Writing a song in 15/8
I’ve always liked unusual time signatures and many of my songs do not follow the usual 4/4 rock/pop/punk time signature. For example, “Closer to you” is in 7/4 and the verse for “Chirpy Wheels” is in 9/4.
However, over the last few months, as a direct result from reading and studying a couple of songwriting books, I’ve found myself writing more songs in 4/4. This is a habit I want to get myself out of.
Earlier this week, I came up with a melody idea that fitted a 15/8 rhythm (with notes grouped as follows: 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2) and I decided to expand it into a song (tentatively named “my first grey hair”). I’m not sure if the song will come together but I’m pretty excited about it right now. It is going to be a challenge to program the drums for it but I can hear it in my head!
I also wrote a song called “leftover” last week, and the time signature is 5/4. This is a slow sad song (with a hopeful ending) and I am hoping to record it this month.
My love for unusual time signatures is weird, considering that I mostly listen to music in 4/4 and I seldom listen to jazz, the type of music most often associated with unusual time signatures. I guess I just dance in a funny way! Perhaps it expresses a kind of meeting between my love of mathematics and my love for the unexpected.
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