What is the Difference between 3/4 and 6/8 Time? 

"3/4 and 6/8 are different" Math teacher: "Wait that's illegal"

I understood the difference technically but hearing the beats played near the end made the difference much more obvious. Thanks

Wow, you're also a magician. Did anyone else notice the drum stick just disappear at 3:23! 🤣🤣

I guess you could say 6/8 is twice as good as 3/4

i enjoyed the video but I have trouble with the explanation. Take the waltz. It is generally written in 3/4 time. The pulse is the quarter note. The waltz is counted 123,123 . And yes, since there are two 1/8 notes in a quarter note, it turns out if when you are slow waltzing there are going to be 1/8th notes in the piece. With the 1/8 notes playing you have in effect 1 and 2 and 3 and. In 6/8 the pulse is the eighth note. You also have accent on the first beat and an accent on the fourth beat , which sounds a lot like 123 , 123 (although I would say the accent on the 4th beat is not as strong as on the 1st beat) In 6/8 the 1/8 note is the beat, so it would be fair to make the same argument you did with 3/4 time, namely: Suppose you divide the 1/8 notes in half, and play 2 1/16th notes instead of one 1/8 note. Counting with those sixteenth notes sounds like 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and. So this explanation although popular seems a little arbitrary: 1) 3/4 time is 123,.123 ..and when you divide the main pulse in half you get 1 + 2+ 3+ 2) 6/8 is where you count 123,456 , the accent is on the one and the four ...and we don't mention that we could divide the main pulse in half. The only way out of this trap is to say that 3/4 time pieces are written at slower pulses than the 6/8 pieces, and so are more likely to have eighth notes in them. And 6/8 pieces are quite fast enough pulses that you are not encouraged to throw in any 16th notes. Instead if you consider the first beat as the one that is most accented, then if it takes 2 less accented beats until that most accented beat returns, you have 3/4. If it takes 5 more beats to get there, you should write it as 6/8. Listen to the bass or the rhythm section or the voice for when they lay on the big accent, it will tell you.

I have watched like 10 videos explaining this... this is the one that I actually understood clearly... 🤘

who decided that 6/8 should be defined as two sets of three? I guess you don't explain this in the video because there is no logical explanation for this, it's just an arbitrary convention.

wow, that 6/8 time is really groovey.

But do I have to group 6/8 as 1+2+3 4+5+6? I don't see a reason why I can't group the 6/8 as 1+2 3+4 5+6. And in this case it is identical to 3/4. So are they still different time signatures in this case too? Still confused! Someone help!

EVERYTHING I KNEW WAS A LIE

Guy in the video: the difference between 6/8 and 3/4 Prog rock fans: what?

Wow, that was so straight to the point, great video!

how i came here: - was listening to David Bowie - went to his Wiki page - said something about glam rock and artrock - clicked on artrock - said something about 9/8 and 12/9 - i was confused and started googling god i need to start studying Math oops

I was totally expecting the same beat beat but a different hi-hat accent. You know like how you were explaining it. You were playing a different beat for 6/8

3/4 SIMPLE triple time (3 beats in a bar) 6/8 COMPOUND duple time (2 beats in a bar)

This made so much sense 😀. I now understand 3/4 and 6/8 time 🙏🏻 thanks and God bless

See, El Paso still sounds like 6/8 to me Bob. I can totally hear it when you play the 6/8 example.

I still don’t get it... I must be an idiot

3/4 time, strong weak weak, strong weak weak. 6/8 time, strong weak weak, medium weak weak. Think “bibity bobity boo.

Wow! Finally found the answer after all these years lol

I use Distrokid to publish my music! Here's the (paid) link: distrokid.com/vip/seven/621956 A 7% discount is applied when using this link!

Great video. Just throwing in my tuppence, for what it's worth. Doesn't the placing of the snare give a clue to what time signature it is? Generally beat 3 in 3/4 and beat 4 in 6/8? Always learning...!

Thanks alot sir for explaining it so nicely.. That means it depend on accent actually..

Accent placement, cheat code

Is it possible that a drummer needs to play both 3/4 and 6/8 in the same song? And is this common?

so the only difference is the accent?

Apekz bought me here

Very good explanation. The Jazz Standard Waltz for Debby's time signature is 3/4 but it seems to sound like 6/8 time when you add up two bars. It would be nice to hear your feedback.

Not just counting. For 3/4 vs 6/8 they sound and feel significantly different. They are subdivided differently and have a different number of strong beats per measure.

"Money" by Pink Floyd is in 6/8. The solo is in 4/4, but what a meld.

Thank you so much Bob, going through some self learning on time signatures, this is the most clear lesson I've seen on the topic. Cheers!

I can't even get 4/4 done, why am I here? I'm getting into writing but I'm fucking horrible at rhythm.

hm, I always thought 3/4 would be counted in groups of 3, not 2. I thought my music theory teacher explained it as the top number being how notes many in the measure, and the bottom being the type of note. like for 3/4 the stress would be on 1 and repeat. I guess this makes sense to me, it’s just harder to wrap my head around the concept. it also sounds like 6/8 beats are way more common than 3/4 according to your examples at the end

Thanks, working on tabbing a song for guitar for the first time, and this helped me understand and realise that the song should be 6/8, not 3/4.

