Claptoscore

Rhythm reading lessons › Lesson 10 of 19

Six-eight time

Two beats per bar, each divided in three.

Start, then tap
EnterListen
On a phone, tap the card

Play it in real music

  1. Flamenco · Cádiz, AndalusiaAlegrías12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  2. Flamenco · Jerez de la Frontera, AndalusiaBulerías12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  3. Flamenco · Cádiz, Jerez and Seville, AndalusiaSeguiriya1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
  4. Latin American · West Africa and Cuba6/8 bell pattern1 la li 2 la li 3 la li 4 la li
  5. Latin American · Argentina (Santiago del Estero)Chacarera1 2 3 4 5 6

More about this lesson

6/8 holds six eighth notes, but you feel two beats, each a dotted quarter. The click follows those two beats, so each click holds three eighths.

Quarter-eighth is the typical long-short 6/8 figure. It feels like a triplet in 4/4, because it is the same division of the beat.

FigureCountKodály syllables
Three eighths1 la li 2 la litri-o-la
Quarter + eighth1 (la) lita-ti
Dotted quarter1 (la li)ta-i-i

Simple and compound time

In simple time, such as 2/4 and 4/4, each beat divides into two. In compound time each beat divides into three. 6/8 is the most common compound meter: six eighth notes in a bar, grouped 3 + 3, which gives two beats that are each a dotted quarter long. That is why the eighth notes are beamed in threes.

6/8 is not 3/4

Both bars hold six eighth notes, but they are grouped differently. 3/4 has three beats of two eighths: "1 & 2 & 3 &". 6/8 has two beats of three eighths: "1 la li 2 la li". Clap six even eighths and accent every second note, then every third note, and you will hear the difference at once.

Where you hear it

6/8 has a swaying or skipping feel. It is the meter of jigs, of barcarolles (boat songs) and of marches such as Sousa's "The Washington Post". At slow tempos conductors sometimes beat all six eighths, but the two big beats are still felt underneath.

Further reading