I don't think I've ever written a whole song in 11s but I love using it to break up sections or just create a riff where the song's normal rhythm gets lost for a bit. It's a long enough number of beats that I can put the song a little off-balance with a few sections of just one or two bars each. Makes it a very expressive sort of meter to use in short bursts.
Pretty sure The Eleven by the Grateful Dead is entirely in 11/8. Edit: Someone mentioned that it's not in another comment. Never mind. Edit 2: Maybe it is. I don't know anymore.
@@ThornForTheWynn I think it is. And I think they stopped playing it because it was too hard to keep together, or just didn't work so well, with 2 drummers.
TOOL is such a great band for looking at wacky time signatures. Schism is amazing because of the odd feel it gives when constantly switching between time signatures (I think it switches like 47 times or something like that). Truly insane.
Nothing wacky about odd time signatures. They just aren't as common as 4/4. I've been a fan of odd time signatures since Dave Brubeck's Take 5 album in the early 60s. They have been used by Progressive Rock groups since the 70s. Because I've listened to so much music in odd time signatures it seems natural to me.
The Rite of Spring is over a hundred years old at this point. While this sort of thing can be pretty cool and used to good effect, I wouldn't it insane or anything. It's just kinda neat.
@@itsaUSBline The difference is, the RIte of Spring isn't progressive rock lol. As a trumpet player, I get that time signatures aren't in themselves particularly "insane," but the somewhat unnerving effect that TOOL is able to pull off using these constant time signatures is what I think is inspiring. I hope that clears things up.
@@nyobunknown6983 I also quite often listen to pieces in odd time signatures, but that doesn't make them any less odd. The reason I reference Schism in particular is because I like the effect that TOOL pulls off with their usage of 5/12 -> 7/12 -> 5/12 -> 7/12 -> 6/12 -> 7/12 -> 6/12 -> 7/12. It gives you just long enough to get used to the flow of one phrase before switching up on you. I hope that clears things up.
When I was in high school, a band called Luna Halo released an album that my brother purchased. The 11th track on the album featured a verse that was in 11/8 and the chorus switched between 12/8 & 11/8. I think it must have gotten to me, because I was trying to write a song on piano in a completely different genre, but I couldn't figure out how to notate it. I had the free version of Finale at that time which didn't allow changing time signatures, and I thought my song was in 12/8. Turns out I had a handful of 11/8 bars in there. Wasn't able to notate the song for a while, but I won the school talent show when I played it!
I feel video games are a good place to "get away with" weird musical stuff, since the players' focus is on the gameplay, and the music can subconsciously convey they mood. The Street Fighter song is a good example. It provides a rough and broken feel.
Thanks for including a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard song. I actually didn't realize "Altered Beast IV" is in 11/8 before, but generally many of their songs are rhythmically really intersting. Another example is "The Cruel Millennial" which is mostly in 11/8 too (although I always thougth about it as alteranting 5/8 and 6/8, but actually it's exactly the same). It's also kind of unique because the beats are grouped like 3+2+3+3 so rather than being in 12/8 but skipping the last beat, the song feels more like a 5/8 but with a beat added every other bar (and for some parts it actually becomes temporarily a regular 5/8).
I knew that Altered Beast IV was in 11/8, but I was really surprised that he included it. I literally clicked on the video thinking "nah he wouldn't include that" (it's the only song in 11/8 I can think of off the top of my head) and then barely 30 seconds later he did
Cruel Millenial is one of the best and most accessible of their odd rhythmic structures. Then you have songs like Self-Immolate in a 15/16, or Crumbling Castle which is...A beast of polyrhythms.
Altered beast IV is just wild all around. The dummers would play alternating 1/8th notes to make it sound like 1/16ths, kinda like on nuclear fusion. The kick part doesn't line up with the hi hat parts though
0:58 honestly I'm not surprised to find 11/8 in video game music, video game soundtracks often explore a lot of interesting time signatures and scales and nonfunctional harmony and I wish we got more of that in "pop" music
There is a lot of Bulgarian folk music that is in 11, or other odd time signatures (usually with a corresponding folk dance)- Gankino Horo is one example of 11/8 (or 11/16 depending on how it’s notated).
yep - I get that the video was titled "songs that use 11/8 time" but there is a whole world of folk and non-western classical music (and western classical music, for that matter) that has dived pretty heavily into 11/8 and other asymmetrical or "odd" time signatures. I feel it would have been very constructive to include some of these but hey - your video Mr Bennet. For example, the Gankino form that Red Shirts mentioned has a division of 2+2+3+2+2. It's an absolute firecracker of a rhythm and I've seen "mainstream" audiences go nuts to to it on the dance floor!
