Songs that use 3/4 time 

Check out What You Need to Know Before you Learn Music Theory by Eric Fine: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYRNBTKN 📖🎼🎶

Seeing David do a normal 3/4 video after time signatures like 11/8 is truly phenomenal

i thought he ran out of time signatures

A couple of Queen examples: Sweet Lady was Brian May's attempt to write a 'heavy' song in 3/4. And Freddie's song The Millionaire Waltz is also a 3/4 song - and it's phenomenal.

The Beatles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"...uses a great combo of 3/4 and 4/4...the verses in 3/4 and the LUCY IN THE SKY part in 4/4...gives it a great expansive feel to the chorus.

Piano man by billy Joel is a great example of a song in three for, it also has a sorta waltzy feel

Joe Cocker's version of 'With a Little Help from My Friends" converts the original 4/4 to 3/4. In that case, the result is a harder, more rock and roll sounding version, rather then the other way around.

You can hear it on Kate Bush's _"Suspended in Gaffa"_ She is so good on writing in different time signatures

Nice to hear Blue Danube and Chopin in the mix. The jazz waltzes could be notated in 9/8. "I Me Mine" comes to mind as a Beatles song with the opening section in 3/4. I believe John and Yoko were dancing to it in the Let It Be film.

My favorite recent song in 3/4 is 'Concorde' by 'Black Country, New Road'. It's such a gorgeous song in itself, but moreover, I think it encompasses the 3/4 feel brilliantly.

The 3/4 melody that I love currently the most is Zelda's Lullaby. This especially because it's a simple melody but uses really complicated chords.

Piano Man by Billy Joel and Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson are two more pop/rock songs in 3/4 that I know off the top of my head

Pink + White by Frank Ocean is another modern example of a song in 3/4 and while it does feel slightly 6/8 with the piano at moments it is definitely in 3/4

The first song that comes to mind in 3/4 time is Rebel Waltz by The Clash off the Sandinista album from 1980. A underrated piece of Morricone-esque music.

😱Amazed you didn't include any of the many Beatles' examples of entire songs (and bits and pieces) that feature the 3/4 time. As per Steve Hoffman's: I'll Be Back (take 2 from Anthology) This Boy (probably more 6/8 than 3/4) A Taste Of Honey Baby's In Black Yes It Is (another 6/8?) Norwegian Wood Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite (middle part) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (verses) She's Leaving Home Happiness Is A Warm Gun ("I need a fix.." part) Long, Long, Long Good Night I Want You (She's So Heavy) the chorus/end riff I Me Mine (verses) Dig A Pony

I've always liked how the pre-chorus to What Would You Say by the Dave Matthews Band shifts into 3/4 briefly without changing the tempo

I had trouble with a 6/8 song and learned it without counting it correctly. My piano teacher corrected me, but it still wasn't clear. Then I watched your video and it was crystal clear. Merci.

My favourite example of a song in 3/4 is 'My Time' by bo en. It was used in one of my most favourite games and it just suits perfectly (i'll let you search why for yourself, beware spoilers). And one interesting fact about it is that it actually switches to 4/4 when it starts to sound crazy and messed up, in theory, similarly to what you said about 4/4's ability to portray pumped up rhythms. Thank you for this video David, we learn stuff every day thank to you, even when it's about more common meters like 3/4 🥰

Take Me Out to the Ballgame is in 3/4 time, it's the tune we sing at the 7th inning stretch at baseball games

Two examples come to mind. "Golden Brown" has 3 bars of 3/4 with one bar of 4/4 for the intro then settles into 3/4 for the the main part of the song. "That's What You Get" by Paramore has the verses in 3/4 and the choruses in 4/4. The bass has a 3+3+2 semiquaver feel over beats 1&2 with a 3 beat added. In the second verse the drums simulate a 4/4 feel by playing bass snare bass/ snare bass snare/ etc on each quarter note.

Great video as always. When I saw Paul McCartney in the thumbnail, I could only think of "The Frog Chorus", totally forgetting about "Mull of Kintyre". Bon Jovi's "Bed of Roses" is a good one.

