Meter guide · 10–15 minutes

How to count 7/8 time

Group the seven eighth notes in twos and threes. Each group gives you one pulse, with the group of three lasting one eighth note longer.

By Matt · GigClick developer and drummer

Why 7/8 can sound unfamiliar

If most of the music you listen to is in 4/4, you are used to a steady pulse: four evenly spaced pulses in each bar. You can follow that pattern without counting because you have heard it so often.

In 7/8, the eighth notes are usually grouped into pulses of different lengths. For example, 2+2+3 gives you two short pulses and one longer pulse. The eighth notes stay evenly spaced, but the pulses do not. If you are expecting the familiar pattern of 4/4, this can take some getting used to.

Research suggests that the rhythms we hear growing up affect how well we recognise timing changes. In one study, Turkish listeners detected changes in both simple rhythms and uneven rhythms familiar from Turkish music equally well. American listeners did better with the simple rhythms. Both groups found the unfamiliar, more complex rhythms harder.

Research: Familiarity overrides complexity in rhythm perception (Hannon, Soley and Ullal, 2012).

For practice, start by listening to the songs below and counting along. Give yourself time to get used to the grouping before trying to play a difficult part over it.

What the numbers in 7/8 mean

The bottom number tells you which note to count. The top number tells you how many fit in a bar. In 7/8, you count seven eighth notes per bar.

2 eighthsshort pulse

3 eighthslong pulse

2 + 2 + 3 = 7/8

Two short pulses and one long pulse make seven eighth notes: 2+2+3.

How to find the pulses

The time signature tells you there are seven eighth notes in the bar. To find the pulses, listen to the accents, bass line and chord changes. These help you hear where each group starts.

Both numbers in the time signature matter. A bar of 7/8 counts seven eighth notes; a bar of 7/4 counts seven quarter notes and is roughly twice as long. They are different meters, and most songs people call “7/8” are actually the second one.

Check the grouping

Different songs can use different 7/8 groupings
The grouping can change during a song
Each eighth note is not necessarily a pulse you would tap

Choose the grouping that matches the music. If your count does not fit the riff, listen again before raising the tempo.

How to count each grouping

Seven can be built from two short pulses and one long pulse. Moving the long pulse changes the character of the bar without changing the time signature.

2 + 2 + 3short · short · long

3 + 2 + 2long · short · short

2 + 3 + 2short · long · short

2 + 2 + 2 + 1four pulses · short last pulse

The first three patterns contain the same two short and one long pulse in different orders. In 2+2+2+1, the last pulse is half as long as the others.

How to count each pulse aloud

Give each group its own number, then fill in the eighth notes inside it. A group of two is 1 &. A group of three is 1 & a. So 2+2+3 is counted “1 & 2 & 3 & a”: three numbered pulses, with the last one an eighth note longer than the others.

The other orders follow the same rule. 3+2+2 is “1 & a 2 & 3 &”, and 2+3+2 is “1 & 2 & a 3 &”. Accent the start of each pulse until you can keep the grouping without thinking about it.

Some music feels like four pulses with the last one half as long. GigClick’s 7/8 preset uses 2+2+2+1 for that feel, counted “1 & 2 & 3 & 4” — the fourth pulse contains just one eighth note. When the music uses one of the three-pulse patterns above, create a custom 7/8 meter and enter the matching grouping.

GigClick shows these same syllables on screen and plays a click for each one in meter mode. You can follow the display as you count aloud.

Check by tapping the pulse

Try tapping just the start of each group. If your taps keep matching the music, you have probably found the grouping. If they do not, try a different order.

Listen for the phrase

Where the bass, chord or main accent marks a group start
Where the phrase seems to land
Where the long group falls in relation to beat 1
Whether you can keep tapping the pulse without counting every eighth note

The same grouping can feel different depending on the melody and accents. Follow the phrase rather than forcing a standard pattern onto it.

Songs in 7/8 and their groupings

Counting a grouping on paper is one thing; recognising it in a song is another. Play these and try to tap only the group starts, ignoring everything in between.

Hear how 3+3+1, 3+2+2 and 2+2+3 change the pulse, with GigClick counting over each riff.