God I hate sticklers like this who insist that these time signatures are different. They’re not. That’s just some snobby semantics bs.

Yes! This is it. I was having a hard time figuring out how to explain this to someone. It's been too many years since high school band. ;) Thanks so much for this.

quality

Cool !

Good

Well done Bob ... really brought the differences home for me. Thank you.

You are “the man” !! Thanks for making this as clear as possible.

I think I have the better answer here. Whats the difference between 3/4 and 6/8? The numbers.

So then isn't one bar of 6/8 exactly the same as two bars of 3/4?

Thanks you soo much :D I am trying to understand all this and you helped alot

I remember the Ah-Ha moment for me when I was in 11th grade. It was for All State Band, and I kind of fell into (I'm not a super strong player). And the explanation of the grouping in 6/8 came up, and it finally clicked.

its not called three quarter time, its called three four time. You have the most basic part of this incorrect

Thank you Bob. Such a joy to find someone who can explain these musical concepts with such clarity and ease

Allman Brothers - Whipping Post - 6/8 then?

Man, you're my hero. What I couldn't understand in my national language, reading loooot of tutorials, you explained me in 4 minutes.

i was looking for something else but this is helpful so thanks

This is how stuff should be explained. Thank you Bob

I think of 6/8 as two sets of three notes rather than three sets of two.

Thanks very much for your clear demonstration. I had watched many other clips but did not understood until I watched yours. I know now the accents do make the differences.

Apekz Cadiente sent me here

Why 6/8 and not 2/4 in quarter note triplet?

I think the confusion comes with the eight-notes in 6/8 against the quarter-notes of the 3/4 over a fast tempo, in which you would only feel the first beat accented. Isn't it?

I get the difference. I always have. And this is a good explanation. My problem is that I can't seem to find ANY pop/rock music that's actually in 3/4 time. Everything's in 6/8 or in a common time signature using triplets. I have this whole book full of drum grooves in 3/4 time (Funky Thesaurus, a classic), but I am not finding any slow-3/4 songs to which I can apply them (typical waltz time is way too fast for the 8th notes in the grooves). Searching online for lists of songs written in 3/4 turns up results written by people who can't tell the difference between 3/4 and 6/8. While driving home from work a couple weeks ago, I did hear a song on the radio that was actually 3/4 and I remember exclaiming to myself "hey, that's actually 3/4!" but for the life of me I can't remember what it was, and the DJ didn't name it.

This helps a lot, Bob - thanks! ☝️😎

But why are they grouped in sets of 3 for 6/8 ?

Great video! The emphasis on the accenting is what makes this so easy to understand. Thanks for the great work!

Wonderful explanation! Right to the point.

YOU ROCK, BOB!

Old man's knowledge. Awesome, great work! Thanks teacher.

Thank you Bob!

Never can understand why they thumbs down videos like this one. Can't please 'em all eh?

Ok, super helped me a lot. Now I need to hear the difference between a 2/4 & 4/4

Thanks!

Thanks Bob for the clarification. You are an amazing teacher. 💕👍😁

But WHY there are 2 sets of 3 in 6/8? What would it be in 12/16? Are there time signatures like (6/4) (6/16) (3/8) (3/2)?

Is 3/4 used typically for slower songs? Like hymns

What would be 12/16 then?

I love the drum sample because I only got it when it was demonstrated thank you so much!!!!!!

I don't trust his tom position

Thanks! Finally I understood the difference, congrats on the video!

Just a quick question: is john mayer's gravity 6/8 or 3/4? I can feel its 6/8 but most of search results says its 3/4

Good explanation but it hurts my soul when you say 3 quarters time.

Great lesson sir !!! Thank you so much, it's great to watch this video, now i do understand the difference !!! God bless sir

nice video, so dificulted for me😪 big up for the tutorials.

Thanks!

I just don't get why, in 6/8 time, the eighth notes have to be grouped in two groups of three, and not three groups of two. Either way, there would still be six eighth notes, so why does it have to be the first way? Is that just the way it is?

Awesome. Cheers. Clear, conicse. Brilliant

This was very helpful Bob. Clearly up all my confusions.

Thank you!

❤ ❤❤❤❤

Love me some 6/8 and 3/4 \m/ As well 4/4 and... what's your favs? 7/8? 9/8?

Well done. Can I say that the point is the location of accent instead of timing for these two time signatures ？

Thanks so much! This is very helpful

Thank you so much! This is really helpful

Super helpful thanks. Why are 8th notes in 6/8 time grouped into two groups of 3? I see why in 3/4 it is since you have two notes per beat, but that rule doesn't apply to 6/8. Is that a personal choice?

This guy is fantastic

If you play a 3/4 with eight notes on the hi hat, is it a 3/8 then ?

就这老头讲的简单易懂！谢谢啦！

Cool, now I just gotta figure out how to strum to 6/8

Very clear Bob, thank you.

Thanks.. very clean explanation.

👍❤

Great video. Really helpful

Best explanation on you tube!🥁🏆

Literally came right here after seeing 6/8 on a sheet but looks 3/4 for me😂