Meter guide · 10–15 minutes

How to count 6/8 and odd time signatures

Make the bar easier to count by grouping the eighth notes in twos and threes. Listen for those short and long groups in the music.

By Matt · GigClick developer and drummer

Why group the notes?

A time signature tells you how many notes fit in a bar, but not how those notes are phrased or how the bar feels. You can count seven eighth notes one by one, but musicians usually feel 7/8 as smaller groups of notes that form a musical phrase.

Most uneven bars become much more manageable when you hear them as combinations of two kinds of pulse: a short pulse containing two eighth notes, and a long pulse containing three. Instead of counting to seven, you might feel short–short–long: 2+2+3.

Listen to the accents, bass line, melody and chord changes to find where each group begins. Once you hear the groups, you can follow their repeating pattern.

Count the groups you hear in the music.

How to find the pulses

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.

Listening for group starts

Listen for where each group starts. Listen for repeating accents, bass notes and chord changes. Notice where the melody notes begin.
Tap only those main pulses. Some spaces will feel short and some long.
Count how many eighth notes fit between each tap. Each gap will usually contain two eighth notes or three.

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 6/8

A common mistake is to make 6/8 sound like six equal beats. In most 6/8 music, the eighth notes fall into two groups of three. The bar feels in two, and each main pulse is a dotted-quarter note.

Eighth notessix eighth notes

Pulses3 + 3

1& a2& a

You can count all six eighth notes, but put the emphasis on the start of each group.

How to count it

Try ONE & a TWO & a, with the weight on ONE and TWO. You can also say “one-two-three, two-two-three”. Whichever words you use, keep two equal groups of three.

In GigClick

GigClick’s 6/8 preset counts the bar in two. You can choose a click on just beats 1 and 2, or on all six eighth notes with a stronger click on 1 and 2. The display shows that the BPM counts dotted-quarter notes.

Listen for

Stronger accents on eighth notes 1 and 4
Two main beats, each lasting three eighth notes
Whether the melody suggests a different grouping

Some music uses accents or phrases that differ from the usual 3+3 feel. Follow what you hear.

Different ways to group 7/8

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 a 7/8 grouping

Give each group its own number, then fill in the eighth notes inside it. A group of two is 1 & and a group of three is 1 & a, so 2+2+3 is counted “1 & 2 & 3 & a”. Those are the syllables GigClick shows and clicks in meter mode, the same way 6/8 counts “1 & a 2 & a”.

Seven needs more explanation than the other meters here: how to pick the grouping that matches a riff, how to hear it in real songs, and why most famous “songs in seven” are in 7/4 rather than 7/8. That has its own guide.

How to count 7/8 time

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.

How to count 5/8, 9/8, 11/8 and 13/8

The same method works for larger meters. Listen for the repeating order of short groups of two and long groups of three instead of inventing a new count for every time signature.

5/82+3 or 3+2one short + one long

9/83+3+3three equal groups of three

9/82+2+2+3three short + one long

11/83+3+3+2three long + one short

13/83+3+2+2+3follow the phrase

These are examples, not defaults. The notes and accents in the music determine the useful grouping.

Why 9/8 can have equal or unequal pulses

Nine is an odd number, but 3+3+3 gives you three equal beats. The same nine eighth notes grouped 2+2+2+3 create an uneven four-pulse bar. “Odd time” is useful everyday language, but the grouping tells you more about what the music actually does.

The bottom number tells you which notes to count: /8 means eighth notes and /16 means sixteenth notes. Group them in the same way. Find the start of each main beat, then count how many notes fit inside it.

When the pattern changes

Write the groupings above the affected bars
Practise each shape separately first
Then loop the transition between them

A song can keep the same time signature while changing its grouping. Treat that as a musical transition, not as a counting failure.

How to practise the grouping

If the grouping is still uncertain, adding the instrumental part gives you more to think about. Learn the grouping by saying and clapping it first.

Seven practice steps

Say “short” and “long”. Speak your chosen grouping in time without an instrument, using short for two eighth notes and long for three.
Clap the group starts. Keep the underlying eighth notes with your voice or a quiet foot tap.
Set the click to play only on group starts. Set GigClick to click only on the group starts. Make the uneven pulse feel steady.
Add the full eighth-note count. Keep the start of each group louder so you can still hear the shape of the bar.
Start playing a simple version of the part. Start with the simplest version of the groove, riff or phrase, then add the remaining notes.
Try it without the click. Use Gap training to mute complete bars. Keep counting the same groups during the silent bars. Check whether you land with the click when it returns.
Raise the tempo once the grouping is steady. Use the tempo trainer to raise the BPM in small steps once you can keep the grouping steady.

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.

Saving each song’s meter and click settings

On stage, “this one is 120 BPM in 7/8” is not enough information. The grouping, BPM reference, click pattern and accents are part of the arrangement. Save them so you do not have to set them up again between songs.

Build the meterChoose the time signature and grouping that match the song
Choose the clickClick on group starts or all the eighth notes; choose which clicks to accent or mute
Save the songKeep its BPM, note value, meter, pattern and accents together
Load the setlistStep through songs with large previous and next controls

Using full screen mode on stage

Full screen mode keeps the count and setlist controls large enough to read and operate while playing. If the next song changes from straight 4/4 to a custom odd-meter grouping, you set that up at rehearsal instead of entering it between songs.

Before the gig

Confirm every odd-meter grouping at rehearsal
Check which note the BPM counts, not only the number
Try clicks on group starts and on all the eighth notes with the band
Run the setlist in order at least once

The metronome should remove decisions during the performance. Make those decisions while preparing the set.

Using GigClick for odd time signatures

Save each song’s tempo, grouping, accents and click pattern. When you load a setlist, every song opens with those settings ready.