Six-four time

In six-four time there are six quarter notes in a bar. That is as long as two bars of 3/4 time. The difference lies in the stress: in 3/4 every first beat is strong, in 6/4 the main stress lies on the first and a secondary stress on the fourth beat. You feel two large beats, each dividing into three.

Related to six-eight time

Six-four time is the “large” variant of 6/8: the same grouping, but with quarter notes instead of eighth notes as the basic beat. Whether a composer writes 6/4 or 6/8 is also a question of notation and habit. The count stays the same: “1 2 3, 4 5 6” with the accent on the one and the four. The two large beats are the dotted half notes in 6/4 and the dotted quarter notes in 6/8.

Hemiola

Six-four time is especially attractive when the grouping changes. If you hear the six quarter notes for a time in three groups of two (“1 2, 3 4, 5 6”) experiences a hemiola. The notation stays the same; the stress shifts from triple to duple feeling.

6/4 in a choral setting

The piece in the sheet music archive shows bars in 6/4 in the middle of a 4/4 context. The quarter-note basic beat stays the same, the bars only become longer or shorter. More on this on the page Metre change.

• Gladsome Light SATB choral setting with guitar chords · 2 pages

  The choral setting is mostly in 4/4 time. In between the time signature changes several times: bars 6, 15, 17 and 18 are in 6/4, bars 10 and 13 in 3/4. A flat is also printed as a key signature. The tempo marking “Не очень медленно” (not very slowly) is printed above the start.