One of the most important elements in rock music (and in most other kinds of music) is the rhythm. In many songs the rhythm is a straightforward pattern of four beats. In other words it simply goes one-two-three-four. Sometimes it's close to an even simpler one-two pattern. This is the most common rhythm, and in many musical genres you rarely hear anything else. In reggae interestingly the pattern has four beats as well, but with emphasis on the third one: one-two-three-four.

It's somehow much harder to write a good song with a three beat rhythm. Songs that follow this pattern are said to be in three time. One of the most well known examples is Three times a lady (note the reference in the title) by Lionel Ritchie. The rhythm follows an obvious one-two-three-one-two-three-one-two-three pattern. This example is also a good example of how songs in three time generally tend to be a bit slower, a bit less dynamic than those in regular four time. By the way, in some songs not every emphasis on the first beat is equally strong. Instead they alternate between a stronger and weaker one. You could describe this by a one-two-three-one-two-three pattern. Musicians usually call this a six eighths pattern.

Since songs in four time are appealing more quickly, are usually more dynamic, are easier to dance to and are probably easier to write as well it's no surprise that they form a huge majority. Over the years several rock bands have tried to write creative and alternative efforts, and it's there we can find several examples of three time. Still, even in rock music alternative rhythms are not too common, so it is amazing to find that the Cocteau Twins often wrote a large part of their material in three time - on Treasure more than half the songs are in three time, something very rare indeed. In the table at the bottom of this page you'll find a number of examples, mostly in alternative/indie rock genre. Where many bands just produced the odd song in three time the Cocteau Twins wrote an amazing forty-one songs in this rhythm. As you can see Dead Can Dance are another band who wrote many creative rhythms. From several other bands or artists you'll find a number of entries, but in many cases it's just one or two. Three time songs are pretty rare!
(Note: this list is definitely not even close to complete, so if you feel you have some useful additions to this list why don't you mail them to ). When you listen to a song like Beatrix it's clear this is a typical example of a slower song. Similarly Grail Overfloweth, Five Ten Fiftyfold and Road, River And Rail are not too quick. But songs in three time can have much quicker rhythms by making the three beats so quick that the listener actually experiences the three beats as one 'superbeat'. This is a technique the Twins used often. In The Tinderbox (Of A Heart) the three time pattern is still obvious, but already too quick to easily move along with. In Ivo the three time is even quicker. The quickest three time they ever did is probably in Athol-Brose where three beats are fired so rapidly it's hard not to experience them as a single beat. Well, yes, of course, you could use still other rhythms. You could use a five beat rhythm (usually called 5/8) - Take Five by Dave Brubeck is probably the most famous example. Songs with such rhythms are even rarer though. Mixing two different rhythms into a single song is another extremely rare technique. They do exist though, and you'll find the few examples of such unusual rhythms that I am aware of described in the second table below.

