The Effects of Odd Time Signatures on Pop Song Enjoyment

Abstract

Odd time signatures are a music theory concept and are not used often in modern pop music. Additionally, a significant issue of unoriginality is occurring in the modern pop song genre, and very little research has been conducted on time signatures. A study was conducted on how the time signature of a song impacts the enjoyment of a pop song in order to find a solution for artists to improve the quality of their songs. High school music students listened to both previously released pop songs and self-composed variations on a single pop song, rating each song after each listen in order to find this solution. The average enjoyment of all of the ratings of common time signature pop songs were statistically compared to the average enjoyment of all of the ratings of odd time signature pop songs. The previously released pop song segment of the study found that previously released common time signature pop songs were enjoyed significantly more than previously released odd time signature pop songs, but this part may have been subject to dramatic confounding variables. The second part of the study found that there was no significant difference in the average enjoyment of odd time signature variations than the average enjoyment of common time signature variations. These results imply that fans of pop artists would enjoy their songs no less depending on the time signature, and thus pop song artists can increase the originality of their songs by utilizing odd time signatures with almost no consequence.