Great video! Nice that you’re still finding time signatures to make videos about. I would suggest a video on the I - bVII - vi - bVI progression (or what you might call the DVNO progression). I always found the descending mixture of major and minor very cool! Some songs also change the last chord, but the sound is still similar. Edit: Here's some songs I found: DVNO - Justice Brain Stew - Green Day Hide Another Mistake - The 88 (Haunt You also uses a similar progression) Believe X Believe - Takafumi Fujino Laura - Scissor Sisters Dreamin' - Weezer Captain Square - Yoko Shimomura (from The Guardian Legend) Gym Theme from Pokemon Gold & Silver Title Theme from Hudson's Adventure Island III Ending Theme from Operation C For the Fans - Toby Fox (from Undertale) (slightly different progression, I - bVII - vi - bVII) Troian Beauty - Nobuo Uematsu (from Final Fantasy IV) (slightly different progression, I - bVII - vi - IV) Map Ref. 41°N 93°W - Wire (slightly different progression, I - bVII - vi - IV) If anyone finds any more, let me know!

I love your choice of The Petersens for the traditional (3/4) version of "Amazing Grace."

I;m always impressed how you find so many varied examples for each topic

My husband and I love your channel, David. A song that starts in 4/4 and moves (after 60 seconds or so) to 6/8, we think, is a gorgeous song by the Cuban band Los Zafiros. The name of the song is He Venido. Truly sublime!

Hi David! Love your videos. I would like you to make a video about songs that have the same structure. Or anything about song structure could be very interesting.

R.E.M. liked 3/4, for example: Try not to breathe (best R.E.M. song) Everybody hurts Daysleeper And so many more songs: Norwegian wood I me mine Can't help falling in love Morning has broken Delilah, Tom Jones She's always a woman, Billy Joel Where do you go to my lovely, Peter Sarstedt Amelie, Yann Tiersen .... list goes on 😊 (Edit: some of these could be 6/8 😜)

BTW one great example of transforming the 3/4 to 4/4 is Beatles' version of My Bonnie - their first commercially released record, that brought Brian Epstein to them - and the rest is history :)

Another banger by the music theory GOAT

Nice video. I play a lot in 3/4 as many Irish songs I sing were written that way. However, the first pop song that came to my mind was The Beatles' Norwegian Wood. While it sounds like a 3/4 when played, in written form, it's actually a 12/8 time signature.

I love straight ahead 3/4 time, where you count it evenly without the swung/waltz feel. In scandinavian folk music we use the straight 3/4 in polskas and slängpolskas, which are common folk dances and the tunes often have an even feel, even though they have an uneven number of beats per bar.

Three off the top of my head: Golden Brown by The Stranglers is (mostly) in 3/4, The Widow by The Mars Volta, and Fade Together by Franz Ferdinand.

Polish folk dances are nearly all in triple time (3/4 or 3/8), especially the most well-known ones - polonez (polonaise) and mazurek (mazurka), which you mentioned. The first one is very often used in historical movies, as it was a big part of balls in the past.

Excellent, thank you, David.

Enya's "Caribbean Blue" is in 3/4... I think "Greensleeves" is actually in 6/8, and so are all the other song examples I'm thinking of, but Enya's sheet music says it's in 3/4.

A very rare (and impressive) example of *rapping* in 3/4 time is in the musical Hamilton -- check out the track "Farmer Refuted" :)

A good use of 3/4 in rock is “Vigil” by Fish. The song is mostly in 4/4 but it slowly builds into the chorus, which is a crescendo in straight 3/4 that feels like it has way more urgency than everything else.

My favorite piece in 3/4 is probably Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2. We played it in my orchestra this year and my teacher called it a haunted merry go round song, which I just love.

Some early Leonard Cohen songs are in 3/4 times (Sisters of Mercy, Bird on a Wire...) as well as some pure folksy young Bob Dylan (With God On Our Side). And The Clash "Rebel Waltz" is, as you may have guessed, on a waltz rhythm.

I believe “Rock n’ Roll Suicide” by David Bowie is another example, and it seems like it uses the tempo to help build a kind of “laying to rest” mood. I think that helps the song fit well as the closer to an album.

Classic example: Joe Cocker taking Beatles "A liitle help from my friends" in 4/4 to his version in 3/4. Thanks for another great vid.

Here are a few examples: Fake Empire by The National Above And Beyond by Deep Purple She’s Leaving Home by The Beatles And 3 songs from Owl City’s latest album -Under The Circus Lights -Sons of Thunder -The Meadow Lark

The Beatles "With A Little Help From My Friends" from Sgt Pepper is of course in 4. But somehow Joe Cocker transformed it into 3/4 for his recording, and is the only Beatles' cover that I prefer over the original.

Mexican 'norteño' music (or 'música norteña') is often in 3/4 time. 'Corridos' and songs performed by small bands (grupos norteños) or large bands (banda) are usually in this time signature. A popular 'banda' song that was used as the main song for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II videogame is in 3/4 time. The song is called '141' and performed by Banda MS.

