For me it’s time signatures in music. I grew up playing instruments, played in several orchestras, etc. But no matter how many times someone tries to explain time signatures to me, it makes no sense. I don’t understand why people place such importance on it. To me, notes have a pitch and a duration, maybe some dynamics. That’s it. I don’t understand why people try to needlessly complicate it. It doesn’t give you anything.
My wife will hear a song and go “Oh neat, it’s in 5/8.” And I’m like “How tf do you know that, and why does it matter?”
I understand time signatures in theory, but not in practice. I comprehend what they are and what they mean, but they don’t make sense to me. I don’t understand what they do or why they’re necessary.
Like I get it, the bottom number tells you how many beats are in a whole note. Most commonly 4, but sometimes 8 or something else.
The top number tells you how many beats are in a measure. In common time, that’s again 4.
But mathematically, wouldn’t that mean 3/4 time is the same as 6/8 time? They’re equivalent as fractions. But when I ask a musician they don’t explain it, they just tell me “No, they’re different. That’s 3/4, this is 6/8.” And usually with this undertone like “Are you stupid? This is so obvious, what part are you not getting?”
From what I gather, 6/8 time is usually done in pairs of triplets. So it does sound rhythmically different than 3/4. But no one ever tells you that, not even when the concept is introduced in textbooks on music theory. They just tell you “and this is 6/8 time,” as if you’re just supposed to know how and why that’s in any way different from 3/4 time…
I am not a musician and there are MANY people that know MUCH more about music theory than me.
e.g. 6/8 time. 6 is how many beats are in a bar. 8 is how many bars. Why important? So we know when the music gets back to the start of the cycle… Kinda. There must be a beginning and an end. Why is No. of beats important? So we have an idea of the feel and how many notes roughly we can play within that. Why is 6/8 different to 3/4? Accents on a 3/4 the accent is typically on the 1 ² ³ 1 ² ³ and in a 6/8 the accent is going to mildly be on the 1 but more noticeable on the 4. Think MJ’s “The Way You Make Me Feel”. 6/8 has drive and the feeling of the accent on the UP beat.
Beyond this simplicity music is maths. Do you need to know the rules? No. Do whatever you want. But if you know the rules, you can exploit them; like musicians and composers do to create complex compositions and polyrhythms.
Hope this helps in any way.
No, the top number is beats per measure. The bottom number is how many beats are in a whole note. For example, in 6/8 time a whole note has 8 beats, making an eighth note one beat. As opposed to 3/4 time in which a quarter note is one beat.
But the exact same thing can be accomplished just by changing the tempo.
As for the accents, yeah, that’s what I gather the only difference is. But it’s never explicitly taught that way, and there’s nothing hardcoded into the logic of time signatures that suggests it must be that way.
A non trivial amount of the reasoning is simplicity of reading and writing music. You could transpose everything to 4/4, but it would require a lot of weird patterns.
Played for over 20 years, aced my music theory final while I was still in school. Have minimal issues translating and coordinating with other musicians professionally.
Me too bud.
They say it’s about groove and feel but that’s highly subjective and falls apart the second polyrhythms get involved.
In the end, anything can technically be written in any time signature, imh It just comes down to what’s easiest (or most obnoxious/ gimmicky) to read / write.
I mean I get why you would want to use 3/4 time instead of 4/4 time. For instance if you’re composing a waltz, you would want to use 3/4 time, because the rhythmic pattern repeats every 3 beats. Or for something like “da daa, da daa, da daa, da daa”
It’s more convenient to use a time signature that aligns with the repeating rhythm. But that only requires the top number.
To me, the bottom number has always been utterly meaningless. Sure you can fit two triplets in a 6/8 measure as opposed to one triplet in 3/4, but you could compose the same thing in 3/4 and just use two measures for the motif instead of one, and make it a faster tempo, and suddenly it’s played exactly the same way…
This is why I prefer to use trackers instead of sheet music when possible. All I want to look at is what pitch the notes are and how long they are. I don’t like key signatures either. It’s better, for me, for each pitch to have its own space.
Shopping. Walking around looking for stuff to buy.
Parents are really good at this because it’s their only alooone time
Small talk. I’m just not interested.
I once went to a place to meet some people. The people I came to meet were in two distinct groups, chatting. I didn’t know which group to join, so I stood in between them, listening to both. First one was talking about something boring and stupid, the second the same. So I just… stood there. Outside both groups, staring at the floor, wandering if I should just leave.
I would have joined your group.
