assignment 2 4 reading meter signatures

Get the Reddit app

Every so often, I'll post a short music theory lesson along with a piece of "homework." Share your responses to the prompts here, as well as discussions about music theory questions!

Assignment #2: Rhythm and Time Signature

Hey y'all! I got the post for the second assignment up on my blog. For this one, you're gonna need to know about the following:

Time Signature / Meter Signature

Compound vs. Simple Meter

If you don't already know these, you can see my blog post about each of them. Check it out if you like! If you already are familiar with the above, go on ahead to the homework:

Your Homework... 

This week's homework has two main parts.

Find two songs, one in a compound meter and one in a simple meter. Post links to recordings of the songs, along with what you think the time signature likely is for each. For a bonus, include something in an odd meter! That would be fun. 

Pick one of the songs and write an original piece of music in the same time signature as your chosen piece

This will be due by Friday, May 24th, at Midnight Eastern Standard Time.

When you share your homework on the r/jbtMusicTheory post, include links to your two chosen songs along with the one you've recorded in the comments.

EDIT: Sooooo, I messed up the due-date time. Please hand it in before 11:59 pm EST tonight. Or, honestly, hand it in late. I'll still look at it.

By continuing, you agree to our User Agreement and acknowledge that you understand the Privacy Policy .

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

You’ve set up two-factor authentication for this account.

Enter a 6-digit backup code

Create your username and password.

Reddit is anonymous, so your username is what you’ll go by here. Choose wisely—because once you get a name, you can’t change it.

Reset your password

Enter your email address or username and we’ll send you a link to reset your password

Check your inbox

An email with a link to reset your password was sent to the email address associated with your account

Choose a Reddit account to continue

• Where to Start?
• Join our Patreon!
• Circle of Fifths Ebook
• Nashville Number System Ebook
• Ebook Bundle
• MTFM YouTube Channel
• Music Alphabet
• Learning Music Theory Scales 3 Ways
• Pentatonics
• Increasing your Metronome SPEED!
• Fine Tuning Using Your Ears
• Intermediate
• Practice Tips
• Number System
• Circle of Fifths
• Basic Chords
• Reading Music

Reading Time Signatures

At the beginning of pieces of music we find the Time Signatures. This tells us the meter. Meter is the rhythmic form or structure to a song. The form is repeated in every measure so you could say that each measure is one cycle of the meter. So if the song is in a meter of 3, then the beats would be counted as 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3... with each new measure starting on 1.

A time signature is made up of 2 parts. The top number designates how many beats there are in each measure and the bottom number designates what kind of note each beat is. We'll start with the top number because it is easier to understand.

If we have a signatre of 3/4, that means that there will be 3 beats per measure. If we have a signature of 4/4, there will be 4 beats per measure. This doesn't mean that there are only 4 notes in the measure, just a  total  of 4 beats.

Now for the bottom number. If we have a signature of 3/4 then each beat will be represented as a quarter note. If it is 3/2, then each beat will be represented as half note. Now this doesn't mean that all of the notes in the measure will be half notes. This simply means that all of the notes in the measure have to add up to the total value of 3 half notes. Here are some examples below.

The most used signatures are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 2/2. 4/4 is the most common, so we call it "common time" and it sometimes looks like this: 

2/2 is the same thing cut in half so we call it "cut time" and it sometimes looks like this: 

The time sigs. we have looked at here are called Basic time sigs. These are the easiest to read and count. When there is an 8 on the bottom, these become complex time signatures, and we will talk about them in a later lesson.

Very Important!

Don't get too worried about these. Some people try to figure out every single one possible and try to understand them intimately. They aren't THAT important. They simply tell you the meter of the song. That is all. They are not some cosmo-magical being that rules the universe of music.

To be quite honest, if you know basically how one works, and you can tell "Okay, there are 3 beats and each beat is a quarter note, so there should be a total value of 3 quarter notes, and the song will have a meter of 1, 2, 3, 1 2, 3," then you can already play music just as well as that guy that knows them to the finest degree.

If in doubt, re-read the title of this website: Music Theory for Musicians, not Theorists. If you want to be a theorist, there are textbooks that can explain more about these, but this should give you enough information to play most music out there.

Return from  Reading: Time Signatures  to  Reading Music   Return from  Reading: Time Signatures  to  Homepage

Hope this helps! Practice hard and let me know if you have any questions!

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

• Click on the HTML link code below.
• Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Sign up for the newsletter!

Understanding Time Signatures and Meters: A Musical Guide

At the beginning of practically any score of music you have ever looked at there are numbers and symbols that clarify how to interpret the music notation in the score. As a music learner, you’ve become familiar with these symbols and you know that the numbers tell you how to interpret the music’s rhythms, how to count and keep track of the beat, and that if you’re playing with other performers—the numbers help you stay together!

Yet, there are so many numbers and so many ways for these numbers to be written:

These are just some of the time signatures you might encounter. Notice also in the above image that there are time signatures in the form of letters instead of numbers, which adds even more possibilities and potential complications into the mix; however, these letters really just stand in for numbers with added special meanings.

All of these time signatures raise the questions: do we really need all of these different time signatures? Do they really mean different things? Why do composers and musicians prefer some time signatures over others? These time signatures really do have slightly different meanings and purposes in music, but some can sound the same to the ear. Some are quite rare and others are more common.

