Rhythm & Meter Concepts

Cross-Rhythms

• Britney Spears - "Til the World Ends"

• The Cars - "Touch and Go"

• The Decemberists - "The Gymnast, High Above the Ground"

• Janelle Monae - "BaBopByeYe"

• Kansas - "Carry on My Wayward Son"

• Metallica - "Master of Puppets"

• The Mountain Goats - "Phillipians 3:20-21"

• Muse - "Animals"

• The National - "Fake Empire"

• Queen - "The March of the Black Queen"

• Sonic Youth - "What a Waste"

• Talking Heads - "The Great Curve"

• Tears for Fears - "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"

Changing Meter

• Avicii - "Hey Brother"

• The Bee Gees - "Jive Talkin'"

• Ben Folds - "B**tard"

• Blake Shelton - "Mine Would Be You"

• Bloc Party - "On"

• Blondie - "Heart of Glass"

• Dave Matthews Band - "Satellite"

• The Descendents - "I Wanna Be a Bear"

• Dionne Warwick - "I Say a Little Prayer"

• The Dismemberment Plan - "Memory Machine"

• Dream Theater - "The Dance of Eternity"

• Genesis - "Turn It On Again"

• Heart - "Barracuda"

• Johnny Cash - "Ring of Fire"

• Kansas - "Point of No Return"

• Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights"

• Michael Jackson - "Burn This Disco Out"

• Neko Case - "Middle Cyclone"

• The New Pornographers - "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras"

• Nine Inch Nails - "Just Like You Imagined"

• Outkast - "Hey Ya!"

• Radiohead - "Everything in Its Right Place"

• Rick Springfield - "Jesse's Girl"

• Rush - "YYZ"

• The Smashing Pumpkins - "Set the Ray to Jerry"

• Soundgarden - "Spoonman"

• Steely Dan - "Aja"

• Stevie Wonder - "Contusion"

• Sting - "Seven Days"

• Talk Talk - "After the Flood"

• Talking Heads - "Found a Job"

• Television - "Marquee Moon"

• Them Crooked Vultures - "New Fang"

• Toadies - "Possum Kingdom"

• Tori Amos - "Spark"

• XTC - "Great Fire"

Unusual Meters

While most songs heard on a contemporary radio station are in 4/4, not all pop songs are.  Here are some examples.

Symmetrical Compound Meter: 6/8, 12/8

• A Great Big World - "Say Something"

• Alicia Keys - "Fallin'"

• The Animals - "House of the Rising Sun"

• Ariana Grande - "Dangerous Woman"

• The Beatles - "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"

• Blondie - "Call Me"

• Dave Matthews Band - "The Stone"

• Evanescence - "Lacrymosa"

• INXS - "Never Tear Us Apart"

• Journey - "Lights"

• Kate Bush - "Suspended in Gaffa"

• Michael Jackson - "The Way You Make Me Feel"

• Neutral Milk Hotel - "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea"

• Pearl Jam - "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town"

• Queen - "We Are the Champions"

• R.E.M. - "Everybody Hurts"

• Screamin' Jay Hawkins - "I Put a Spell on You"

• Vanessa Carlton, “Ordinary Day”

• The Zombies - "This Will Be Our Year"

Asymmetrical Simple Meter: 5/4, 7/4, 11/4 & more

• Anthrax - "Time"

• Bjork - "Crystalline"

• Broken Social Scene - "Shoreline (7/4)"

• Dave Matthews Band - "Drive In, Drive Out"

• Faraquet - "The Missing Piece"

• Foo-Fighters, “Times Like These”

• Juliana Hatfield - "Spin the Bottle"

• Muse - "Animals"

• Nick Drake - "River Man"

• Peter Gabriel - "Solsbury Hill"

• Pink Floyd - "Money"

• The Police - "Mother"

• Primus - "Eleven"

• Sonic Youth - "Candle"

• Two Door Cinema Club - "Do You Want It All?"

• XTC - :"English Roundabout"

• XTC - "When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty"

Asymmetrical Compound Meter: 5/8, 7/8, 13/8, and more

• Alice in Chains - "Them Bones"

• David Bowie - "Up the Hill Backwards"

• Foo-Fighters - "Times Like These"

• Frank Zappa - "Thirteen"

• Nickel Creek - "In the House of Tom Bombadil"

• Rush - "Tom Sawyer"

• Sting - "Saint Augustine in Hell"

• The Stranglers - "Golden Brown"

• Talk Talk - "Ascension Day"

Have a suggestion for a song to include here that aurally demonstrates this particular concept?  Write me on the Contact page!!