come to think of it, the 12121231212 rhythm is actually quite symmetrical, there's a slow beat in the middle with two pairs of quick beats on each side
I’m so happy you mentioned Sagat’s theme, I don’t even care you called him Sajit. LOL. Seriously though, I love that song, and it’s great to know what this time signature is called. I totally forgot that Mario Kart 64’s race results theme uses it too.
the song "Forgotten Isle" from Super Mario Odyssey is in 11/8, or perhaps 11/16, which i think is super fun. it's a tribal type folksy song, you should give it a listen if you haven't yet
I thought "Whipping Post" as soon as I read 11/8 (though it's really 11/4) but somehow the Mario Kart 64 results music escaped me even though I've heard to it for years. Video game music really is underrated I think when it comes to some very advanced composition. I'm actually impressed that there are enough songs using this rare signature to make a video but music is full of surprises! Nice video David!
I was listening to Eleven by Primus, when my I wanted to explain to my dad why it sounds like that. I explained it by telling him to imagine a waltz, but every fourth bar you trip over your shoelaces.
INSTANT LIKE FOR SAGAT IN THE THUMBNAIL!!!! One of the hardest part of this fight, back in the day in the arcades, was the threat SAGAT meant to the player, and I just LOVE how his uneasiness and unpredictability (at any given moment he could deliver a powerful move that draws off half of your health bar) translates on his theme... Like you're fighting someone increadibly hard to read, and his theme shows it! I always loved to listen to it for the same reason I hated to play against him. Exactly for this tension... And it has a big deal in my transition from aspiring game developer (as a teenager) to musician (as an adult)
11 is so much fun! My favorite thing about odd time sigs is the ability to subdivide for different feels. The song "In the Wake of Evolution" by Kaipa uses groupings of 5 and 6 to achieve a wonky 6/8 feel, while Steve Vai's "Windows to the Soul" uses something that's almost closer to 5 1/2 time to achieve a kind of "drunk" waltz feel.
Here are a few more: - "First Circle" by Pat Metheny Group is mostly in 11/4 and it features a clave starting with one 8th rest through the whole song, the subdivisions are felt in 8ths so it completes a 22/8. - "Ekko's Theme" from League of Legends is mostly in 11/8 since it alternates bars of 6/8 and 5/8. - "Pantagruel's Nativity" by Gentle Giant, the bridge section (about 2:11) is full in 11/4, a very long bar. - "A Passion Play (Part 1)" by Jethro Tull has also a nice 11/8 (6/8 + 5/8) section starting from about 10:30 and also the Ian Anderson's flute solo stills in 11. - "As I Feel I Die" by Caravan is in 11/8 when the full band enter (about 1:45) in form of 3+3+3+2 followed by a 6/8 + 5/8 movement for the organ's solo. - "Herandnu" by Weather Report, fathers of jazz fusion, they are jamming the whole song in 11/8 (4+4+3), the bass shines because it was composed by Alphonso Jhonson. - "Slightly All the Time" by Soft Machine also pioners of jazz fusion the first bridge (about 5:42) is in 11/16, is like a 4/8 + 3/16. The following section is in 9/4. - "Eleven Wives" by Avishai Cohen Trio has a memorable 11/8 time very acclaimed in contemporary jazz scene, can also be felt in 22/16. - Simon Phillips playing in "33/8" track, there is a shuffle movement that happens twice in which he plays a triplet 11/4 that equals the 33/8. - "Cotopaxi" by The Mars Volta intro and outro are in 11/8 (4+4+3), the chorus in 4/4 and the bridge section in an interesting 9/4. -"Herd Culling" by Porcupine Tree of their new album is in 11/8, similar to Soft Machine's 11 but a 4/4 + 3/8 and then the chorus in 6/8 + 5/8 form. - "The Sky is Red" by Leprous is one of my recent discoveries of a full song in 11/4 with differents phrasings and there is a polypulse in the coda section in which the drums are playing in some kind of 11/2 over the 11/4, like a half time but in 11. Surely there are a lot more of 11s out there, mostly in progressive music and jazz fusion worlds. Also but more unusual in videogames / film scoring. 😅
Two more good jazz fusion tunes in 11/8: - "Magical Dog" by Jan Hammer Group - "Nuclear Burn" by Brand X (featuring Phil Collins on drums!) And there's a video game example that just hit this past week - the East Province theme from Pokemon Scarlet/Violet is largely in 11/4!
"Cattle & Cane" by the Go-Betweens is a great example of 11-time. There's also a Rodrigo y Gabriela piece called "11:11" in 11. Stephen Malkmus's "Planetary Motion" is largely in 11, too, as is Adrian Belew's "Modern Man Hurricane Blues"
Glad you brought up videogame music because I feel its the subsection of music where you hear the most odd time signatures nowadays since modern videogame music is the closest we have to classical music. Almost like an evolution in a way. There's a game called Bug Fables which features a track titled "Oh No! Wasps" that cycles between a bar of 12/8 and 11/8 followed by a 4/4 coda or "chorus". Worth checking out if you want some 11/8 action!