This article will explain the basics of reading time signatures and meters, show how the various time signatures are related to each other and can sound similar and different, and why composers might choose certain time signatures over others.

Sound in Time

Fundamental to the definition of music itself is that music must move through time—it is not static. Hence, music is sound organized through time. This organization of music through time is managed in the Western music system through time signatures.

The time signatures give us a way to notate our music so that we can play the music from scores, hear its organizational patterns, and discuss it with a common terminology known to other musicians. The organizational patterns of beats, as indicated by the time signature, is how we hear and/or feel the meter of said piece. When discussing music, the terms "time signature" and "meter" are frequently used interchangeably; but time signature refers specifically to the number and types of notes in each measure of music, while meter refers to how those notes are grouped together in the music in a repeated pattern to create a cohesive sounding composition. The methods for classifying the various time signatures into meters is discussed in detail later in this article.

Meters vs. Rhythms

Meter is the comprehensive tool we used to discuss how music moves through time. That said, there is another way that musicians also discuss how music moves through time, and that is through rhythm. Rhythms are the lengths of the notes in the music itself - which notes are long and which notes are short. Musicians learn how to play these rhythms in the context of each piece  by using the time signature.

The Notation

In musical scores, we organize the music into “ bars ” or measures . A “ barline ," or measure line, is where the five horizontal lines of a staff are intersected vertically with another line, indicating a separation:

Each measure has a specific number of notes allowed to be placed in it, and that number of notes is dependent upon the time signature.

The most common notes which are used to make the short and long rhythms in the various meters are included in the chart below, beginning with the longest held notes and going to the shortest. This chart also mentions the length relationship between the note values.

As the notes in the various metric breakdowns get bigger or smaller, the equivalent relationships continue. For example, a double-whole note would last as long as eight quarter notes!

Reading the Time Signatures

The number of notes allowed in each measure is determined by the time signature . As you saw in the time signature examples above, each time signature has two numbers: a top number and a bottom number: 2/4 time, 3/4 time, 4/4 time, 3/8 time, 9/8 time, 4/2 time, 3/1 time, and so on. The bottom number of the time signature indicates a certain kind of note used to count the beat, and the top note reveals how many beats are in each measure. If you look at the American note names from the chart above, there is a fun little trick to it:

Take the 2/4 time signature for example - with the 2 on the top of the time signature you know there are 2 beats for one measure, and this leaves you with a fraction of 1/4 —a quarter, the note-length the time signature is indicating to you then is a quarter note. Therefore, you know that there are two quarter notes worth of time in every measure:

Let’s try another one. In 9/8 time, you know that in every measure there are 9 notes in a 1/8 length.

How about in 4/2 time?

In 4/2 time, each measure has 4 notes of 1/2, so we have 4 1/2  notes:

Now try 3/1 time.

In 3/1 time, so we have 3 notes of a 1/1 length, so 3 whole notes!

Common Time and Cut Time

The above steps are how you figure out the notes and beats of most time signatures, but what about the two time signatures that are letters? As a matter of fact, the two letter time signatures are actually shorthand and variations for the most common numerical time signatures, 4/4 and 2/2.

Below is an example from the opening of Edvard Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite, “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” This excerpt is in marked in Common Time with a big C, which means 4/4. If you count the notes in the measures, you will see that there are four quarter-notes worth of time per measure.

This example is particularly relevant to our discussion of Common and Cut time, because as this piece continues, it gradually increases in speed, moving from sounding like a 4/4 to 2/2. And this is actually what happens! By the end of the piece, the conductor directs the orchestra in Cut Time rather than Common Time. Listen to this performance  to hear the beats get faster and see if you can hear when the orchestra switches into Cut Time!

Meter Classifications

We've talking about the basics of reading and deciphering time signatures - now we get to learn how those time signatures can be understood as meters.

There are two levels of classifying meters. The first level of classification focuses on how the beat indicated by the time signature is subdivided.

There are only two ways for the beat to be regularly subdivided in Western music, and that is into two or into three smaller notes. Refer to the note value charts above. All other subdivisions are either multiples of these two subdivisions, or some complex form of adding them together. For ease of notation and classifying the subdivisions as meters then, we have: Simple Time , Compound Time , and Irregular Time .

Simple Time

Simple time is any meter whose basic note division is in groups of two. Examples of these meters include: Common Time, Cut Time, 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 2/2, 2/1, and so on. These meters are simple time because the quarter note divides equally into two eighth notes, the half-note divides equally into two quarter notes, or the whole note divides equally into two half notes. You can see these divisions if you refer back to the above note length chart.

Compound Time

Slightly more complicated is compound time , which is any meter whose basic note division is into groups of three. You automatically know you are not in simple time if there is an 8 as the bottom number of your time signature. An 8 to mark simple time would be pointless, as will be demonstrated below in the beat hierarchies and accents section.

Technically, to get a compound time sound, composers could use a simple time signature and then mark all of the main beat subdivisions in triplets - making a duple division into a triple division - throughout an entire piece to get the same effect. However, using triplets throughout an entire piece to get a compound time sound would appear quite messy and cluttered on the page.

