[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad-J4aaL_IQ&feature=related]
Yesterday I mentioned Outkast’s use of an ‘extra’ 2/4 bar in ‘Hey Ya’.
I’d definitely advocate cutting out or putting in extra beats when necessary. A song needs to convey the words, and sometimes you have extra syllables that don’t quite scan in a 4/4 bar. Sometimes it’s possble to stretch or shrink the words to fit, but often the best option is to say ‘hang the bar line’ and do something different.
‘Say a little Prayer’ by Burt Bacharach and Hal David is a more sophisticated and interesting example of this idea.
Time signatures in the verse:
Three bars of 4/4
One of 2/4
Three of 4/4
Time signatures in the chorus:
One of 7/4
One of 4/4
One of 7/4
One of 4/4
One of 7/4
Four of of 4/4
Listening to the song, it’s quite clear that this unusual time signature changing fits perfectly with the lyrics. It’s also a technique that really stands out in Bacharach and David’s work, just one of the things that makes them such a unique and interesting songwriting duo (I could write a whole series about the songwriting ideas you could steal from these two. Perhaps I will at some point…)
If it’s good enough for Bacharach and David (and Outkast) surely it’s an idea worth trying yourself?
Oh, and when listening to Bacharach songs, I would advise searching for the Dione Warwick recording. the songs were often written with her voice in mind (and anything is better than Aretha Franklin in my opinion!).
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