Time signature lesson

This lesson will focus on simple time signatures, and is the first part of a three part series lesson (parts two and three have yet to be published and will focus on more complex time signatures).

Contents

Simple time signatures

Just as we have symbols to represent what key a piece of music is in (key signature), we also have time signatures that determine the rhythmic structure of any given piece of music. You may have seen the figure ⁴/₄ before? Well let’s break this figure down and explain each part of it in further detail.

The figure ⁴/₄ has two distinct parts, the top number and the bottom number. The top number represents how many beats per measure/bar, and in this case it's four. The bottom number represents what note is given the beat and is simply the lower half of that notes fraction, in our example it is the number four which is the lower half of the quarter notes fraction (¹/₄). So the time signature ⁴/₄ means there are four quarter notes per measure/bar in this musical piece. As another example, the time signature ⁶/₈ says there are six notes per measure/bar and that each of those notes is to be given the value of one eighth note each. Again, the bottom number comes from the notes fraction, in this case ¹/₈.

Looking at the table below you will see what time signatures we will be learning in this lesson. There is also common time and cut time which is just shorthand for ⁴/₄ time, and ²/₄ time respectively.

Symbol	Notes per measure/bar	Comments
		Common time (denoted by the letter "C") is the same as 4/4 time. Common time has four quarter notes per measure/bar.
		Cut time or Alla Breve (denoted by the letter "C" with a vertical line through it) is the same as 2/4 time. Cut time has two quarter notes per measure/bar.
		4/4 time (or common time) has four quarter notes per measure/bar, and is by far the most popular time signature due to its simplicity and natural rhythmic structure.
		2/4 time (or cut time, Alla Breve) has two quarter notes per measure/bar, and is used in marching songs, Country & Western and certain Orchestral music.
		3/4 time has three quarter notes per bar measure, and is used in Waltzes and a number of other modern styles (ballads).

Example beats & music

So we have looked at ⁴/₄, ²/₄ and ³/₄ time signatures but you still need to hear what they all sound like, so below I have three audio samples of each beat. ⁴/₄ time is pretty straight forward as is ²/₄ time but ³/₄ time is a little different. The best example of ³/₄ time is the orchestral style called waltzes and you would have listened them on many occasions, mostly in older films. When counting ³/₄ time remember that we only go up to three, in other words you count "one…two…three…one…two…three…" and so on. Listen to the audio samples below to get a feel for each time signature (all links have been updated and work now).

The best way to learn how different time signatures sound is to listen to popular tunes, so I have created a list below with links to YouTube videos which will open in a new window. Each song is a good example of each time signature so take a listen and maybe try exploring different tunes and try to figure out the time signature.

Summary

Well I hope this lesson helped you understand how different time signatures sound. We will be exploring more complex time signatures in future lessons in this series so subscribe to our newsletter or RSS feed to keep up-to-date.

Cheers & keep pickin!