An example of the 12/8 against the 4/4 using triplets is in the table below. To the listener, these examples sound exactly the same, and in practice there is the added risk of confusing performers unused to switching between time signatures.

Even though it's more common to see a simple time signature with the duple divisions in Western music for music of the past five or six centuries, it was actually compound time which developed and was notated first! Because Western music notation developed alongside church music, much of the underlying theory surrounding music had a theological basis. For meter, the most common subdivision was in compound or triple divisions to relate musical time being three in one, similar to the Christian Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Irregular Time

The final option for beat subdivision is an irregular or unequal subdivision of the beat.

Even though these are “irregular” meters, they do have patterns that are discernable for the performer. The most common irregular meters actually mix simple time and compound time together within a single measure. Thus, in each measure, there are beats with three subdivisions and there are beats with two subdivisions. Examples include such time signatures as 5/8 and 7/8. Because there are 5 eighth notes per measure or 7 eighth notes per measure, you cannot have equal groupings of 2 or 3 eighth notes. Therefore, similarly to 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8, in which the groups of eighth-notes are beamed together to a larger count, in 5/8 and 7/8 they are also beamed together to make a larger count. However, because the number of eighth notes in 5/8 and 7/8 is odd (and prime), the count lengths in each measure are uneven—or irregular. The eighth note typically stays the same length, but because some counts have two and some counts have three eighth notes, they are irregular!

You can see the groupings of three eighth notes with two eighth notes in each measure of 5/8 above, and groups of two eighth notes against two groups of two eighth notes in each measure of 7/8. In 5/8 and 7/8 then, the first count of each measure is one eighth-note longer than the rest of the counts. Depending on where the placement of the longer beat, composers can create different accents and atmospheres.

Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840—1893) uses an irregular meter in the second movement of his Sixth Symphony. When you listen to the movement, it sounds like it should be a waltz with three beats per measure, but the “beats” of the meter are uneven, sometimes the first beat is longer, sometimes it is shorter because the subdivisions are irregular. To the listener, because it sounds like a waltz and like a dance, it feels at once familiar, but then also lopsided and distant. The irregular beat patterns are unexpected and un-danceable (at least without some serious practice and memorization!). The familiar becomes distorted, distant, potentially dangerous and frightening.

Duple, Triple, and Quadruple Classifications

The second level of classification for meters is how many beats there are in a measure. There are three which are the most common: duple (2/2, 2/4, 6/8), triple (3/4, 9/8, 3/2), and quadruple (4/4, 12/8, 4/2). A duple meter has two beats per measure, a triple meter has three beats per measure, and a quadruple meter has four beats per measure. It is rare to see any larger or smaller that are not an equivalent to one of these three.

Cut-Time is duple and simple meter because there are two beats per measure and those beats are divisible by two:

3/4 time is triple and simple meter because there are three beats per measure and each beat is divisible by two:

4/2 is quadruple and simple meter because there are four beats per measure and each beat is divisible by two:

6/8 time is duple and compound meter because there are two beats per measure and each beat is divided into three:

9/8 time is triple and compound meter because there are three beats per measure and each beat is divided into three:

5/8 time is duple and irregular meter because there are two beats per measure and each beat is divided irregularly:

Look through your scores at home: what are some of the meter classifications that you have been playing?

As you can see from the above explanations of the various time signatures and their meters, there are a lot of similarities and subtle nuances between all of these meters. For example, all of the duple and quadruple time meters are similar in that they have two and four beats per measure. This trait makes them sound very similar to the ear.

Depending on the tempo of the piece, triple and simple time pieces can sound compound and some compound pieces (i.e. 6/8) can sound like they have a simple beat subdivision but triple (i.e. the 6/8 sounding like 3/4)! What helps to distinguish a lot of these meters is the beat hierarchies and typical styles of music in which they are employed.

Beat Hierarchies

Music is sound organized through time, and the time signature tells us how to structure that music in time.

Another important piece of information within that time signature is which notes — which beats — are more important and should get accented. This accentuation of beats is known as a “ beat hierarchy .” In almost all Western Classical music, the first beat of every measure is the strongest and most important beat, and should carry the most weight. In duple meters then, the second beat is weak and any subdivisions of the beat are weaker still. In quadruple meters, beat three of the measure is actually stronger than beat two, but not quite as strong as beat one, and beat four should lead into the next downbeat (beat one of the next measure). Triple time starts with a strong beat one, has a weak beat two, and then begins to build on beat three (leading to beat one again).

Understanding the beat hierarchies of the different time signatures can help you to interpret repertoire, especially those that use minimal articulation. For example, check out this 3/2 example from the Spirtuoso movement in Telemann’s Fantasia #6 for solo flute:

Because this piece is marked in 3/2 time, it should be in triple and simple time. However, there are no phrase markings and some musicians who have studied Baroque performance practices have argued for sections of this piece being in two instead of three. Switching the meter from a two to three feel is like giving the piece a 6/8 time signature and making the 6/8 eighth note equal to a 3/2 quarter note. With a 6/8 type meter, the Fantasia would be duple and compound, changing the beat hierarchy and accents from every second quarter note to every third quarter note.

