The Appeal of Odd Time Signatures: A Compilation of Songs That Use 7/4 Time

Suddenly, but have you ever heard the term “odd time signature”? If you don’t play an instrument or have some music theory knowledge, you might not often listen to music with an awareness of its meter.

In fact, among people who focus on rhythm when listening, there are those who have a particular love for songs that use so-called odd meters, different from the common 4/4 time.

In this article, we spotlight the especially captivating “7/4 (seven-beat) time,” the kind of odd meter that can pull you in like a bottomless swamp once you get hooked, and we’ve compiled songs that use 7-beat time across various genres.

Be sure to try counting the beats as you listen to the featured tracks.