12/8 time signature

If 6/8 gives you a rocking pulse of two, 12/8 gives you the same rocking pulse in four. It is the meter of slow blues, many gospel and soul ballads, and a lot of music that seems to roll along on a gentle, swaying triplet feel. It looks scary on the page, with its twelve eighth notes, but it is really just 4/4 with every beat divided into three.

What does 12/8 mean?

The top number 12 says there are twelve counting units in each measure. The bottom number 8 says the unit is the eighth note. So one measure holds twelve eighth notes or the same length in longer notes. A dotted quarter note equals three eighths, so there are four dotted quarter beats in a measure. A dotted half note equals six eighths, so two of them make a measure.

Why is 12/8 a compound meter?

Because each beat divides into three. A beat in 12/8 is a dotted quarter note, and it divides into three eighth notes. A meter with four main beats is quadruple, so 12/8 is compound quadruple. Compare it with the other two compound meters you have met: 6/8 is compound duple (two beats) and 9/8 is compound triple (three beats).

• 6/8: two beats of three eighth notes
• 9/8: three beats of three eighth notes
• 12/8: four beats of three eighth notes

Notice that all three have a bottom 8 and a top number that is a multiple of three. That is the quick way to tell a compound meter. You can see the first one explained in 6/8.

How do you count 12/8?

You have two choices, just as in 6/8. At slow speeds, count all twelve eighth notes, putting a little weight on 1, 4, 7 and 10: "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12." It is easier on the tongue if you count each group in threes: "1 2 3, 2 2 3, 3 2 3, 4 2 3," or "1-la-li, 2-la-li, 3-la-li, 4-la-li." At faster speeds, count just the four beats: "1 2 3 4."

What is the difference between 12/8 and 4/4?

They both have four main beats, so a conductor would wave the same pattern for each. The difference is inside the beat. In 4/4 the beat divides into two, and in 12/8 the beat divides into three. Compare the sounds: "ONE-and TWO-and" is 4/4, and "ONE-and-a TWO-and-a" is 12/8.

In 4/4, musicians can create the same feel by playing triplets, three evenly spaced notes in the time of one beat. A swing or shuffle rhythm in 4/4 is built on that. Many composers write slow triplet music directly in 12/8, because it avoids a triplet bracket over every beat and is far easier to read.

Where do you hear 12/8?

The 12/8 feel is everywhere in slow blues, early rock and roll ballads, doo-wop, gospel and soul slow dances. Many slow-moving blues shuffles are written in 12/8, and a lot of 4/4 songs with a triplet feel could just as well have been written in 12/8. Classical composers use it too, in slow movements and in dances such as the Baroque gigue, which often appears in 6/8, 12/8 or 3/8 for its skipping character.

Because the same music can be written either way, you may see a piece printed in 4/4 with triplets in one edition and in 12/8 in another. The sound is the same and the two notations are interchangeable.

How do you practice 12/8?

1. Set a slow metronome click and let it mark the four dotted-quarter beats.
2. Say "1-la-li 2-la-li 3-la-li 4-la-li" along with the click until it feels natural.
3. Clap each eighth note while your foot taps the four beats.
4. Play a scale in groups of three notes, four groups per measure.
5. Then practice dotted quarter notes, which fill exactly one beat each.

To see how this fits among the other meters, read about time signatures in general, and compare it with 4/4.

Check yourself

Related pages

• Time signatures explained
• 6/8 time signature
• 4/4 time signature
• Eighth note: symbol, beams and how to count it
• Dotted quarter note: how to count it
• Dotted half note: how many beats it gets
• 12-bar blues: chord pattern and how to play it