Mike Moxcey ©2005

Three-Four Time

All the songs we’ve played so far are in 4/4 (or 2/4) time. This is the basic rhythm. However, you can certainly jazz up those songs with lots of different rhythms. Almost all dance rhythms are written in 4/4 time and you can play any of the previous songs in almost any of those dance rhythms. But the other basic rhythm is three-four or “waltz time.” Think of the Blue Danube.

For these songs, instead of counting
One-two-three-four, One-two-three-four, One-two-three-four, One
you count
One-two-three, One-two-three, One-two-three, One-two-three
The One starts a new measure, a new section of rhythm. A three-four song has three beats per measure instead of four. It’s easier to hear the difference in a familiar song. Let’s try the old Huckleberry Hound favorite, Clementine. If you don’t know this song, then just move on until you find a song you are familiar with.

The chorus goes: Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine.

The “oh my” counts as one beat that lasts just as long as the beat for ‘dar-“ or the beat for “ling.” You start counting on the “darling,” and again on the subsequent “dar-ling.”. The words “oh my” are the pickup notes.


Here it is laid out with chord strums. The bold strums are where you will count the initial “One.” Use your favorite two-chord combo:

       I   /     /     /   /     /     / /      /     V  /
Oh my dar-ling, oh my dar-ling, oh my dar-ling Clementine.

 /        /   /    /     I /     /       V  /   /     I / /
You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine.


Or here it is in C

       C   /     /     /   /     /     / /      /     G  /
Oh my dar-ling, oh my dar-ling, oh my dar-ling Clementine.
 /        /   /    /     C /     /       G  /   /     C / /
You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine.


And in G

       G   /     /     /   /     /     / /      /     D  /
Oh my dar-ling, oh my dar-ling, oh my dar-ling Clementine.
 /        /   /    /     G /     /       D  /   /     G / /
You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine.


Clementine

Here is how the song would be laid out in a chord chart. Because there is a multiple of three beats in each line (6), that’s an indication that the song is in 3/4 time.

| I / / / / / | / / / V / / |

| / / / I / / | V / / I / / |

  1. In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mine,
    dwelt a miner, forty-niner, and his daughter Clementine.

    Chorus: Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine
            You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine.

  2. Light she was, and like a fairy, and her shoes were number nine,
    herring boxes without topses, sandals were for Clementine.
  3. Walking lightly as a fairy, though her shoes were number nine,
    sometimes tripping, lightly skipping, lovely girl, my Clementine.
  4. Drove she ducklings to the water ev'ry morning just at nine,
    hit her foot against a splinter, fell into the foaming brine.
  5. Ruby lips above the water, blowing bubbles soft and fine,
    but alas, I was no swimmer, neither was my Clementine.
  6. In a churchyard near the canyon, where the myrtle doth entwine,
    there grow rosies and some posies, fertilized by Clementine.
  7. Then, the miner, forty-niner, soon began to fret and pine,
    thought he oughter join his daughter, so he's now with Clementine.
  8. I'm so lonely, lost without her, wish I'd had a fishing line,
    which I might have cast about her, might have saved my Clementine.
  9. In my dreams she still doth haunt me, robed in garments soaked with brine,
    then she rises from the waters, and I kiss my Clementine.
  10. Listen fellers, heed the warning of this tragic tale of mine,
    artificial respiration could have saved my Clementine.
  11. How I missed her, how I missed her, how I missed my Clementine,
    ‘til I kissed her little sister, and forgot my Clementine.

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