Another useful time signature which is common in Blues, Gospel and Soul is twelve eight time (+). In this time signature there are twelve eighth note beats in each bar. A bar of eighth notes in twelve eight time sounds the same as a bar of triplets in four four time.
Although there are twelve individual beats which can be counted, twelve eight time is usually still counted in four (1 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 4 2 3) as demonstrated in the following example.
One of the main reasons for using the twelve eight time signature instead of * is that it becomes easier to count when the eighth notes are subdivided. Since there is a number on each eighth note, sixteenth notes can be counted as + (and) as demonstrated in the following example.
Here is a solo which makes use of 16th notes in + time along with 16th note triplets.