The particular Telemann example above, when performed with a changing beat hierarchy, can be an example of a metric and rhythmic technique called hemiola . Hemiola is a two against three subdivision of beats being played against — and right next — to each other. 

Syncopation

Another way to disrupt the beat hierarchy of meters in music is to use syncopation . Syncopation is the rhythmic shifting of the accented beat from the traditionally strong beats of one and three. In most cases this is done by a really short note on the downbeat which is immediately followed by an accented long note, or having a tie to an un-articulated downbeat, so that the downbeat gets completely lost. A textbook example of how syncopation can disrupt beat hierarchy can be seen in the ragtime piece “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin.

From the very first verse, the melody line bounces quickly off the sixteenth-note downbeat onto the accented eighth-note. Then, the next measure’s melody downbeat is tied over from the previous measure. Without the score or the repeated eighth-note chords in the left hand of the piano, you would not know where the downbeats were or be able to track the movement of the measures as easily! 

So we have all of these meters and this is how they’re broken down, but… why?

We have all of these different meters and possibilities for subdividing meters to fit the wide variety of music we have! Essentially, different kinds of music require different Simple or Compound time signatures and duple or triple meters. When we connect the music to how it is or was supposed to be used, we find some of the answers to this.

Take a March for example: marches are meant to be, well, marched to, in strict time, and as humans we only have two legs! So out of necessity, marches have to be in a duple or quadruple time. That is why marches are (almost) always in Cut Time, 2/4, 4/4, or on occasion, 6/8. Sousa’s iconic “Stars and Stripes Forever” is in Cut Time . Even though “Stars and Stripes,” and other marches still being composed through today, are rarely still marched to, they are still written in a duple time.

Dance music is another example of music that has to be in a specific meter. Most dances throughout history have had a prescribed number of steps and the music that accompanies the dances must match. For example, waltzes have to be in triple time because they follow a pattern of three steps before repeating the cycle.

The choice of meter and note length provided in the time signature is also a possible indicator of tempo. Generally speaking, one would expect a piece notated in 4/1 to move at a slower tempo than 4/4.

So, that's how you read time signatures! We've investigated how they’re similar and different, how they’re used, and how they can change the music we hear. Many are interchangeable and can sound the same, but have slightly different origins or uses. Meters are how composers organize music through time and communicate that organization to the performers.

For fun, try seeing if you can “play” with any of the meters of your repertoire as if they were in a different meter and tell us about your experiments below!

Learn with LPM

If you are looking to review time signatures, check out our lesson on the Music Theory: How to Read Music course. 

About the Author: Michele Aichele

Michele Aichele is a PhD candidate in Musicology from the University of Iowa, with a MA from the University of Oregon and a BA from Whitman College (Washington). Her interests are in the role of women in composing, performing, teaching, and patronage in music. Her love of learning translates easily to her work with Liberty Park Music. Not only does she get to share her passion for great music and learn from the talented Liberty Park Music teachers, she also gets to help educate more people across the globe through Liberty Park Music’s services.

Related Articles

The Importance of Music Theory

Three Step Guide to Master Italian Words in Music Theory

What are Keys and Why Should We Know About Them?

Recommended lessons.

ABRSM Music Theory

Learn Music Theory: How to Read Music

Music Theory 2: Intervals, Scales, Triads, and Harmony

23 thoughts on “understanding time signatures and meters: a musical guide”.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *.

I’m struggling with understanding signatures and some of the jumps that are made or not explained and it’s doing my head in.

Reading the Time Signatures 9/8 Time, Why are the notes suddenly grouped into threes with no explanation of why?

Common time and cut time. I get common time (or at least I think I do) but I don’t really understand the explanation of cut time. You say “Technically, these measures have four quarter notes in them as well … This “Cut Time” change to “Common Time” means it goes twice as fast, so instead of the quarter note getting the beat, the half note gets the beat!” What half note? If its twice as fast won’t they be 1/8 notes?

In the score for the Peer Gynt Suite why are there 1/8 notes went time is 4/4. Are you allowed to have notes of different duration to the one identified in the bottom of the signature? How does that work? Why are they grouped as 4 x 1/8 and then 2 x 1/8. Whats the rule an why is this done.

Dear Steve, Thank you for reaching out to us with your questions!

As explained later in the article, the eighth notes are grouped in threes instead of twos because 9/8 is a compound time signature. In compound time, each individual beat gets divided into three notes rather than two. The 9/8 eighth notes are grouped in threes to show that all three notes belong to the same beat. In simple time, which includes time signatures like common time and 2/4, the beat is divided into two notes and are thus the eighth notes are grouped in twos and fours in the other examples.

In cut-time, if the eighth note were to get the beat instead of the quarter note, then the music would move twice as slow, as in, you would double the number of beats in each measure—making it twice as long to get through. The rhythms stay the same in proportion to each other, but they go twice as fast. To go twice as fast as the quarter note beat, you would need a beat that fits two quarter notes in length, and that note, based on the diagram in the article, is a half note.

Regarding the Peer Gynt Suite questions, you are allowed to have notes of different duration to the one identified in the bottom of the time signature. The number at the bottom of the time signature simply tells what type of note gets the beat so that the musician knows how to interpret the rhythms of the notes. If you could only have the note-lengths that are indicated by the bottom of the time signature, then there would be no difference in rhythms—no long notes, no short notes, all the notes would have the same duration in every piece.

