"Half-time" is a term typically used in relation to feel. If you are playing a groove, you would play it twice as slow as normal ... but the rest of the band continues as normal. Make sense?

If your back-beat (when the snare hits) is usually on beats 2 and 4, in "half-time" feel, you would be playing back-beats on beat 3.

"Cut-time" is often confused with "Half-time". Also, there is music notation for cut-time where the music is written normally, but you are instructed to play it twice as fast ... which is what "cut-time" means.

Using the same analogy as before ... if your back-beat (when the snare hits) is usually on beats 2 and 4, then in "cut-time" feel, you would be playing back-beats on the "&" or "ANDs".

All of these terms are used in relation to the pulse of the music; which 90% of the time is the quarter-note.

So "Half-time" means that the feel passes twice as slow ... or that you play only half of the groove in the time allowed. "Cut-time" means that the feel passes twice as fast ... or that you play twice as much of the groove in the time allowed.

Unfortunately, musicians (even pros) get these terms confused. When they want you to play "cut-time" they say "half-time".

So now you know ... and you can educate them!