The difference between 3/4 and 6/8

Never made sense of the difference between 3/4 and 6/8, or time signatures in general? We’ve got you. Take the short listening quiz at the end to test your ears.

If we’re thinking purely mathematically, 3/4 and 6/8 should be the same thing: simplify 6/8 and you get 3/4.

But time signatures aren’t fractions. In music, 3/4 is different from 6/8. For a quick refresher on time signatures, check out our short guide to Rhythm Basics.

Even though both 3/4 and 6/8 have six eighth notes in each measure, the way we group them is what differentiates them.

How 3/4 and 6/8 are grouped

Both 3/4 and 6/8 have six eighth notes in a measure, but what separates them is how we group those eighth notes.

In 3/4, we group the eighth notes in twos, resulting in three strong beats in a measure: the quarter-note beats.

In 6/8, we group the eighth notes in threes, resulting in two strong beats in a measure: the dotted-quarter beats.

In standard music notation, notes are beamed in a way that shows the first note of each grouping as the strongest.

Try feeling the difference

Try vocalizing the beats while keeping the eighth notes at the same speed:

3/4: “ONE and TWO and THREE and”

6/8: “ONE and a TWO and a”

You’ll find that the feel of the two meters is completely different.

In conclusion, the difference between 3/4 and 6/8 is that we hear and feel 3/4 in three, whereas we hear and feel 6/8 in two. 3/4 has three groups of two; 6/8 has two groups of three.

Test yourself

Can you tell whether these songs are in 3/4 or 6/8? The answers are below.

• “We Are the Champions” – Queen
• “Slavonic Dance Op. 72, No. 2” – Antonín Dvořák
• “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” – Elvis Presley
• “Piano Man” – Billy Joel
• “My Favorite Things” – Julie Andrews

Answers

2, 3, and 5 are in 3/4, while 1 and 4 are in 6/8.

How did you do? It can get tricky when “ONE and a” feels like a fast “ONE two three.” Check out our guide to identifying time signatures for more help decoding this enigma.