double time

For an hourly employee, a premium pay for hours worked in excess of a certain point, such as:

• more than 12 hours in a day; or
• more than 60 hours in a week.

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For a member of a military unit or other drill team, the march rate similar to jogging, at 120 steps per minute. A jody can be sung to help keep time.

Double time, in music, means that you play at twice the original tempo. Of course, this can be done with any type of music, but it is common only in jazz. Sometimes, to spice up a solo during a mid-tempo tune, the band can go into double time. The chords then change at double the speed, and everyone plays two times as fast. The band will usually return to the original tempo at the end of the solo. Because the tempo is exactly doubled, this sounds natural to the ear.

The change between tempos is almost always done (I'd wager 99.9' percent of the time) at the start of a chorus.

Double time feel is similar to double time. Everyone plays twice as fast, but the chords change at the original tempo. It is actually double time, with the chords stretched out on two bars each, instead of one.

See also half time, half time feel.