How do I hear the difference between 5/4 and 10/8? I already know about the one between 3/4 and 6/8 but I don't quite get that one yet
For example, I assumed this piece:
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is in 5/4 but someone here told me that it's actually in 10/8 because the drums are playing a 3+3+2+2 pattern
Because of that I assumed that the intro to King Crimson's Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part 2
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is also in 10/8 because it's played in the same rhythm pattern (on guitar), however I looked it up and the sheet music I found for that part notates it as 5/4
Can someone explain this to me? Why is the first one in 10/8 but the second one in 5/4? (If they are in that time signature in first place, please correct me if they aren't)
How do I hear the difference between 5/4 and 10/8...
basically its whenever the phrase repeats (even in a modified form). People say 10/8 is merely faster than 5/4. That is incorrect. Often something in 10/8 is actually something like alternating bars of 6/4 and 4/4; 10/8 is just a way to make it simpler to write down.
As for the examples the first one is definitely 5/4. The drums are syncopated but the pulse is every 5 beats. I would say the second is 10/8
3/4 and 6/8 is a little different
I haven't been in classes for years but if I remember, it's because 3/4 is a simple triple, and 6/8 is a complex duple
Was that it?
Like 1 2 3 1 2 3
As opposed to (1 2) (3 4) (5 6)
One goes in 3s, one goes in 2s, is what I mean to say.
But 5/4 and 10/8 isn't that different, again just a phrasing thing.
3/4 and 6/8 are the only real big one besides convenience of writing/reading.
5/4 is 5 quarter notes a bar, 10/8 is ten eighth notes a bar
3/4 is three quarter notes a bar, 6/8 is six eighth
notes a bar
You're just fooling yourself desu. 3/4 and 6/8 are the same. The only difference is in how they're written. It's like how you can have multiple sentences, or one big sentence with a semicolon in the middle; it sounds the same, but it's written differently. These distinctions are made for writers and musicians, to more clearly express the intention and ideas behind the writing, not for the listener.
Can’t both technically be either one?
there isn't a difference
the difference between 3/4 and 6/8 is just a convention, and with 5/4 and 10/8 there are lots of different additive rhythm conventions. In addition, a lot of music modulates between a quarter note and eighth note pulse.
>the drums are playing a 3+3+2+2 pattern
The drums are not the only determination of the beat. It may well be that the other parts sound like 5/4. Nobody notates 4/4 music that has groupings of three eighth note in 8/8, for example.
Anybody who tells you there are hard and fast rules for this kind of thing is lying to you. If you talk to a composer you will often find out that they make these decisions from highly idosyncratic, fuzzy criteria.
By convention, 6/8 has accents on the 1 and 4 beats, whereas 3/4 would have them on the 1, 3, and 5
Here is the difference between 3/4 and 6/8