The eighth notes of the Peer Gynt Suite are grouped in 4 and then 2 because of the time signature. The 4 and 2 groupings reinforce that this time signature is a simple time signature and when you have a series of eighth notes then, you can only group them in groups of four or two. If they were grouped as a group of 6, that would indicate compound time and a different subdivision of the beat. Because we’re going to be going into cut-time with this example, the composer or publisher of the piece grouped the eighth notes to show the emphasis on two “beats” per measure rather than the common time four beats. That is why the first four eighth notes are grouped together—the four eighth notes equal the same length as one half note, which is one beat in cut time. The next two eighth notes are grouped together because they are on the next beat of the measure, but as they are eighth notes, they cannot be barred with the quarter note that follows. And these two eighth notes and the quarter note make up the second beat of the measure.

How do you conduct 1/4 time, I have theory work sheet and am having a hard time understanding how I would draw that.

Hey Laura, it depends on the piece. A good way to start conducting 1/4 would be to try in one beat per measure.

Hi Michele,

How do we distinguish between 3/2 and 6/4?

Thanks for your question Jithin, The main difference between 3/2 and 6/4 is how you count it. Both time signatures have the same number of quarter notes per measure. In 6/4 you count 6 beats, one for every quarter note. In 3/2 you count 3 beats, one for every half-note.

Many swing band arrangements use the cut time time signature. However, we count off 1,2,1,2,3,4 and play the music as if the time signature was originally in common time or in 4,4. Why is that? The usual answer is “That’s the way it’s always been done.” It’s not a satisfying answer. Any thoughts?

[Response from our drum kit teacher Brendan Bache] This is a really good point. For me cut time, just like common time, is still 4/4. The only difference is the way the beats are felt with the stress on 1 and 3 as opposed to every quarter note pulse. This is often down to the tempo of the piece and when I see cut time in a swing or Latin chart I usually interpret it as 4/4 at a fast tempo. In short, I’ve always counted it that way, (unless the tempo is so fast that it makes no sense to count quarter notes out loud) partly because that’s what I’ve heard other musicians do but also because I think it makes musical sense. Thanks for the comment!

thanks for the information

This was a very clear explanation of time signatures. Thank you.

I am naive about music history, and I have a very limited understanding of music theory, but I’ve often wondered how the time signature symbols evolved the way that they did. It seems to me that we have 2 symbols that represent 3 variables (length per base note, base notes per beat, and beats per measure). The 2 symbols provide a compact notation, but is can be more confusing to people who are new to music signatures.

Over the years, has anyone considered time signatures that make all three variables explicit and which have accommodations for uneven time signatures? I was thinking of something like the following:

4/4 time: 4(4𝅘𝅥) 3/4 time: 3(4𝅘𝅥) 6/8 time: 2(3𝅘𝅥𝅮) 9/8 time: 3(3𝅘𝅥𝅮) 5/8 time: 1(3𝅘𝅥𝅮,2𝅘𝅥𝅮) 7/8 time: 1(3𝅘𝅥𝅮,2𝅘𝅥𝅮,2𝅘𝅥𝅮)

Greetings Dennis and thank you for your question! In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, a lot of composers and theorists have come up with more explicit (and less explicit) time signatures to use in their scores. However, each of these is unique to the composer; there is no universal agreement on anything that works better than the current system. Most of the music musicians learn to play use the time signatures explained in the article.

Oops, it should be more like this (I won’t give up my day job):

4/4 time: 4(1𝅘𝅥) or 4(𝅘𝅥) or (𝅘𝅥,𝅘𝅥,𝅘𝅥,𝅘𝅥) 3/4 time: 3(1𝅘𝅥) or 3(𝅘𝅥) or (𝅘𝅥,𝅘𝅥,𝅘𝅥) 6/8 time: 2(3𝅘𝅥𝅮) or (3𝅘𝅥𝅮,3𝅘𝅥𝅮) 9/8 time: 3(3𝅘𝅥𝅮) or (3𝅘𝅥𝅮,3𝅘𝅥𝅮,3𝅘𝅥𝅮) 5/8 time: (3𝅘𝅥𝅮,2𝅘𝅥𝅮) 7/8 time: (3𝅘𝅥𝅮,2𝅘𝅥𝅮,2𝅘𝅥𝅮)

Prior to the 16th century, and the introduction of bar lines, what was the Latin term for the measurement of the length of a beat?

Thanks for your question Lyle! I frequently see the beat of pre-16th century music referred to as the “tactus.”

