The Rationality of Irrational Time Signatures

Abstract

The goal here is to reflect on the phenomenon of so-called irrational time signatures, considering what they are, why they received this name, the justifications for their use and the relevance of this terminology. To this end, I start offering a few historical notes to base the comprehension of the established conventions for rhythmic notation. Next, I present a brief literature review with the aim of verifying the convergences and divergences among the authors and how they evaluate the need for composers to move away from the music notation conventions. Finally, I consider the suitability of the nomenclatures proposed to denominate this resource of measurement and rhythmic division.