Learn to Play Recorder

Lesson 24: 6/8 Time and Compound Meter

  • Feel 6/8 as two beats of three eighths, not six beats.
  • Play a jig and a gigue.

Six eight is two, not six.

A 6/8 time signature looks like six beats but feels like two — two big beats, each divided into three eighth notes. The eighths group in threes, and the second group of each bar has a slight lift. This is the rhythm of the jig, the gigue, and the barcarolle.

Feel ONE-two-three / FOUR-five-six, with weight on ONE and FOUR.

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The big beats are dotted quarters — one for each group of three eighths.

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Play: a jig

The melody runs in groups of three; tongue the first of each group lightly.

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Now play these

The Rakes of Mallow
Quick, lilting, two beats per bar.
Gigue
The jig's Baroque cousin.
The Irish Washerwoman
Finger speed inside the 6/8 lilt.

When the eighth-note triplets feel like a single dotted-quarter pulse with three subdivisions — not six discrete beats — move on to Lesson 25.