97% of pop is in 4/4... let’s look at the 3% that's not

this video was made possible by HD piano learn the best songs on piano at hdpiano.com we all know that 44 time is the most common time signature particularly in pop music but how common is it well I've just listened to the top 40 bestselling songs of each year from the year 2000 to the present day and I noted down what time signature or time signatures the songs were using and what I found is that 96.5 7% of 21st century pop music is in 44 time so that's quite a lot but what about the other 3.43% what time signatures are those songs using well today we're going to go through the 32 pop songs from this Century that aren't in 44 time let's start on the year 2000 and work our way to the present day now in fact in the year 2000 all 40 of the bestselling songs of that year were actually just in 44 time so let's move straight on to the year 2001 where we find our first non four4 Pop Song of the century and it's falling by Alicia Keys in falling is in 68 time that means that we have six eighth notes in each bar of the music but in practice what this actually means is that we effectively have two main beats in the bar which are each divided into 38 notes so it's a bit like being in two four time with triplets on each beat that's what 68 time [Music] is so let's move on to 2002 and here we once again get one song that's not in 44 time and also once again it's in 68 time you're soon going to realize that 68 is basically the second most common time signature we have this song is Hero by Chad Kroger of Nickelback Fame featuring Josie Scot I'm stand 203 we once again have one song that's not in 44 time and it's once again in 68 time it's I'm with you by Chad Kroger's wife [Music] aine so now we arrive at 2004 and for the first time we have not one not two but three songs that are not in four four time in the top 40 bestselling songs of the year and we have another Alicia Keys track If I Ain't Got You Want It All But I don't want to it you baby If I Ain't Got You is in 3 four time although it's a swung 3 four time effectively meaning we have triplets on each beat of the bar so you could think of this as being in 98 time but pretty much every transcription I could find put it in three four times so I'm going to count it as a three four song 2004 also gave us ha by Outcast if we look at the notation for he we can see that there is some 4 four there but the thing is it's not all 4 four h is an example of a song in a mixed meter because it changes between two different meters 44 and 24 H is based on a six bar Loop where we get three bars of 44 one bar of two four and then two more bars of 44 and the third song from this year that wasn't completely in 44 is the song Overnight Celebrity by twister but the thing is this song actually is largely in 44 it just has an intro in 68 oh you didn't think we can do it again twist so I've included it here but it is sort of just another song in 4 four time [Music] really okay moving on to the Year 2005 and we get two non four4 songs and they're both in 68 we have Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly I'll do what it take and we have you and me by life house now as we enter the second half of the decade we arrive in what I would describe as the era of Shuffle because as you'll now see for the rest of the decade the only Divergence from 44 time we're going to get is 128 time for example in 2006 we got SOS by Rihanna EXC me 128 time is effectively the same as 44 time but with a triplet on each beat of the bar because of this songs in 128 will sometimes still be transcribed in 44 but with triplets because each of the four beats of the bar now divides down into three eth notes rather than just two like it would in 44 it gives the music this skating swinging sound that we describe as a shuffle and this Shuffle sound really came into fashion in the second half of the 2000s in 2007 we got the Sweet Escape by Gwen [Music] Stefani in 2008 we got two different songs in 128 I Kissed A G by Katy [Music] Perry and So What by [Music] Pink in 200 n we got another two songs in 128 time Right Round by FL [Music] Rider and womanizer by Britney [Music] spars 2010 we got Cooler Than Me by Mike Posner which is in 128 [Music] time now the same year there was another song just haven't met you yet by Michael bé which I almost wanted to count as a 128 song but I've instead counted it as a four4 [Music] song and this is because it sometimes isn't that clear whether to consider a song in a swung 44 time or in 128 time some transcriptions of just haven't met you yet put it in 44 but with an instruction to swing the Rhythm like this and some put it in 128 this is because as I mentioned earlier both 128 and 44 have four beats in the bar but in 128 it's effectively like we have triplets on each beat of the bar any song that's in a swung 4 four time could technically be transcribed in 128 but sometimes it would sort of over complicate things the way I see it is if the song is regularly making use of all three of the eth notes then it's more efficient to transcribe it and think about it in 128 time for example we can see this in CER Than Me by Mike pner the simp is playing on every single note of the triplet so if we did put this in 44 time we would have to just use loads of triplets all the time but in some songs they're only really making use of the first and third note of the triplet so we can effectively still think about it as normal eighth notes but just instruct the performer to swing it and this is the case on a few songs that I've actually glossed over so far for example Holiday by Green Day which came out in [Music] 2005 and love song by Sarah ber Alis which came out in [Music] 2008 technically you could transcribe these songs in 128 but I think