I understand there are no constraints as to what tempo certain meters in a musical piece can be played (if composer decides two measures of 4/4 be played at 120bpm and next 3 measures of 4/4 at 140bpm),but how do we calculate a new tempo to have a different meter “sound/feel” the same. For example we start with 7/8 (has 3 beats, 7 8th notes) at 130bpm moving into 4/4 (4 beats, eight 8ths for the purpose of common denominator) how to get the tempo for 4/4 part? Should we look at beats ratio 3 to 4 or notes ratio 7 to 8? I’ve seen a formula like this but don’t know if it’s right, new tempo=number of notes in new tempo X old tempo / num of notes in old tempo. So in our case 8×130/7=114bpm rounded up

Hi Arek, I’m not sure quite what you’re asking. It depends on if the composer wants the overall beat to stay the same or keep the length of the eighth-notes or quarter-notes the same. If the beat stays the same, then moving from 4/4 to 6/8 would mean that instead of dividing each beat into two, you would divide it into three, so the subdivisions get faster, but the length of the beat would stay exactly the same. The same would go for 7/8. I imagine your formula would work if the composer wanted the eighth-notes to stay the same.

Hey Steve. Very insightful article. I understand that 2/4 as a simple quadruple time has a different feel from 6/8. I also know that 6/8 can be re-written as 2/4 without the song losing its feel. Does it mean that the aural feel of 2/4 time signature is always the same as 6/8?

Thanks for your question Jones! No, the aural feel of a 6/8 time signature will not always feel the same as 2/4. It can depend on the tempo. Sometimes it will feel the same, but sometimes, the 6/8 can be stretched out, for example, in some Baroque dance suites.

Wow.. I am indeed blessed with alot of techniques and knowledge on time or measure signature here. Thanks to libertyparkmisic

Michele, Thanks for the most comprehensive and clear explanation of the time signatures I have ever read, and I think I’ve read all of them. I think I get it now. As a nubie bass player, getting time and emphasis under control is one of my biggest challenges. This is exasperated by picking Money by Pink Floyd as a piece to show off to my mates. During this bass line the time switches from 7/4 to 3/4 to 5/4 to 3/4 back to 7/4 and, just for irony I suspect, ends in 4/4 for a couple of bars. It’s a beautiful mess. (Yes, various recording have whole ‘bridge?’ sections in 4/4 included, I know) I learned to play it by listening to the recordings, but now that I have read your article, I can follow the score, and tell my guitar playing mates that ‘I KNOW how it goes’. Thanks for your great work.

Thanks, makes bit more sense now

It will be tomorrow… actually today now, before my subconscious parses this and returns a verdict. My misinterpretation that bars or measures were finite and restricted has been delightfully dismantled. As a singer-songwriter who breathes music I never paid attention to the signature of my breathing. Now, confronting a world of DAW, I need the software to understand my timing, so it can follow and respond well. Today, I learned what a hole, half, quarter and eighth note looks like. As I reverse engineer my fifty+ creations, perhaps soon theory and music will meet and play nice together, so I can record and perform with more weapons in my arsenal. But in three minutes it will be 2am and my brain is full. Thank you

how tempo marking note value is found in irregular meters? ones like 5/4 and 7/8.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

AP Notes, Outlines, Study Guides, Vocabulary, Practice Exams and more!

Class Notes

Social science.

• European History
• Human Geography
• US Gov and Politics
• World History
• Trigonometry
• Environmental Science
• Art History
• Music Theory

Textbook Notes

Members only.

• Textbook Request

You are here

Meter and time signature.

Meter is the pattern of pulses or beats on which the rhythms of a piece are based. The rhythms of a meledy can go faster or slower, but the beat marches on at a steady pace. It is like drawing a picture on a piece of graph paper. Each square on the graph is like a beat. When you count out the beats, you are counting the meter. Most pieces have either 2, 3, or 4 regular beats per measure. When you play a melody, you usually accent the notes which start on the beat. When you play faster notes, they usually divide the beat into either 2 or 3 parts. Fer examp|e, the song "Yankee Doodle" has two beats per measure and the beat divides into 2 parts:

Hickory Dockery Doc also has two beats per measure, but the rhythms divide the beat into three parts:

A time signature is a sign which helps show you what the meter is. The most common time signatures are 2/4, 3/4, 4/4. For these simple time signatures, the top number tells you how many beats per measure and the bottom number reminds you that a quarter-note (1/4) gets the beat. "Yankee Doodle" would use a time signature of 2/4. Here is an example of a piece with 3 quarter—notes per measure (3/4 time):

6/8 is another frequent time signature. Unfortunately, it is not simple; it is rather confusing. Many people think that 6/8 means 6 beats per measure with an eighth-note getting the beat. Not true. 6/8 is used fer pieces where the beat divides into 3 parts, like Hickory Dickory Dock". The time signature fer "Hockery Dockery" is supposed to show 2 beats per measure with a dotted quarter-note getting the beat, like the examp|e below:

Remember, keys don't come from key signatures and meters don't come from time signatures. When you are listening to actual music, you often can imagine counting it out in different ways (fast and slow). Follow this basic guideline: Question: How many beats are in a measure? Answer: As few as possible. For examp|e, when you see 6/8, trust the music itself (not the sign post) and count it in two, not six: 1 la li 2 la li (never 1 23 4 56).

We hope your visit has been a productive one. If you're having any problems, or would like to give some feedback, we'd love to hear from you.

For general help, questions, and suggestions, try our dedicated support forums .

If you need to contact the Course-Notes.Org web experience team, please use our contact form .

Need Notes?

While we strive to provide the most comprehensive notes for as many high school textbooks as possible, there are certainly going to be some that we miss. Drop us a note and let us know which textbooks you need. Be sure to include which edition of the textbook you are using! If we see enough demand, we'll do whatever we can to get those notes up on the site for you!