How could you miss the Grateful Dead's contribution - "The Eleven" (counted as 3-3-3-2) from their early album "Live Dead"? Unlike the Allman Brothers' "Whipping Post" it's entirely in 11/8...
diamond eyes by the deftones is 11. I think it's pretty cool how it's simple but they use the crash to distract from the odd signature and make it feel like 3
I've been a formerly published (albeit self taught & prior undiagnosed ASPD sufferer) drummer/bassist/guitarist/vocalist w/ a legacy spanning decades, and I genuinely can't thank you enough for explaining this within terms of such clarity, that even I can finally for once cognitively grasp it's methodology. Imagine someone potentially gifted with an almost photographic memory in surreal terms of melody and rhythm who ironically is seemingly blind to time sigs & attempts to break everything into impossible multiples of 2,4,8,16, or even 32 bars in 4/4?! Ha! That was me unfortunately for many years. It really hit me most profoundly during your Beatles- Here Comes the Sun breakdown explanation, which was always a part that I would potentially fumble upon up until rehearsing just the other day. As a self taught musician, now in his late 40's, who's subsequently also just recently been diagnosed within the autistic spectrum? (My son's initial diagnosis is what threw the red flag) I must say it again... THANK YOU! My interest in theory has honestly been a somewhat frustrating journey within the hills & valleys of mental reverse engineering & constructive relearning. Needless to say? You just earned a Like, a Bell Notification, a New Subscriber, and a Fan! Ha! 😅 Cheers! ✌🤟🖖
9:00 always been my issue. When using 8ths and 16ths u can group them in a way that makes sense to use the higher order sigs. The fact that you can do the grouping of notes like thst is helpful for odd signatures.
Really nice video as usual. I also thought about the following examples. "Communion And The Oracle" by Symphony X uses both 10/8 and 11/8 in the intro. "Lonely Street" by Kansas is also a kind of 11/8 shuffle.
Funny thing about 11 is that every time you highlight the grouping, it feels wrong and I feel it in a different way, and every time you don't show them, I can see a very clear grouping idea.
Well I wasn’t expecting this, but I’m glad it’s here. 11/8 is probably one of the most interesting time signatures I have ever came across in recent memory, and whenever I see musical compositions use that time signature, it excites me a bit. Also, apologies in advance if this comes off as shameless plugging, but I actually did try to make a track that purely stays in 11/8 time a year ago, and I think it turned out well…
Great video on a beautiful time signature! 🥰 Never noticed that Mario Kart piece was in 11!!! Blew my mind! I’ve been hearing that piece since I was a kid. So cool!
Herd Culling by Porcupine Tree is also in 11/8. I think it's really cool, because it goes through a few ways to divide 11 up. There's a section that's 3+3+3+2, 4+4+3, and I think 2+2+2+2+3
@@aardvark_04 I'm not going to pretend I know the first thing about counting time signatures, but I found a post that said it was 13/8, broken up into 3+3+3+4
Signatures, notes, sharps are just ways to hints your intuition of groove and melody. You're right, sometimes they just mislead you from something just more obvious. Although if your experience is not enough intuition may mislead you much further.
A cool video would be you analyzing old school video game music. Is there something about them that they have in common that makes so many so addicting?
As soon as I heard the first example I thought, “I’m sure I’ve heard Devo use this time signature.” Thank you! I never knew what the time signature for Blockhead was.
Great collection of songs that I love!!! I always got very drawn to the MarioKart 64 music when it played, and I think I recall counting it out at one point...
I've always naturally subdivided odd time signatures into groups of 2, 3, or 4. So, I think of 5/4 as a group of 3 then a group in 2 or vice versa. Likewise, I think of 7/8 as a group of 4 then a group of 3 or vice versa depending on the song. It's good to see that that is the way real musicians think about these meters in their brain too. I was always wondering if I was just sort of cheating because I wasn't a good enough musician to THINK in odd time signatures.
Absolutely Stoked to see King Gizz being mentioned here :D, I think Gamma Knife was a good option too by them (Cuz it's one of their most famous songs) , or also Loyalty, which is in 11/8 and 5/8 at the same time
Hi David! Thanks for all your work and all these great videos! They really demonstrate how harmonic or rythmic concepts are used in songs and thus helps us feel and internalise these concepts! I was wondering if you would be interested on doing a video on polyrythms? For example songs that use the 3:2 or 4:3 polyrythm! I feel it could be really interesting! I would love to do it myself but I'm no youtuber and I feel that your content would be of much greater quality! Thanks again for all your work and greetings from Chile!
