3/2 Time signature has a habit of panicking people however, in my opinion, it’s one of the best time signatures for traditional music.
The reason that I love this time signature is that it plays like a 4/4 reel but with additional notes added to each bar - this results in an intense feeling of drive within the music because bar two gives the effect of having played 4 bars within 4/4 but with an abrupt ending before we've resolved to the repeat.
This was a far more common time signature hundreds of years ago within traditional music - especially within hornpipes, but it’s sadly fallen to the conformity of counting in 4 or 8 within music.
The best description I can give of the pleasure of 3/2 is if you ever try looking at one of those ‘magic eye’ pictures whereby it looks like a random pattern until you then see a 3D image and then…. then you get it.
Here’s a good example of the 3/2 tune ‘An Drochaid Chliùiteach’ (The Twisted Bridge). It’s the last tune that the great Martyn Bennett plays in this set on Scottish smallpipes.
You are most welcome to browse, download and play any of the compositions. All compositions remain copyright © John C Grant.
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