Some bands and (some of) their songs in three time
Cocteau Twins	On Garlands : Blind Dumb Deaf; Shallow Then Halo; Grail Overfloweth On BBC Sessions : (apart from songs appearing elsewhere as well) Dear Heart On Lullabies : Alas Dies Laughing; It's All But An Ark Lark On Peppermint Pig : Laugh Lines; Hazel On Head Over Heels : Five Ten Fiftyfold; Sugar Hiccup; Glass Candle Grenades; The Tinderbox (Of A Heart); Musette And Drums On Sunburst And Snowblind : Hitherto On The Spangle Maker : Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops; Pepper-Tree On Treasure : Ivo; Beatrix; Persephone; Pandora; Amelia; Cicely On Aikea-Guinea : Rococo On Tiny Dynamine : Sultitan Itan On Echoes In A Shallow Bay : Melonella; Pale Clouded White On Victorialand : Throughout The Dark Months Of April And May; Little Spacey On The Moon And The Melodies : Sea, Swallow Me; Eyes Are Mosaics; She Will Destroy You; Ooze Out And Away, Onehow On Love's Easy Tears : Those Eyes, That Mouth On Blue Bell Knoll : Athol-Brose On Heaven Or Las Vegas : Fotzepolitic; Road, River And Rail On Four-Calendar Café : Theft, And Wandering Around Lost; My Truth On Milk & Kisses : Ups On Violaine : Circling Girl On Volume 17 : Touch Upon Touch
Dead Can Dance	On Dead Can Dance : Frontier; Ocean; Wild In The Woods; Carnival Of Light; Flowers Of The Sea On Throughout The Realm Of A Dying Sun : Cantara; Summoning Of The Muse On The Serpents Egg : The Writing On My Father's Hand; Ullyses On Aion : Fortune Presents Gifts Not According To the Book; Black Sun; Radharc On Into The Labyrinth : Towards The Within On Toward The Within : I Can See Now On Spiritchaser : Song Of The Stars; Indus; Song Of The Nile On Anastasis : Opium; Return Of The She-King
The Smiths	That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore; Meat Is murder; I Know It's Over; Never Had No One Ever; Stretch Out And Wait
Siouxsie & The Banshees	The Staircase (Mystery); Playground Twist; Red Light; Obsession; Circle; Melt!; The Last Beat Of My Heart
The Creatures	Pluto Drive; I Was Me
Genesis	The Return Of The Giant Hogweed; Entangled; Like It Or Not
Garbage	Can't Cry These Tears; Drive You Home
Lush	De-Luxe; Thoughtforms; Covert; Laura; Monochrome; White Wood; Shut Up
Cranes	Watersong; Thursday; Leaves Of Summer; Starblood; Sixth Of May; Wish; Beautiful Sadness; Adrift; And Ever; Golden; Fourteen
Echo and the Bunnymen	Nocturnal Me; The Yo-Yo Man
Kate Bush	Army Dreamers; Suspended In Gaffa; Night Of The Swallow
This Ascension	Chameleon Room; Light And Shade; Angel Light; Placid; Forever Shaken
Mira	Stainless; Pieces; Passerby; Nearest Exit
Big Country	Close Action
Toyah	I Want To Be Free
Catatonia	Strange Glue
Echobelly	Taste Of You; Cold Feet Warm Heart; Natural Animal; Something Hot In A Cold Country; Worms And Angels; Atom; Bulldog Baby
Journey	Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'; I'm Cryin'; Stay Awhile; Open Arms; Happy To Give
Kansas	Portrait (He Knew)
Paramore	Throwing Punches; Feeling Sorry; My Heart
The Beatles	Norwegian Wood; You've Got To Hide Your Love Away; She's Leaving Home
The Beach Boys	Sail On Sailor
Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Lucky Man
Queen	Somebody To Love; We Are The Champions; I'm In Love With My Car; Drowse
Fleetwood Mac	Albatross
Pink Floyd	Astronomy Domine; One Of These Days
U2	Trip Through Your Wires
Moody Blues	Nights In White Satin
Goo-Goo Dolls	Iris
Procol Harum	Broken Barricades; A Rum Tale
Led Zeppelin	Dazed And Confused
Chapterhouse	April; Come Heaven; Then We'll Rise
Within Temptation	Mother Earth; The Promise; Never-ending Story; Overcome; The Howling; All I Need; Lost
The Gathering	In Motion #1; My Electricity; Morphia's Waltz; Home
Krezip	Gentle; There It Goes; Peace Of Mind; Where Are You Now

Some even more unusual rhythms and combinations
Cranes	You won't find many rock songs in 5/8, but Cha Cha Escueta (on The EP Collection) and Pale Blue Sky (on Loved) are two rare examples.
The Beatles	Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is probably one of their most famous songs. But did you ever notice the verse is in three time, but the chorus isn't?
Led Zeppelin	The lengthy song Kashmir has a very complicated rhythm: it alternates many times between three time and four time.
Pink Floyd	One of their most famous songs, Money (from The Dark Side of the Moon), uses a 7/4 rhythm throughout most of the song (except for the guitar solo).
The Stranglers	Ever wondered why Golden Brown sounds so peculiar? The verse has a highly uncommon 3-3-3-4 rhythm.
This Ascension	Both the first and last parts of Sandman, from their Walk Softly, A Dream Lies Here album are in three time, but the middle part starts out in 3-3-3-1 (10/16) before switching to 5/8.
Mira	On the album Apart the band experiment a lot with rhythm changes. Green changes halfway from three time to four time before finishing off in three time again. In Plastique the band confusingly alternate between what appears to be three time but really is a 3-3-3-3-3-1 pattern and a regular four time, before closing off in proper three time. While Tick Tock is mostly in three time halfway it features a four time passage.
Siouxsie & the Banshees	On their debut album The Scream there is Overground. The chorus has a standard rhythm, but the verse is in a 3-3-4 (or 10/16) rhythm.
Genesis	The epic Supper's Ready on Foxtrot contains a lengthy episode where the rhythm famously has a nine beat pattern. On the Duke album Turn It On Again is mostly in a 13/8 rhythm.
Garbage	On Beautifulgarbage you'll find Silence Is Golden. The first part of that song is in three time, but the concluding part is in four time.
Dead Can Dance	One of their most mystifying tracks on The Serpent's Egg is Echolalia. Most of this song has a dazzling 13/16 rhythm.
Lemuria	A very creative effort on Pebble is Wise People. It has a rather confusing 11/16 rhythm.