Directions. I’m just clueless to the point it’s a problem.
Still not 100% on sarcasm, as an autistic person. Sometimes slips through the cracks for me when others use it. That’s despite me being a somewhat sarcastic person.
Choreography. Not just dance moves, but any physical activity where I watch someone do a thing and have to repeat it using my own body. Had a hell of a time learning to tie a necktie.
It’s a skill! If you’re interested maybe join a dance class, boxing/MMA class, pottery class, or do some improv!
I cannot, and I mean cannot, flip a map in my mind. North has to be pointing north or my brain just keeps messing up.
There was a test in the back of Scientific American magazine a long time ago with pairs of 3d models (the stick and ball things people use to show molecular structures) and they turned them in different directions and asked “are these identical or mirror images” how many can you answer in 5 minutes.
I stared at it for an hour and couldn’t do even one. Like, I was crying by the end of the hour because I felt so stupid but my mind, it just couldn’t tell.
I’ve never had trouble reading but learned to read very young (barely 3 year old) like a language, sort of before even knowing the alphabet that well - it’s not a dyslexia situation. But I sure couldn’t see those differences in the quiz. At all.
Funnily enough I only understand the time signatures partly. 😅. Like, I understand 3/4 and 4/4 and the difference in playing or listening or dancing to it. But, wtf is 6/8? That’s just 3/4 as far as I am concerned.
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The emphases are different:
If you denote a full bar in 1/8 notes, in 6/8 the beat goes TAK-a-ta TAK-a-ta, while in 3/4 it’s TAK-a TAK-a TAK-a.
The “TAK-a-ta’s” are both super helpful and oddly reminiscent of Lisa Simpson learning how to dance “Tap-a Tap-a Tap-a!”
Is that supposed to be intuitive? You’d think the one with 3 in the name would be the one with emphasis every 3rd note
Discipline/self control. I don’t need to worry so much about the self control in that way, I’m a very chilled guy. I only really give into the intrusive thoughts when I’m cooking food, or saying something I think is funny but turns out to just be offensive.
The discipline I struggle with. I don’t understand how people seem to have enough hours in the day to keep a tidy home, study a course in the evening, do a tiktok channel as an attempt at a side hustle, 40 hours a week at work, cook a full dinner every evening for family etc etc etc.
Sometimes, like once or twice a month, the stars will align and I will be on it, but I can’t just be that guy on demand.
This. All of this.
Being okay with a two party system. These people also show they understand the voting system is wildly undemocratic every election when they cry and wail about 3rd party voters.
How we vote is controlled by the states. Blue states could easily replace First-past-the-post voting, but they choose not to. Having a spoiler effect when people vote 3rd party is a policy choice, not a byproduct or accident.
Whatever, fixing things doesn’t matter anymore. Good luck everyone.
powers that be not having a vested interest in changing the system that ensures their power.
wow, who could have possibly imagined.
Responding in a way that isn’t mean or rude.
Love and affection. As someone who’s parents have a bunch of psychological problems, paired with growing up poor as an immigrant. I never in my life have experienced either love or any sort affection for either family nor strangers. For context my mother is a prefect example of a sociopath and I’m 80% sure my dad is autistic. Neither of those conditions exactly scream empathy. I never heard the words ‘I love you’ spoken with the eyes, or any sort of meaning behind them. Listening to daily (and I’m not exaggerating here) screaming matches for 30 years has given me the impression that those words don’t really mean anything to them anyway. Never having had a safe place to develop those feelings and given that I’m not exactly easy on the eyes means that I have somehow managed to become full grown, mentally stable adult with empathy, and a yearning for affection and acceptance without a single fibre of love in my body. Never have I had an interaction other than quid pro quos, “I want something from you, you want something from me.” never “I want you, you want me.” I literally can’t imagine what it’s like waking up next to somebody, feeling emotionally safe or having somebody genuinely wanting to spend time with you. I know that there are currently literally billions of people for whom this the most normal thing in the world but for me that is borderline incomprehensible. I would want to wish that kind of lonelines on my worst enemy.
I’m a dude BTW.
Story comprehension. For example, I was trying to play Chrono Trigger, and at some point I just can’t follow the story any more. Then I lose interest in the game.
Happens in books and movies as well.
I can’t count how many times I’ve read or heard about something having an amazing story, only to think to myself “This is dogshit.” That’s when you realize just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s written well.