they're better counted as 44 with swing as you can see sometimes putting a time signature against a piece of music can kind of complicate it more than it needs to be Rhythm and meter is often something that musicians feel innately subconsciously and therefore reading the Rhythm off a page of sheet music can for some musicians make it harder to learn song in fact today's sponsor HD piano offers a really great alternative way to learn songs at the piano that involves no sheet music they have a massive library of famous songs where they're all presented in this really accessible tutorial system where the notes fall from the top and all you have to do is play along to get started learning songs today with HD piano use the links Down Below in the description thanks very much now if we move on to 2011 we actually have a great example of 44 and 128 used in the same song That Song Is Just Can't Get Enough by blackeyed peas this song starts in very much normal straight 44 time but later on it shifts to a shuffle fill it shifts to 12 eight times switch [Music] up so let's go on to 2012 and in 2012 there was one song in the top 40 bestselling song songs of the year that wasn't in 44 and it was the song I Won't Give Up by Jason moratz which was in 68 [Music] time in 2013 there was no non four4 songs in the top 40 bestselling songs so let's move straight on to 2014 where we get two songs we get Say Something by A Great Big World which is in 68 time say something I'm giving on you and we also get Latch by Disclosure featuring Sam Smith which is in 128 time 2015 we get earned it by the weekend which is in 68 time per and we also get quite an interesting example take me to church by hosia I've actually made a dedicated analysis video about the song before so check that out for finer detail but effectively this song starts in either 34 or 64 depending on where you count the [Music] tempoal and then for the chorus it moves to 44 2016 we got dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande which is in 68 time Mak me feel like 2017 we got love on the brain by Rihanna which is in 68 time and we also got Believer by Imagine Dragons which is in 12 a times 2018 we got two songs in 128 time Young Blood by 5 Seconds of [Music] Summer and Perfect by Ed [Music] Shar Perfect by Ed sharan is a good example of how when 128 gets slower when it's played at a slower Tempo it starts to sound less like 44 but with triplets on each bar and starts to sound more like 68 time when it's at a slower Tempo 128 can effectively just be thought of as two bars of 68 glued together and sure enough if we look at different transcriptions for perfect some of them are in 68 time once again showing how they can be crossover between different time signatures 2019 once again gave us no non four4 songs so we move on to 2020 which gave us one before you go by Louis kalii which is in 128 times so before you go in 2021 we got the song traitor by Olivia Rodrigo which is in 68 [Music] time [Music] feel 2022 we got another 68 song Wasted On You by Morgan Wallen wasted on [Music] you in 2022 we also got something in the orange by Zack Brian which has a meter that can be thought of in a couple different ways personally I would describe it as a mixed meter of 68 and 98 so we're regularly switching back and forth between bars of 68 and 98 I don't know much there's no all but I've also seen transcriptions of this song in 3 four time which does make it a little bit easier to read Because you no longer have to keep switching the time signature but it's a less true description of what the meter is actually doing here and that takes us to our last complete year which is 23 where we got two non4 four songs rock and a hard place by Bailey Zimmerman which is a very similar example to If I Ain't Got You by Alicia Keys it's in 34 but the 34 is swung so you could see it as 98 time and Ella B Sola by eson armado and peso pluma which was in 68 time [Music] so that's it we can see that if a pop song's not going to be in 44 it will likely be in 68 or 128 maybe 34 and maybe in a mixed meter as you can see there's no odd meters here like 54 or 74 but that doesn't mean that there's not been any 54 or 74 pop songs in the century they just haven't made it into the top 40 bestselling songs of that year for example in 2014 hosia released from Eden which is in 54 time and I would count it as a pop song but as you can see it didn't do quite well enough to get into the year- end charts another example would be Taylor Swift in 2020 who released two different songs in 54 time tolerate and closure which I would consider pop songs but they weren't released as singles tolerate did wind up charting in certain areas but it certainly didn't become a worldwide hit and wasn't one of the 40 bestselling songs of the year and this lack of odd meters in the top 40 bestselling songs of the Year isn't even just a 21st century thing one of the best known examples of an odd meter song is Money by Pink Floyd released in 1973 but despite being a relatively big hit it was only the 92nd bestselling song in the US charts that year so still very far off the top 40 bestselling songs of that year so there we have the 32 pop songs of the 21st century that diverg from Pure 4 four time as we just mentioned just looking at the top 40 bestselling songs of each year doesn't necessarily mean we hear every significant song that came out that year so do let me know in the comments down below if you can think of any significant non4 four songs that came out in the last 24 years [Music] [Music]

Channel: David Bennett Piano

Views: 899,003

Keywords: 4/4 time, pop music, 3/4 time, 6/8 time, 12/8 time, mixed meter, billboard, 21st century, music theory

Id: AcAUcbwI8QE

Length: 15min 25sec (925 seconds)

Published: Mon May 06 2024