I usually see odd time signatures as a series of 2s and a 2-1, for some reason that 2-1 really helps me wrap my head around it, like the 2 creates tension and the 1 resolves it or something.
Until now, I could not understand the concept of time in music, but when I saw the title of the video, I started counting 1-2 1-2 and when I listened to the songs in the video, I started to feel that I understood the concept of time.
One video game tune you should really listen too is “castle Bleck” from super paper Mario. It changes time signature very frequently, going from 13/8, to 3/4, to 4/4, to 15/8 and briefly 5/4 (not in any particular order.) Edit: also, you should look at more video game music in general.
A more obscure video game track in 11/4 is “Rural Makai City Esoterica” from the 12th Touhou Project game. Translations of that title may vary, but generally people the game itself is called Undefined Fantastic Object if that makes it easier to find.
Not sure if you do a lot of other time signature analysis of songs (just found your channel from this and I’ll be checking out the rest of your stuff now) - but Jyocho, Elephant Gym, and Bjork have been my favorites to figure out recently
Great video! I didn’t know there were so many songs in 11/8. One that I would have liked to see is Cygnus X-1 Book 1: The Voyage by Rush. I don’t know why David never seems to talk about Rush even though they have so many great unique musical concepts in they’re songs. All the same, very interesting video. 11/8 is too underused.
Completely agree! It’s pretty saturated with the Beatles and Radiohead, which I get because they’re his influences and they’re great. But I’d love to see some other artists new to the channel on here! Come to think of it, I don’t know if I’ve seen any (or much) content from other prog acts like Yes or Camel, but I seem to remember him discussing ELP’s Tarkus. We need more prog on this channel!
The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders by Sufjan Stevens is in 11! The way it’s written sounds like a bar of 5/8 followed by a bar of 6/8 repeating, but at that point it’s probably easier to say 11. I asked my piano teacher what he thought that time signature was, and he ended up explaining that it could be anything because the point of music notation is to get the idea across rather than to be exact. Like “musical grammar,” if you will
Funny quote from Gregg Allman on Whipping Post: I didn't know the intro was in 11/4 time. I just saw it as three sets of three, and then two to jump on the next three sets with: it was like 1,2,3-1,2,3-1,2,3-1,2. I didn't count it as 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11. It was one beat short, but it didn't feel one short, because to get back to the triad, you had two steps to go up. You'd really hit those two hard, to accent them, so that would separate the threes. [Duane] said, "That's good man, I didn't know that you understood 11/4." Of course I said something intelligent like, "What's 11/4?" Duane just said, "Okay, dumbass, I'll try to draw it up on paper for you."
Very happy to see some of my current favorite bands - King Gizzard, Tool, and Yes - on here! I'd also point to King Gizzard's "Gamma Knife" as a song where much of it is in 11/8 (most notably the solo near the end). Also, I think "Out of Tartarus" from the video game Hades is largely in 11/8, but people online seem to be in disagreement about that, so I'm not entirely sure.
Neil Young words between the lines of age is 11/8 before the verses. Out of all the people I’ve watched explain time signatures you explain it the best way.
Time signatures can be so wierd. I often find myself 'squeezing' 6/8 into 4/4 With two iterations of beats 1 and 4 in 6/8 being each beat in 4/4. Th epoint you raise about it depending on the notation is definitely a good one to keep in mind. Not much point in writing a 6/8 song in 4/4 and using triplets everywhere.
Another prime example for 11/4 is "The Sky is Red" by Leprous. The outro features an incredible polyrhythmic pattern while retaining the 11 count and is probably one of the most intense endings to a live show I've ever witnessed.
1:54 HEY! I don't listen to much Primus but I did quite a lot of stuff in 11/8 for a while, and at the start of the video I thought "I wonder if any of these count it in 3, 3, 3, 2" cause I always count it that way. Fun to see that I write in 11 the way Primus did for that song. Gotta try counting it in 4s and 3s though.
You forgot a tune by the Grateful Dead literally called ‘The Eleven’. It begins with a sea shanty style tune, grows into a jam in 4/4 then is cued by the bass and drums kicking into an 11/8 ostinato (counting 6+5 or like ‘whipping post’ 3+3+3+2) complete with lyrics and some cool call and response singing. Check out the version on ‘Live Dead’ - it’s possibly the best rendition of this tune - especially when it melts in to a killing version of ‘Turn on Your Lovelight’
I was about to make the same comment! He also forgot to mention estimated prophet in his 7/4 video. Sad. Also the primus song I’m pretty sure took direct inspiration from the Grateful Dead