The most recent example of this was this horror short story about a town where people couldn’t die (content warning, duh), but can very much still be injured and all the shenanigans that entices. While the comments were mostly praising it, I though to myself “Did a 12 year old write this?”
Sounds similar to Death Becomes Her
Getting up early or ever feeling rested. I don’t think ive ever felt good in the morning. Basically, if I have 5 drinks and sleep, I’d feel identical waking up as if I’d had nothing. I also feel the same with 5 hours of sleep vs 10. No difference. And I do sleep its not insomnia, just doesnt work.
Get a sleep study. This sounds like a sleep disorder. Especially if you also take naps easily throughout the day.
I can’t nap haha! Yeah it must be. I’m not overweight and I’m pretty healthy so I didnt think it could be sleep apnea but it could I suppose
You might be nocturnal. I used to work nights and felt better getting up at 4pm every day, even if I had less sleep than I get now getting up at 8am
Could be. I generally don’t feel tired until 1 or 2 am. So making myself sleep at 10 or 11 is hard.
regatrdless of your age, get a (screening) sleep exam. RNT docs and audiologists do this with easy to set up devices one can plug in at home.
And this is important. Sleep Apnea is life-shortening and quality-of-life-wrecking.
Could be something like needing a cpap machine. My husband got one and it changed how he slept entirely. Could be a lot of reasons for sleep not being refreshing though!
Lying, manipulating, bullshitting, etc.
If you do it, people adore you. If you don’t, they hate you. I notice the most socially popular and adored people are the ones who do this the most.
Everyone says they hate it this type of think, but in behaviour they react very differently. I have even bullshitted and manipulated some folks, and it was terrifying how well it worked. They were like eating out of my hand and believing whatever stupid crap I told them.
Human psychology is terrifying.
As a professional salesperson, I can tell you don’t worry, most other people are also terrible at bullshit and manipulation.
It comes down to this: Most people want to know what you want from them. We’re social animals. Someone who seems self-sufficient reads as a potential threat. The best way to get people to do what you want is to tell them what you want in a way that makes sense to them, because then then can help you out and feel like you’re connected to them.
This is where “lying” comes in, because the reasons you give them for what you want has to their reasons, not your reasons, and, frankly, a lot of people are a little crazy and want crazy things. You can’t tell your alcoholic boss you’re drowsy because you were up all night playing Zelda, you tell her you have a bit of a hangover. Either way, she’ll tell you to drink a cup of coffee and get it together, but the former makes her trust you less and the latter trust you more.
This is a really good explanation. I should tell my kid this to help him with masking. And it’ll be great when he tells the teacher he’s hungover.
You might be autistic
No. It has nothing to do with autism.
This fediverse’s weird obsession with autism (or adhd) being the ‘answer’ for every social issue you face is mind-blowingly ignorant and stupid.
Unless you are professional diagnosed, you don’t have autism. Your online quizzes and self-diagnoses are just excuses for you to justify your off-putting behaviour and interests. Like, wow you’re into FOSS and obsessed with privacy and are a PC gamer… none of those make you autistic… it’s your incessant mentioning of them and your superiority complex about them that turn people off.
Thank you, much better put than myself.
I see the psyop classifying anyone who hates the bullshit and lies corrupting modern society as autistic has fully paid off.
If you classify tactful social behavior as “lies and bullshitting” it probably IS spectrum related.
Not enjoying manipulative behaviours because of their wider negative implications on society is autistic? The Kool-Aid must taste real good.
Like I said, if you are applying the term “manipulative behaviors” (or lies or bullshitting) to generally tactful social behavior, that is consistent with ASD. If you mean lying, deceit, and gaslighting in a malicious way, OP is probably around toxic people because I think EVERYONE would agree that it is awful.
Maybe you ought to make sure you understand people’s positions before you lash out, yeah?
None of what’s OP wrote was alluding to “generally tactful social behaviour”.
Maybe you should learn to read before you get all defensive, yeah?
I can read and understand nuance. Nothing about what OP said indicates what he is talking about ISNT that either. If you think everyone is lying and manipulative you are either surrounded by toxic people, OR you don’t understand social interactions. Everyone who is socially successful is not being a manipulative liar.
Autism spectrum disorder is a condition related to brain development that affects how people see others and socialize with them. This causes problems in communication and getting along with others socially
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/autism-spectrum-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352928
If you’re having trouble seeing this, talk to your doctor. There is nothing wrong with playing by a different set of social rules unless you don’t understand that you are.
Edit: Or maybe you’re just an asshole. I can relate.