Peter Gabriel’s “Down To Earth” from Wall-E is a nice piece that transitions between 3/4 and 4/4 time.

Not sure if anyone else mentioned this already, but Take It to the Limit by The Eagles is in 3/4. Nice, slow beat, as well...easy to dance to.

Once again an amazingly interesting and fascinating video😊In a nutshell, with no regard to musical styles, it is clear, that 4/4 is the most common time singnature, 3/4 has as clearly its stronghold in the music😊

Jimmy Eat World's "For Me This is Heaven" is my favorite rock song in 3/4. A couple others I can think of for rock/pop are "Romulus" by Sufjan Stevens," and ""Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep At the Wheel" by Barenaked Ladies (though that could be considered 6/8 based on the drums)/

The first song I learned in 3/4 was "Where Do You Go to My Lovely" by Peter Sarstedt, and since I play ukulele, I very soon after learned "With Whom to Dance" by the Magnetic Fields. For more recent examples, dream pop duo Beach House are very fond of 3/4; both straight ("Zebra") and swung ("On the Sea").

You got me at "Army dreamers", such a great song.

Great video! Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) used 3/4 time for their single "Made of Orleans" which was the waltz version of two songs they wrote about Joan of Arc. They also used 3/4 on a couple of albums tracks - International and Bondage of Fate.

Beatles "We Can Work It Out" moves to 3/4 in the bridge. Frank Zappa's "Sofa # 2" is also in 3/4. Bob Dylan's "Fourth Time Around", too. A "norwegian wood" parody - which itself sounds kind of 3/4 or 6/8 (I wouldn't know the difference).

Gordon Lightfoot's "Don't Beat Me Down" is at 205 bpm in 3/4 which really grabs interest and attention

Great site! I love your explanations of music. I think "Wintertime Love" by the Doors is in 3/4 time, as is "Old Country Waltz" (of course) by Neil Young. Bob Dylan has two on the "New Morning" album: "Winterlude" and "Time Passes Slowly".

I feel like Normal Christian music is the most common type of 3/4 music (Still being made today) because it is meant to be calm. (I would know this, because one, I live right next to a church (In the mornings when I go to my school bus, I have to walk up the hill and Stand next to the Church's Cemetery until my bus comes) and I used to go to church, and I would listen to those kind of songs a lot)

Great video! The other day I was learning Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls on guitar, and noticed for the most part it has a 3/4 time signature.

My favorite waltz of the modern day has to go to Cojum Dip’s Waltz In E Major, Opus 15 “Moon Waltz” I won’t spoil the surprise for readers who want to go listen for themselves, but you could say it has a little more punch than your average classical piece. Cojum Dip’s collaboration with Joe Hawley on the song Aristotle’s Denial has the same time signature and a similar appeal for those wanting more, although it definitely didn’t knock me flat on my back quite like my first time listening to Moon Waltz did. I cannot express how much I love that song.

A favorite modern song in 3/4 I like is called "A Potion For Love" by AURORA, it's on electric guitar and its very beautiful and sad

One of my favorite examples is Del Amitris "nothing ever happens". In that song the waltzy melody perfectly supports the lyrics.

The Doors have some bangers in 3/4. "Wintertime Love" and "Spanish Caravan" being two very excellent examples.

I really liked your videos on cadences and how we can end a progression with either perfect resolution or for artistic flair ending on a sorta choatic chord that doesnt resolve well.

The Sarraband one is almost certainly an influence on one of my favorite tracks in one of my favorite games, when it slows down during the Hollow Knight fight.

I find it a bit in game music, where having different "feels" is significant to the art. One my my favourites would be from Mountain of Faith (Touhou), Stage 4 boss (Aya) theme, Youkai no Yama ~ Mysterious Mountain. What's really nice is that the main melody is in 3/4, but the refain/B-melody is in 4/4... it gives a big kick of energy when the change happens, without needing to up tempo or pitch. It also to fits the boss well.

The theme from the 70’s show Mannix is a great jazz tune in 3/4 that not a lot of people know about!

Amazing grace is a good example of a song In 3/4

I was thinking of these songs… Billy Joel- She’s Always A Woman Eagles- Pretty Maids All In A Row Nick Drake- One Of These Things First Pearl Jam- Nothingman Pearl Jam- Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town Queen- A Winter’s Tale Weezer- My Name Is Jonas

Well done, David!