3+3+1RunShihad · the intro alternates 7/8 and 4/4; the 7/8 bar puts the short pulse last

2+2+3Jocko HomoDEVO · the clearest one to start with; count the “are we not men?” verse

2+2+3Them BonesAlice in Chains · the riff is in seven, the chorus moves to 4/4

2+2+3MotherThe Police · Andy Summers, from Synchronicity

2+2+3Ergen DedaLe Mystère des Voix Bulgares · where these groupings come from

3+2+2RubyloveYusuf / Cat Stevens · Greek bouzouki feel, the long pulse first

Each title opens the recording on YouTube. Groupings can be heard more than one way — if a song feels like a different order to you, trust that and count it your way.

How to find a song’s grouping

Put a song on and tap only what feels like a main pulse, ignoring the written count. Then count how many eighth notes fit between your taps. If the gaps come out as two, two and three, you have found 2+2+3 without needing anyone to tell you.

In GigClick

Build the grouping you hear as a custom 7/8 meter, set the click to sound only on group starts, and play along with the recording. If your click and the riff stay locked for a full verse, the grouping is right.

What to check in song lists

Most published “songs in 7/8” lists mix in 7/4
Some songs change grouping between sections
A riff in seven does not mean the whole song is

Trust the recording over any list, including this one. Tap along and count the gaps yourself.

The difference between 7/8 and 7/4

If you have searched for songs in 7/8 before, you have probably been given these. They are all in seven, and they are all worth learning — but they count seven quarter notes, not seven eighth notes.

7/4MoneyPink Floyd · the most-cited “song in seven” of all

7/4Solsbury HillPeter Gabriel · the rolling acoustic figure

7/4SpoonmanSoundgarden

7/4OutshinedSoundgarden · the other one

7/4Estimated ProphetGrateful Dead

7/4WhiplashHank Levy · the big band chart from the film

7/47/4 (Shoreline)Broken Social Scene · settles the argument in its title

Seven quarter notes per bar, not seven eighths. The bar is roughly twice as long as a 7/8 bar at the same written tempo.

How to tell them apart

Ask how fast the notes you are counting go past. In 7/4 the seven counts are broad and unhurried, and each one can comfortably hold a backbeat or a full chord. In 7/8 the seven counts fly by, which is exactly why you stop counting all of them and group them into threes and twos instead.

There is a second clue. A 7/4 bar is often heard as 4+3 — a normal bar of four with a bar of three attached. A 7/8 bar is usually heard as three or four uneven pulses. If the song feels like “4/4 with a bit extra”, you are almost certainly in 7/4.

In GigClick

Both meters are available, and the display tells you which note the BPM counts. That is the setting to check before you save the song — the same number means different speeds in 7/8 and 7/4.

Also not 7/8

“YYZ” by Rush — the intro is 10/8
“Whipping Post” by the Allman Brothers — 11/8
A 9/8 bar grouped 3+3+3 — odd number, even feel

An odd top number does not always mean the pulses have different lengths. The grouping tells you more than the number does.

How to practise 7/8

If the grouping is still uncertain, adding the instrumental part gives you more to think about. Say it and clap it first, then play it.

Practice steps for 2+2+3

Say the grouping aloud. Say “short short long” in time, then count it: “1 & 2 & 3 & a”. No instrument yet.
Set the click to play only on group starts. Set GigClick to sound the three pulses and nothing else. Make the uneven pulse feel steady rather than rushed.
Play the riff, then raise the tempo. Play the simplest version of the riff first. Raise the BPM once you can keep the grouping steady.

The full seven-step version of this progression, including gap training and the tempo trainer, is in the odd-meter guide.

A ten-minute practice session

2 min · say and clap the grouping
3 min · pulse click, simple part
2 min · full meter click
2 min · gap training
1 min · record and listen back

If the grouping becomes less clear as the tempo rises, slow down until you can count it comfortably again.

Counting other time signatures

The same short-and-long grouping counts 5/8, 9/8, 11/8 and 13/8. The odd-meter guide covers 6/8 and the larger meters, and GigClick saves each song’s grouping, BPM reference and accents so you do not have to set them up again on stage.