About Course-Notes.Org

• Advertising Opportunities
• Newsletter Archive
• Plagiarism Policy
• Privacy Policy
• DMCA Takedown Request

Time Signatures and Measures with +9 Examples [4/4, 3/4, 6/8...]

This VIDEO and TEXT TUTORIAL will teach you everything about time signatures and measures. Practice the music meter using more than 9 audio examples. Learn the 4/4, 3/4, 2/2, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, 7/4, 5/4 and 7/8 time signatures. Simple, compound, duple, triple, quadruple and odd meters.

6. Time Signatures, Meters and Measures

• < 5. Rhythm Examples

Tutorial: Time Signatures, Meter and Measures

Hello, friends! Welcome to the last lesson in mastering rhythm. In this class, you will learn everything about time signatures and meter in music . The best part is that we will use fragments of popular music. If you haven't completed the previous lessons about note values , I recommend that you go watch them carefully or you might not understand the content of this class. The idea of this  music theory course is that you follow all the lessons in order.

Measures, Beats and Meter

As we have seen before, the foundation of rhythm are the beats. The natural accents in music let us divide beats into strong or weak beats. Strong beats are useful for organizing music in measures. So far, we have counted to four before beginning each exercise, and each measure was formed by four beats. The first beat in every measure is always the strongest. But music is complex, and not all music is arranged in measures of four beats.

At the beginning of the staff, after the clef, we see two big numbers, one below the other. These numbers represent the time signature or meter. The two numbers are separated by a line or slash. These two numbers are what we call a fraction in mathematics. But don't worry, this isn't an advanced mathematics class�??if you know how to add and subtract, it's enough. The number above the line in a fraction is called the numerator, while the number below the line is called the denominator. Each one of these numbers means something different in music.

The time signature tells us the size of a measure. The number below the line, or the denominator, indicates a note value, whereas the number above the line, or the numerator, indicates how many of those note values are needed to complete a measure. Let me explain more about each number.

The numerator

The numerator tells us the number of note values needed to fill a measure. So far, all the examples have had the number four in the numerator of the time signature. This means that we need four note values to fill a measure. Can you guess which note value is it? When we say that four note values are needed to complete a measure, we are not talking about any note value: it is a specific note value given by the denominator of the time signature.

The denominator

To understand which note value represents the denominator, we can use the name of the note values you have learned. The whole note would be number one because it represents the entirety, and the length of the other note values are being compared with the whole note. A half note is equal to number two because you need two of these to complete a whole note. A quarter note is number four because you need four of these notes to complete a whole note. Thus, an eighth note is number eight, a sixteenth note is number 16, a thirty-second note is number 32, and finally, a sixty-fourth note is number 64. These numbers are the ones that have to be used in the denominator of the time signature to represent a note value. Only these numbers can be used in the denominator of the time signature.

4/4 Time Signature

All the exercises so far had the number four in the denominator, which means that the quarter note is the basis for the measure. We can conclude that 4/4 means that we need four quarter notes to complete a measure. Sometimes you can also see an uppercase C instead of a fraction in the time signature. This is known as common time and is identical to 4/4.

To practice different time signatures and meters, let's hear some examples using popular music.

The 3/4 Time Signature

A 3/4 time signature means that we need three quarter notes to complete a measure. It also means that there are three beats per measure. We can set the online metronome available at sessiontown.com to produce accents every three beats by changing the number in the "accent each" column. Then, set the tempo at the desired speed and click on the play button to start the metronome.

A 3/4 time signature means that we need three quarter notes to complete a measure. It also means that there are three beats per measure. We can set  the online metronome available at sessiontown.com to produce accents every three beats by changing the number in the "accent each" column. Then, set the tempo at the desired speed and click on the play button to start the metronome.

Time signatures: 5/4

The following song is in 5/4, which means we need five quarter notes to complete a measure and there are five beats per measure. I'm sure you will recognize the song:

Swing and shuffle notes

Before continuing with more examples, I want to teach you something first. It's a little variation to the eighth notes that we call swing or shuffle notes. To understand this subject, we need to review eighth notes as we have seen them so far:

Many compositions and styles always play eighth notes like this and not in a straight way as we have seen them before, where each eighth note is evenly divided. But writing the notes as you see them on the screen during a whole song would seem complicated. Call it style, manners or simply laziness, but every time a song uses swing or shuffle eighth notes, we simply write them as straight eighth notes and then add an indication at the beginning of the score. The indication you see on the screen means that eighth notes should be played like the ones from the previous example.

7/4 Time Signature

Continuing with meters, the following example uses a 7/4 time signature. This means that we need seven quarter notes to complete one measure and the note value that represents the beat is the quarter note. Pink Floyd's "Money" uses a 7/4 time signature and has shuffle eighth notes. Remember that staccato notes should be played for a shortened time.

