Time Signatures

Time to look at some proper music!

Music is divided up into bars by vertical lines on the stave like this:

This shows you the rhythm of the music depending on how many beats are in a bar. In this piece there are four beats in each bar.

The numbers at the start tell you the time signature, that is the number of beats and what length of beats there are in each bar. The most common time signature is 4/4.

The top number tells you there are 4 beats in a bar

The bottom number shows that we are counting in 1 beat notes, i.e. the notes in the bar must be equal to 4 of these:

So if this were the time Signature there would be3 beats in a bar:

But here we have an 8 at the bottom! This means we’re counting in half beats so there are actually the equivalent of six of these in a bar.

So technically there are the same number of beats as in ¾ but the rhythm is different because they are divided into six.

And if you see a 2 at the bottom then we’re counting in 2-beat notes, so there will be two of these in a bar: - the same number

as in 4/4

You can get all sorts of strange time signatures but the good news is that it’s much more common to have a 4 at the bottom and a 3 or 4 on top so we’re going to stick to that!

So, let’s go back to the 4/4 time signature we saw earlier. This is the most common which is why it’s also called ‘common time’. Sometimes it’s denoted with a c-shaped symbol like this:

But it’s still the same thing: 4 1-beat notes in a bar.

But what difference does it make how the bars are divided up? It’s what gives a piece its rhythm, that’s what! The 1st beat of every bar is the strongest beat so to play in 4/4 time you have to count like this:

ONE two three four ONE two three four

There are thousands of songs written in 4/4 time but to use a well-known example, think of ‘Frere Jacques’:

Fre- re Ja- cques / Fre- re Ja- cques,/ Dor- mez vous____?/ Dor- mez vous____?/

It fits perfectly into a 4 beat bar:

Fre- re Ja- cques, Fre- re Ja- cques, Dor- mez vous? Dor- mez vous?

Son-nez les mat-in- es, Son-nez les mat-in- es, Ding dang dong, Ding, dang, dong

Can you follow it?

Another common time signature is 3/4 - this is the time signature that waltzes usually use. So, think of a waltz such as Strauss’ ‘Blue Danube’ as you count this one:

ONE two three ONE two three ONE two three

For an example with words (to make it easier to follow) think of ‘Oranges and Lemons’:

Oran-ges and / le-mons Say the/bells of St/ Cle-ment’s

Or-an-ges and le-mons, say the bells of St Cle-ment’s. You

owe me five far-things, say the bells of St Mar-tins.

Hope it’s starting to make sense! There’s just one more thing to mention...

...that is that you don’t have to start on the first beat of the bar! Sometimes music has what’s called an upbeat which means there’s a note (or two) leading up to the first bar, e.g:

Upbeat!

1) Baa baa black sheep2) What shall we do with the drunken

sailor?3) Away in a manger4) Hot cross buns5) Amazing grace

Have a go at guessing the time signatures of these songs – sing the tune (or listen to it on youtube!) and try to count the beats at the same time. Does it fit better into 3 or 4 beats? (Remember, there could be an upbeat or two first!)

Answers

3/4

4/4

A- way in a-a man-ger, no-o crib for a bed, the-e

What shall we do with the drunk-en sail- or? What shall we do with the