So, I realize that I mistook compound meters for complex meters. I think that's the correct term. Compound meters are beats that are further subdivided, like 6/8s. Complex meters are meters out of the ordinary, particularly with an odd number of beats. Here's the workshop prep I've done for the topic. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
Complex and Mixed Meters
Complex meters are meters with a mix of duple and triple meters. Mixed meters are similar but have sections of the tune in more than one meter. For instance, sixteen measures of 4/4 and then the bridge in ¾. Complex meters examples are 5/4, 7/4, etc.
I’ve assembled seven tunes that we can use to explore this concept. Once again, with the intention of making our performances more fun for us and our audience. If there’s interest among the combo, we can explore any or all of them, or not. I do think this is a more esoteric topic and might not appeal to everyone. I’m also a bit out of my depth on this so I’m not sure that some of my arrangements work. I don’t regret the effort though because I learned a lot by doing it.
You’re probably already familiar with
Take Five and Dave Brubeck’s albums,
Time Out and
Time Further Out.
Take Five is in 5/4, counted as 3/4 followed by a 2/4 but you can split complex meters any way you like, so 3+2 or 2+3 or 4+1 or 1+4.
I’ve included
Take Five and if there’s interest, we can practice it. Here’s a
link to the tune on YouTube.
An exercise you might find interesting: During the guitar+bass+drums workshop at Jamey’s camp a few years ago, Corey Christiansen answered a question by suggesting that we play
All the Things You Are through a variety of meters. We started in 2/2, then ¾, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, and finished with 7/4. It was a tough, but fun exercise. The main thing I took away from it was how well
AtTYA worked in 7/4. Of course, it worked well in ¾ and 4/4 too, but 2/2, 5/4, and 6/4 weren’t as interesting.
My experience has been that playing in 5/4 and 7/4 isn’t difficult as an accompanist but is challenging to play the melody and solo. The melody’s challenging if I already know the tune in 4/4 or ¾ and now have to add or subtract a beat from what I’m used to. After Corey’s lesson, I introduced the tune,
AtTYA in 7/4, to my band at the time and we played it a few times before I abandoned it. The rhythm section was pretty solid but the soloists were incoherent and they weren’t interested enough to practice it, so… not really interested.
Next, is Corey’s
AtTYA in 7/4 counted in 4+3. I think that works very well is pretty easy to play and I find it more interesting in 7/4 than 4/4.
and now I see I left out a repeat bar after the intro...
And then
Autumn Leaves in 7/4 but reversed from
AtTYA and counted as 3+4. I think that also works very well.
Next, All of Me in 5/4, counted as 2+3. I find it interesting and think it works but I’m not sure I’d play it frequently but see how you feel. Here’s a playalong with the bass in
two. Here it is with the bass
walking.
Then, a challenge, I’ve arranged Dolphin Dance in 5/4 and two versions, one counted as 2+3 and the other as 3+2. I don’t think the 2+3 version works because one of the tune’s concepts is to start on the last half of the measure and either end before the next measure or hit the one in the next measure, so that means that the 3, 4& and the 1-beats are important and the 2+3 version doesn’t maintain that concept. The 3+2 version does a better job and is pretty interesting to me. But, see what you think. Here’s a playalong in
3+2 and the
3+2 version.
And I’ve included an arrangement that one of my teachers arranged – Adam Cohen – that I heard him once when I went to hear his band. I told him how interesting I found his arrangement and he emailed me a pdf. It’s of the Cole Porter tune,
I Love You, arranged at first in 4/4 and then switches to a waltz and then switching to a bossa. It also includes a very interesting key change and I like Adam’s arrangement of it. I don’t find it particularly challenging to play but I think it’s a lot of fun and is a cool arrangement.
I’ve made pdfs for everything and playalongs for some. I skipped playalongs for
Autumn Leaves and
AtTYA because I didn’t think they were necessary but let me know if you’d like one and I’ll see what I can do. I do have playalongs for
All of Me,
Dolphin Dance – both versions, and
I Love You. Unfortunately, I did have to get resourceful in creating the playalongs because, my usual go-to’s, iRealPro and Band in a Box, aren’t up to the task. Neither handle complex meters well. I was able to get
I Love You in iRealPro but couldn’t get it in one document and had to split it into two. Here’s
page one and here’s
page two. Not ideal, but probably workable. For
All of Me and
Dolphin Dance, the best I could do was add a bass line to the melody and have Finale render a recording. No drums nor harmony and it’s a bit stiff but it gave me a feel for how it could sound, but maybe that’s my bassist bias talking.
