History Main / UncommonTime

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enY647byRzg asteroid belt theme]] from ''VideoGame/StarFoxZero'' is mostly in 6/4.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iriyIrK9e14 "The Red Wings"]], part of which is in 7/4, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkx3KcO7TCs "Golbez, Clad in Dark"]], the first half of which is in 13/4 (1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3).

*** "Ambush Attack" is mostly in 9/4, though it has a section in 8/4. This section ends with a measure in 10/4 just to make sure you're paying attention.

* The ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' soundtrack frequently experiments in polyrhythm and unusual meter - "Snakebone Manor" is in 5/8 and 7/8 time, for instance. The most cited example is the game's love-it-or-hate-it main battle theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRkqWdE_Nd0&feature=related "Hurricane"]] - a polyrhythm of 9/8, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/4 times.

* Music/SteelyDan's [[Music/{{Aja}} "Aja"]]. Wiki/ThatOtherWiki sums up the shenanigans in the song's instrumental break:

** Fight against the Ferryman's time signature is 7/4.

* And finally there is music in no time signature at all (in "free time"), mostly written before time signatures were invented in 1600 or so.

* The nearly 20-minute-long Benjamin Britten cantata "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsZP-IH8XbM Rejoice in the Lamb]]" goes all over the place, with measures in (among others) 11/8 and 13/8. Throw a dart at a number line and there's probably at least one measure in that time in the piece.

* The aforementioned Rimsky-Korsakov had a habit of writing such music himself. There is an UrbanLegend that he once wrote some piece at 11/4. When the musicians had trouble keeping track, either [[TakeThat the conductor]] or [[TakeThatMe Rimsky-Korsakov himself]] recommended that they use the phrase "Rim-sky-Kor-sa-kov-has-gone-com-ple-tly-mad".

* Music/{{Journey}} had "I'm Gonna Leave You" and "Nickel and Dime" back before they shifted to pop.

* While the original ''VideoGame/Metroid1'' soundtracks occasionally contained examples of this trope (see below under video game soundtracks), Stemage's metal arrangements of them, solo and with his band Metroid Metal, take this trope UpToEleven, with nearly every song containing complicated time signature changes wherever Stemage thinks they will make the song flow more naturally. As a result, any given song is liable to have a section in 4/4 that changes to 7/8 for a couple of measures before going back to 4/4. This is a characteristic of nearly every song he has arranged for the project to the point where it could be considered a SignatureStyle and probably appears [[OnceAnEpisode once a song]] or more.

* Krzysztof Penderecki's ''Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima'' is a simultaneous subversion and taking this trope UpToEleven. It has no uncommon time because it has ''no time signature at all'', relying on meter-less time codes that tell the conductor when to bring each instrument's pitch-less sounds in.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' features Ekko's character theme, which shifts between 6/4 and 5/4 at uncommon times. Appropriate, considering he's [[TimeMaster "The Boy Who Shattered Time"]].

** While most of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'''s boss theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weewaTuUheQ Saber's Edge]], is 3/4, there are also sections in 10/8.

* One of the more iconic moments of an awkward time signature is definitely the aptly named " [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHAJHdvBhdM Apocalypse in 9/8]]" part of "Music/SuppersReady" by Music/{{Genesis}}. Mind you, 9/8 in classical music is mostly a compound waltz meter consisting of 3+3+3; in this piece, however, the time signature is an additive one consisting of 3+2+4 with the organ solo often venturing to other time signatures, creating a polymeter.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRHyH824KIM beach theme]] from ''VideoGame/{{Plok}}'', showing Tim Follin's {{progressive rock}} influences starts out in 7/8, shifts to 4/4--with rhythmic ambuguity and one bar in 17/16--and then back to 7/8. Since the sound tracker for the [=SNES=] can't do time signature changes mid track, the song ends up with a time signature of 4.5/4. Also, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJhIkBmmfII Akrillic]]" is mostly in 3/4, but has two bars in 13/8.

* Music/RichardWagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" is in 9/8 time, though that's really just 3/4 time with each beat subdivided into a triplet to make the writing easier..

* The Promenade from ''Music/PicturesAtAnExhibition'' by Music/ModestMussorgsky (no, that's not a descriptor. That's his name) alternates between 5/4 and 6/4 for its first few measures. In his original composition, instead of alternating between 5/4 and 6/4, each bar of the Promenade consisted of 11/4. This was simplified by a student of his contemporary Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (who also renotated some examples of this from Mussorgsky's ''Boris Godunov'' in straight 2/4) and has been the norm for subsequent publications. WordOfGod says that this meter is supposed to simulate a natural walking pattern.

** "[[https://youtu.be/6WOZsv6v1Q0 Fishing Frenzy]]", also from the Salmon Run mode, is in ''15/8'' time.

*** All of [[https://youtu.be/OSnuB0Um29I "Starship Groove"]] and most of "Seventh Alloy" are in 7/4 time. The former's video features pylons which flash to illustrate the 7 beats in a score.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBOQcQO0IFI&feature=related "Starship Groove"]] is in 7/4; the beacons on the sides of the stage flash in time to the beat.
** The majority of Heavy Light is in ''15/4'', counted as (8/4 + 7/4).

* Music/{{Animusic}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBOQcQO0IFI&feature=related "Starship Groove"]] is in 7/4; the beacons on the sides of the stage flash in time to the beat.

** From ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Ganon's battle theme starts off in 2/4 for two bars, before switching to 14/16. In [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds the sequel]], the track reappears with a 4/4 intro before launching into the 2/4 and 7/8 melody.

** From ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Ganon's battle theme starts off in 2/4 for two bars, before switching to 7/8. In [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds the sequel]], the track reappears with a 4/4 intro before launching into the 2/4 and 7/8 melody.

This trope is ''heavily'' associated with the MathRock, ProgressiveRock, ProgressiveMetal, and TechnicalDeathMetal genres, to the point where there are only a handful of prominent acts in any of these genres who have never used it. It is also incredibly common in modern ClassicalMusic, which is often credited as being due to the influence of Music/IgorStravinsky, particularly in ''Theatre/TheRiteOfSpring''. (Stravinsky was a rather large influence on many of these prog groups as well).

*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k3zVA4zX8g Meta Knight's battle theme]] is in 5/4, very similar to Ridley's theme from ''Super Metroid''.
*** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p48ZZIufGY Milky Way Wishes world map theme]] is primarily in 7/8 with some 8/8 (4/4) to complete melodies, while the final part is in 7/4.
*** The music for the final boss, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdZrjqeBJs Marx]]... oh, boy. The main song comes in at one measure of 13/8 (7 + 6), then one measure of 9/8 (7 + 2), then one measure of 6/8, then two measures of 5/8, then two measures of 6/8. It hardly sticks in one time signature for long.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2RpwbbpmXs "Checkerboard Chase"]], also from ''Kirby 64'', is in 5/8 (with a brief measure of 6/8 at the end of the loop).

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KYBfE8yzYc "Beautiful Prison"]] from ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' alternates between 5/4 and 6/4, with brief measures of 3/4 to round it out.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEzfSFudB8w&t=2s "Echo's Edge"]] from ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' is in 5/4.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnCEMAnkXrw "Beyond the Galaxy"]] from ''VideoGame/GalaxyForce II'' is partially in 7/4.

* [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad]]'s "Trogdor" is partly in 9/4.

*** The music for the final boss, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3BTZDQEPn4 Marx]]... oh, boy. The main song comes in at one measure of 13/8 (7 + 6), then one measure of 9/8 (7 + 2), then one measure of 6/8, then two measures of 5/8, then two measures of 6/8. It hardly sticks in one time signature for long.