter notes with the ride pattern), while "double"-time refers to doubling this division (divide each measure into sixteenth notes with the ride pattern).
A classic example is thehalf-time shuffle, a variation of ashuffle rhythm, which is used extensively in hip-hop and some blues music. Some of the variations of the basic groove are notoriously difficult to play ondrum set. It is also a favorite in some pop and rock tunes. Some classic examples are thePurdie Shuffle byBernard Purdie which appears in "Home At Last" and "Babylon Sisters", both of which areSteely Dan songs.[2] "Fool in the Rain" byLed Zeppelin uses a derivation of the Purdie Shuffle, andJeff Porcaro ofToto created a hybridization of the Zeppelin and Purdie shuffles called theRosanna shuffle for the track "Rosanna".[2]
In half time, thefeel of notes are chopped in half, but the actual timevalue remains the same. For example, at the same tempo, 8th notes (quavers) would sound like 16ths (semiquavers). In the case of the half time shuffle, triplets sound like 16th note (semiquaver) triplets, etc. By preserving the tempo, the beat is stretched by a factor of 2.
Inmusic anddance,double-time is a type ofmeter andtempo or rhythmic feel by essentiallyhalving the tempo resolution or metricdivision/level. It is also associated with specifictime signatures such as2
2. Contrast withhalf time.
Injazz the term means using note values twice as fast as previously but without changing the pace of thechord progressions. It is often used during improvised solos.[5]
"Double time [is] doubling a rhythm pattern within its originalbar structure.":[6]
1 23 41 23 41 23 4
It may help to picture the way musicians count each metric level in 4/4:
quarter: 1 2 3 4eighth: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &sixteenth: 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
