So let’s look at 12/8 time. Hopefully you had a look at the earlier video
about 4/4 time, and in the 4/4 time, I explained that all it refers to is how we divide the
bar up. So, I’ve got a bar with 4 beats in it – 1,
2, 3, 4 – how do we divide those 4 beats up? In 4/4 time, I was saying we divide each of
the up into multiples of 2. So we’re either doing 8 – 1 and 2 and
3 and 4 and – or 16 – 1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a. In 12/8, you might’ve already worked this
out, it means we’ve got 12 eighth note hits.
So, what that means is each beat is broken
up, if we’re going to divide it by 4, means we’ve got 4 groups of 3. So we’ve got 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and
a. That’s 12 hits, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12. So we’re still feeling a 4 beat pulse – 1
and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a – and that’s 12/8. That’s all it means. So, again, to contrast it with 4/4 – 4/4,
we’re dividing it up into 8 or 16, like this: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and… Now, to move to 12/8, goes like this: 1 and
a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a… Notice my right hand hasn’t changed, so
the pulse is still the same, it’s just how we divide it that’s different. So this is 12/8… and now to go to 4/4… So hopefully that makes sense in the difference
between 4/4 and 12/8, and you can hear sort of a qualitative difference between them.
So one’s going… and the other one’s
going… First one’s 4/4, second one’s 12/8. – Learn how to play djembe and other African
drumming with African Drumming Online.