Time Signature of Limelight by Rush

A friend recently proposed a bit of a puzzle: How many times does the time signature change in the Rush song Limelight? I hadn’t ever really tried to figure it out before so I thought I’d give it a shot, and rather than just erasing my work, I thought I’d go ahead and post it here in case anyone else is interested.

I’ve chosen to use additive time signatures, which may look a bit odd at first. When you see something like “4+3/4” it means that there are seven beats in the measure (4+3), but that the beats are arranged in a group of four then three (as opposed to three then four, or two then three then two, etc.) You can just as easily write this as 7/4, or as alternating measures of 4/4 and 3/4.

It’s also important to note that music can be written down in any number of ways. For example, in the verses I heard two measures or 3/4 followed by two measures of 4+2/4 (or 6/4). This could have been written as six measures of 3/4, but it would have been more awkward to count and syncopated. The music felt like it should be broken down like I have done it here.

Also, interestingly, at the end of the bridge and the start of the last chorus, the drums are playing in 4/4 while the rest of the band is playing in 3/4.

If you want to follow along, you can listen here:

Intro:

  • 6 measures 4/4
  • 4 measures 4+3/4

Verse:

  • 2 measures 3/4
  • 2 measures 4+2/4
  • 2 measures 3/4
  • 1 measure 4/4
  • 1 measure 4+3/4

Fill 1:

  • 1 measure 4+3/4

Repeat: Verse

Chorus:

  • 7 measures 3/4
  • 8 measures 4/4

Fill 2:

  • 3 measures 3/4
  • 2 measures 4+3/4

Repeat: Verse, Fill 1, Verse, Chorus

Fill 3:

  • 2 measures 4/4

Bridge:

  • 30 measures 3/4

Repeat: Chorus, Fill 3

Ending:

  • 12 measures 4/4

9 Comments

  1. Wow Alex.

    You’ve done really good with this. I would suggest an alternative time sig structure for the first section though:

    Intro:
    4 measures 6/4 — there is a heavy undercurrent of three here.
    4 measures 4+3/4

    Verse:
    2 measures 3/4
    2 measures 2+4/4 — because I’m hearing an accent on the 3rd beat above what you would hear if it were normal internal beat stresses in this grouping

    But I would certainly leave the rest as it stands.

    And, you were right; I did like the song as well.

    • Hey there bandcoach! I’m not hearing the 6/4 in the intro, but I completely agree with the 2+4/4 in the verse — that does fit a lot better than the 4+2/4.

      Glad you liked it! 🙂 I’ve been listening to more Rush lately now that I’ve discovered how well they tinker with their time signatures. I wonder if they listened to Stravinski…

  2. cool. thanks. i get really confused with constantly changing time signatures, as with many rush songs.

  3. These meter changes are all left up to preference. You can make a phrase as weird or time signature funky all you want. However the first couple measures are not in 4/4. I see the first measure being in 5/8. Rush is known for having songs in 5/8 or 5/4, especially songs like The Trees or Mission during the solo. My favorite is 7/8!! Like in Anthem and Xanadu. Playing Rush music is so fun and challenging. If you can play La Villa Strangiato, you can play anything.

    • The first measures Of Limelight are definitely in 4/4. It starts on the “and of 3” count the first note played as “and 3 and 4 and 1.

  4. […] JM’s musicianship is obvious in even his choosing this song, due to its unusual changing time-signatures — for example, try counting to four with the beat, and you’ll soon discover it’s very different than most other rock songs. (For further insight, see http://www.TheFrankes.com: Time Signature of Limelight by Rush http://www.thefrankes.com/wp/?p=2165.) […]

  5. I tried this out on Guitar Pro 6 (demo) and it turns out, the best way to make it work is:
    The opening riff as an individual segment has 2 time signatures. The first two bars are 6/4 and the last bar (open “A” power chord) is 3/4. The open “A” power chord is a half note with a quarter rest and it works great. Just my two cents. -JB

  6. The original poster–alex I think is his name– is correct about the intro. All this business about making it 5/8 or counting the first two bars as 6/4 and then 4/4 with a half not half rest note… makes it unnecessarily complicated. The intro up until the band kicks in is 4/4. The first note of the guitar is not on beat 1. The last 5 guitar notes of the intro are a pick up to the B chord which is pushed ahead of the downbeat. Then we enter 7/4.

Leave a Reply to julianCancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *