Time Signature

1 2 & 3 & 1 2 3 1 2 & 3 & 1 2 3

Time vs Pitch

We deal with music based on time (x axis)

And we deal with music based on pitch (y axis)

Pitch

Time

Time

Where we divide time into various units of measurement (hours, minutes, seconds), so we divide music into beats. You can think of the beat as the 'pulse' of the music. To measure time, we can set the tempo

Time

In this example, the beat is a quarter note and = 60 bpm

60 is how many times a quarter note happens in a minute (beats per minute)

Rhythmic Feeling

Different music has different feeling

A waltz feels different than a rock song

Rhythmic Feeling

That feeling comes from the way the beat is counted

A waltz is in 3, rock is typically in 4

Common Time

The most standard measurement is 4 beats with the quarter note receiving the pulse

We call this Common Time

OR 4/4

Common Time

Time Signatures always have two pieces of information: How Many Beats Per Measure? And What Note Gets The Beat?

The top note is the beats per measure

The bottom note represents what note gets the beat

Note Values

1 = Whole Note

2 = Half Note

4 = Quarter Note

8 = Eighth Note

Different Time Signatures

4/4

3/4

2/4

Different Time Signatures

2/2 also calledcut time

6/8

Applying the knowledge

So, if you see an irregular time signature:

How many beats per measure?

What note gets the beat?