List of Musical Works in Unusual Time Signatures - Unusual Time Signature Combinations

Unusual Time Signature Combinations

  • "Autopsy," from Fairport Convention's album Unhalfbricking, switches between 5/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
  • "Bastard" by Ben Folds. A combination of the time signatures 3/2, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, and 7/4.
  • "The Dance of Eternity" by Dream Theater. This instrumental contains mixtures of faster and slower beat groupings in 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4. It goes through over 128 time signature changes in just over six minutes.
  • "The Eynsham Poacher", a traditional song; in the arrangement by Dave Pegg, most of the tune is in 12/8, but there are five other time signatures: several single bars at 9/8 occur in the refrain and elsewhere; the bridge has a six-bar phrase of three bars at 2/4, one at 6/8, then two at 2/4; whilst the 9/8 finale includes a bar each of 1/4 and 4/4.
  • "Firth of Fifth": Introduction, by Anthony Banks of Genesis, mixes duple and quadruple meters with 13/8 and 15/8 signatures.
  • "Fish On" by Primus. The intro has a free time feel, but is transcribed as: 4/4, 2/4, 4/4, 3/4, 4/4, 2/4, 4/4, 2/4, 7/8, 12/8, 14/8, 4/4, 4/4, 12/8 (7 times) and 6/8.
  • "A Headache And A Sixty-Fourth", from Ron Jarzombek's album Solitarily Speaking of Theoretical Confinement, has a constant time signature pattern of 4/4 and 1/64.
  • "Here Comes the Sun", by The Beatles. The bridge can be transcribed as 11/8 + 4/4 + 7/8
  • "Hey Ya!" by OutKast. Emulates 11/4 by using a cadential six-measure phrase consisting of three 4/4 measures, a 2/4 measure, and two 4/4 measures.
  • "I Say a Little Prayer" by Dionne Warwick uses 10/4 for verses and 11/4 for its chorus.
  • "Limelight" by Rush. Intro is 4/4 and 3/4 alternating (can be transcribed as 7/4 therefore), verse is 3/4, 3/4, 4/4, 2/4, 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 3/4, 4/4 (3 times). The chorus is 7 times 3/4, 3 times 4/4.
  • "Losing It" by Rush. Intro and verses are composed out of ten bars in 5/8, other parts are in 11/8.
  • "On the Floor" by Maartin Allcock. A tune where passages of mixed time signatures (5/4, 4/4, 3/4, 6/8, 6/4, 7/4 - with no more than two consecutive bars in the same time) alternate with longer passages in 4/4.
  • "Physical Cities" by The Bad Plus. Alternates between 5/16, 3/4 and 10/8.
  • "Trial Before Pilate (Including the Thirty-Nine Lashes)", from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber, includes 4/4, 3/4, 5/8, 2/4, 6/8, 6/4, 5/4, 7/4, 7/8, and 2/8, and the time signature in the piece varies a total of 41 times.
  • "No Time for Games" by Midnight Oil has an introduction and various other parts in 7/4 and verse and chorus in 4/4.

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