Pink Floyd’s “Money”: switch from seven to four
“Money” gives you a useful meter-change challenge: hold the quarter-note pulse while the bar changes from seven beats to four. Count the new bar length without speeding up.
Alfred’s licensed teaching edition identifies the song’s move from 7/4 to 4/4 and back. Our short loop places one seven-beat bar beside one four-beat bar so you can rehearse the change repeatedly. Those two bars are an original drill, not the song’s section lengths.
The count
An eleven-click exercise: seven quarter notes, then four quarter notes, with accents on clicks 1 and 8. Say: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 · 1 2 3 4.
Quarter-note pulses
Tap a block to change its accent. The full pattern repeats when it reaches the end.
Stopped
The lesson pattern is loaded. Press play, change the tempo, or tap a block to change its accent. Reset brings back the lesson setup.
Set it up in AnyBeat
- In More options > Write a Pattern, enter 7-4. Turn off any existing second rhythm. This gives one seven-beat group and one four-beat group.
- Set View Rhythm Chart > Pulse value to quarter notes and start at 60 BPM. The accent after beat seven is the first beat of the four-beat bar.
- Save the loop. To spend longer in each meter, make a second exercise with 7-7-4-4. Keep the quarter-note tempo the same.
Practise it in stages
Phase 1
Settle into seven
First build 7 by itself. Tap an even pulse and say all seven numbers. Leave the last beat as much space as every other beat.
Move on when: The next one arrives after seven complete beats.
Phase 2
Make the short turn
Return to 7-4. Clap each bar’s first beat and count quietly between claps. The second bar ends after four, even if your body expects another seven.
Move on when: You can repeat the eleven-click loop four times without losing the starts.
Phase 3
Move the phrase across the change
Play the same short two-note idea over the loop. Let the meter decide where the next bar begins rather than restarting the idea whenever it feels convenient.
Move on when: Your phrase and your count can continue independently.
Phase 4
Hear the arrangement
Listen for the seven-beat groove and the four-beat section in the recording. Stop the recording and use 7-7-4-4 to rehearse changing your count on cue.
Move on when: You can identify a meter change by the bar length, not just by a new instrument entering.
What this exercise leaves out
The 7-4 loop deliberately changes meter much more often than the recording. It contains no bass riff, solo or recorded drum part. Learn the actual arrangement from the recording or a licensed score.
Listen: Listen to “Money”.
Sources: Alfred Rock Ed.: Money, meter changes and licensed score preview.
Build the count. Then play it.
Start slowly, save the loop, and return to it when the group changes stop surprising you.