Hey David, could you make a video on the Where Is My Mind chord progression? It's I-vi-III-IV, though a more common variation is the same progression but starting on the vi chord, like vi-III-IV-I Other songs that use it are: - Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall - Cradles - Sub Urban - Cigarette Duet - Princess Chelsea - Say It Ain't So - Weezer - Cake - Melanie Martinez - Good in Goodbye - Madison Beer

The Last Waltz- by Engelbert Humperdinck, Ooh Baby Baby- by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Every Little Bit Hurts and I'll always love you- both by Brenda Holloway, Love (Makes Me Do foolish things) Martha Reeves and the Vandella's, Forever by Marvin Gaye, Just Loving You- Kim Weston

Minuetto Allegretto by The Wombles (based on the menuet from Mozart's 41st symphony). Golden Brown by The Stranglers sounds like a 3/4 to me. Annie's Song by John Denver.

cheers for another fantastic lesson

I’m not sure if anyone’s commented this yet, but my fave Bob Dylan’s done a bunch of songs in 3/4. One I can especially name off the top of my head is “Fourth Time Around” off of Blonde on Blonde, the response to John Lennon’s “Norwegian Wood.” Super hypnotizing and catchy, and imo one of the best songs on that album. Love it so much 😍💖 Can’t really remember many others though 🙃 Maybe if I go back through, I’ll find some more, and you probably can too ❤

I was a drummer in an early 2000's cover band, playing mostly classic rock hits with a few modern examples. One night at a show, the band's former drummer showed up, and during a break in our set they had a happy reunion and introduced the guy to me. Apparently he was not only a drummer but a great crooner as well. He came up on stage to sing Journey's Open Arms, and did I know it? Of course I did! I cut my teeth as a young drummer mostly playing along to my favorite album, Journey's Escape, of which Open Arms is the final track. Now, this cocky singer/drummer asks me, "do you know it's in 3/4 time? Don't screw it up by playing it in 4/4 time." Now to me, I was never a very good school musician, but I could pretty much listen to anything once and copy it. I guess people call that a fake drummer, but whatever, I knew how to play the song and we pulled it off just fine with no rehearsal, live on stage. Ever since then, whenever I hear that song I can't help but think about it's time signature. I did meet Steve Smith once, who is my drum hero, but it was before my time with this covers band. Anyone who has ever listened to Journey's album Raised on Radio (the one without him on it) knows how incredibly talented and valuable he was to that band.

There are a couple of other 3/4 rock songs, like Farewell by Avantasia, Addicted by Kelly Clarkson, All I Need by Within Temptation, and Nightfall by Blind Guardian. They are often in the form of a power waltz.

I was not aware the intro from Kiss from a Rose was in 3/4, I can't help it but still feel it in 6/8 like the rest of the song because of the phrasing lasting two bars. Basically we can divide a bar of 6/8 into two measures of 3/4 as long as we keep accenting beat 1 of each (given the phrasing remains constant throughout the song). By the way, thanks so much for the time signature playlist; it's definitively the best source of meters for reference for years to come! 😉

Beatles - Baby’s in Black, Dig a Pony, Yer Blues, I Me Mine (verses, could be 3/4 or 6/8), Long Long Long, Good Night, We Can Work It Out (parts), Benefit of Mr. Kite (parts), Lucy in the Sky (verses) Elton John - I Need You to Turn To, Elton’s Song Billy Joel - Piano Man, Downeaster Alexa Rainbow - Self Portrait Kansas - Hold On Queen - Millionaire’s Walts, Sweet Lady Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond (most of the song) Allman Brothers - Cross to Bear, Whippin’ Post Nazareth - Guilty (Paul Newman’s song - but could be written in 4/4, in triplets)

There are 2 good examples of popular 3/4 time songs that immediately came to mind. The first is "He'll Have To Go" by Jim Reeves. It was considered a country pop song when released, but still managed to make it to #2 on the U.S. Billboard mainstream charts. It was an international hit as well, going to #1 in Canada, Australia, and Norway as well as to #12 in the U.K. The second song I think of is "Rose Colored Glasses" by John Conlee. The song has a more country flavor to the sound, which prevented it from having too much mainstream commercial success or popularity outside of the U.S. Still a great song that gets radio play today.

Great video, as always! 👏 Other song examples: Bjork, "It's Oh So Quiet". Blur, "The Debt Collector" The Commodores, "Three Times a Lady". Jean Michel Jarre, "Equinoxe Part 3".

A song that has been the most listened on spotify lately and is in 3/4 time throughout the entire song is "Ella Baila Sola" by "Peso Pluma" and "Eslabon Armado"

Sophie Ellis-Bextor's Love is a Camera is one I love, it's a kind of folk-story song in a steady 3/4 almost throughout, that only switches into 4/4 for an accelerating outro

“In The Cage” - Genesis “Pushit” - TOOL

If you wanted to I'm sure you could have done a video on this time signature solely on the stuff Paul McCartney and the Beatles have done. Although I understand doing it with multiple artist songs makes it more pleasing to a wider audience especially with the algorithms. Anyway loved the video well researched as always

"She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles; "Wintertime Love" by The Doors; "Back Street Girl" by The Rolling Stones; "Porpoise Mouth" by Country Joe & The Fish...

david you have made me aware of the name of the blue danube piece and i’m damn thankful for knowing its name now hah

One of my favorite recent (2016 counts as recent ok.) songs in 3/4 is definitely Line Without A Hook by Ricky Montgomery. It leans into the Waltz feel of 3/4 so heavily but in such a good way

2:54 those flags really caugh me off guard god damn

Boygenius has a number of songs in 3/4, Ketchum ID, Without You Without Them, and We’re In Love come to mind immediately. Those three songs definitely lean more into a folk/traditional vibe so it makes sense, but I think it’s notable that everyone’s favorite supergroup loves 3/4!

Sofa by Zappa - Sweet Lady and Millionaire Waltz by Queen. - La valse d'Amélie by Yann Tiersen - You mentioned Army Dreamers but Kate Bush also wrote Ran Tan Waltz, Sat In you Lap, Symphony In Blue and Suspended in Gaffa in 3/4

Quite a few songs from the 90s Legends Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine are in 3/4. Songs like The Taking of Peckham 123 (even counts the waltz time in the title). Their lead singer Jim Bob has continued the use of 3/4 into his solo work to this day. Blur often dropped into 3/4 in their more um pah pah moments.

Nick Cave have written in 3/4: "People ain't no good" and "The Carny", perhaps more. First I thought "Where the wild roses grow" and "Henry Lee" also belonged there, but after seeing your 3/4 vs 6/8 video I assume they are in the latter.

“Piano Man” 3/4 Billy Joel “Fooled around and fell in love” 6/8 “Elvin Bishop “Lights” 6/8 “Journey “ Take it to the Limit”- 3/4 Eagles (swung a little “….

My favorite Scott Joplin rag (the popular music of its day) is a waltz, “Bethena.” I would love for you to take a look at the ragtime genre and show how syncopation, which is the heart of ragtime, appears in modern popular music.

One of my favorites is Back in Judy's Jungle, by Brian Eno.

I can't wait for the ten hour long 4/4 video

A popular French song in 3/4 is Love Story by Indila but as most people you could perceive the song to be in a slow 12/8 since it is a rather fast(er) 3/4. Another popular French song in 3/4 is the title track of the movie Ratatouille Le Festin

It better have Piano Man on the list edit: come one man, that's probably the most famous 3/4 song ever.

Led Zeppelin has quite a few bluesy songs in 3/4, e.g. You Shook Me, Dazed and Confused (original by Jake Holmes, as you know) and Since I've Been Loving You

Nightporter by Japan and Maid of Orleans by OMD are two hits from the 80s, both in 3/4

Other 3/4 classic rock songs. Some of my personal fave rock songs in 3/4 (sometimes 6/8) time signature There are many others in 3/4. * Stranglers - Golden Brown * Eagles - Take It To The Limit * Goo Goo Dolls - Iris * REM - Everybody Hurts * Beatles - Happiness Is A Warm Gun * Beatles - Baby's In Black * Beatles - Norwegian Wood * Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds * Beatles - I Me Mine * Beatles - I Want You (She's So Heavy) mix of signatures but the long coda is 3/4 * Beach Boys - Surfer Girl * Journey - Open Arms * Queen - We Are The Champions * Many artists - A Taste Of Honey * System of A Down - Lonely Day * Billy Joel - Piano Man * Corrs - Runaway * Tom Waits - Innocent When You Dream * Sonny & Cher - I Got You Babe * Muse - Blackout * Bon Jovi - Bed Of Roses * Bob Dylan - Times They Are A Changin' * Julie Rogers - The Wedding * Elvis Presley - Are You Lonesome Tonight

3/4 is to me the uncanny wally to 6/8. 6/8 is probably my favorit time signatur, it just feels so smooth to me, like a big wave. 3/4 on the other hand is one of my least favorit time signaturs, to me it feels like bad imitation or a parody of 6/8. But in songs lige Metallica - One it feels to me more like 6/8 that 3/4, so I can still clearly not tell the difference.