Meters usign different denominators: 2/2

So far, the denominator has always been 4. Let's try with the time signature 2/2. The denominator means that the note value is the half note. The numerator means that we need two half notes to complete a measure. When using the time signature 2/2, the duration of one beat is represented with a half note, so each measure has two beats. If half notes have a duration of one beat, it means that all the note values should last half the duration compared to how we have used them before. Therefore, the whole note will last two beats, the quarter note will last half a beat, and so on. This time signature is known as "alla breve," and it can be indicated on the staff using a capital C with a vertical line through it. Let's hear an example:

This time signature can be read as 4/4 because the total size of each measure is the same. But it is important to interpret and perform the music as it is written. The 2/2 signature [U1] means two beats per measure, which means a strong beat is followed by a weak beat, while 4/4 means a strong beat is followed by three weak beats. My opinion is that music in 2/2 can be rewritten using 2/4. That way it would be easier to read and the intention of the beats would be the same. But a lot of old music, especially marches, was written using this time signature, so it's important for you to learn about it.

Simple and Compound Time Signatures: 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8

All the time signatures we have seen so far are known as simple meter because each beat is naturally divided into two equal parts. For example, 4/4 uses the quarter note to represent one beat, and each quarter note is divided into two eighth notes. Although you learned before that we can use triplets to represent three notes per beat, triplets are an exception. What is common for 4/4 is to divide each beat into two eighth notes. The 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 7/4 and 2/2 signatures are simple time signatures because each beat can be broken naturally in two equal parts, and the unnatural thing would be to break each beat into three equal parts.

But music is complex. In many musical pieces, each beat naturally splits into three equal parts, and in those cases, the exception is to break a beat into two equal notes. The time signatures that naturally divide each beat into three equal parts are known as compound meter. Let's try with an example to make it easier.

We'll use the time signature 6/8. The denominator indicates eighth notes. The numerator indicates that we need six eighth notes to complete a measure. The difference with this type of time signature is that each beat is not represented by an eighth note. In 6/8, each beat is represented by a dotted quarter note. You might be thinking that I'm crazy, but hang in there, with the examples you will notice that it makes sense. A dotted quarter note has the same duration of three eighth notes together, so in 6/8 we have two beats per measure. Let's hear the example:

Let's say the rhythm with the voice. In this case, we have two melodies or voices occurring at the same time. That is why there is a rest before the eighth notes. The dotted half note would be one voice or melody and the eighth notes and the rests would be the second voice or melody.

Another compound meter is 9/8. It means we need nine eighth notes to complete a measure. But remember, in all compound meters the beat is the dotted quarter note. Therefore, in 9/8 there are three beats per measure. Bach's BWV 147 is a composition using 9/8:

Duple, triple , quadruple and odd meters

The most common time signatures are those with two, three or four beats per measure. Those with two beats are known as duple meters, those with three beats per measure are known as triple meters, and those with four beats per measure are known as quadruple meters. Those that do not have two, three or four beats per measure are known as odd meters, irregular meters or asymmetrical meters. You already heard examples of irregular meters: 5/4 and 7/4.

Odd meters can have any number in the numerator. For example, 13/16 would be a time signature with 13 sixteenth notes per measure. To know the number of beats of this type of meter, we would have to hear the composition or look at the score to find how the beams organize the note values.

For example, the time signature 7/8 means that we need seven eighth notes per measure. But we can arrange the eighth notes in different ways. One way could be the following:

Look at how the beams group the eighth notes to determine the number of beats. In this case, we have three beats per measure. The first two beats in each measure behave as simple beats because they break into two eighth notes. The last beat in each measure behaves as a compound beat because it is divided into three eighth notes. This type of time signature creates irregular beats. In this case, the metronome should make a sound with each eighth note and not with each beat to make it easier. When counting, it is better to count the eighth notes because they are constant but the beats aren't. You can count one �?? two, one �?? two, one �?? two �?? three. This way, every time we say one, a beat is starting.

This example organizes the eighth notes as 2 + 2 + 3 because that is how the beats are arranged. Depending on the music, you could organize a 7/8 meter as 3 + 2 + 2 or 2 + 3 + 2.

Time signature changes

In most cases, a composition uses the same time signature for the entire piece of music. But any composition can have multiple time signatures in different moments. Progressive rock uses many changes in time signature per composition.

I recommend that you search sheet music for your favorite music. Each song you read will teach you something new. You can also try to write your own rhythms. The software used in these lessons is called MuseScore, and you can download it free from musescore.org . There you can also find videos to learn how to use the software.

I hope you have learned a lot through these lessons about reading and writing rhythm. In the following lessons, we will continue learning the basis of music theory so you can understand the music you love and so you can write your own music.

Add Session Town to your device

Session Town looks and works better when you add it as an app to your home screen.

Install Session Town like an app. On Safari for iOS, click on the 'share' button (the one that has an up arrow). Then click on the 'Add to home screen' button.

We noticed you are using software that blocks ads. Please keep in mind that this website is free to use because of the advertising. The only way we can keep developing and maintaining this website is through ads. Please remove www.sessiontown.com from your adblocker.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

I. Fundamentals

Compound Meter and Time Signatures

Mark Gotham and Chelsey Hamm

Key Takeaways

• Compound meters are meters in which the beat divides into three and then further subdivides into six.
• Duple meters have groupings of two beats, triple meters have groupings of three beats, and quadruple meters have groupings of four beats. You can determine these groupings aurally by listening carefully and tapping along to the beat.
• There are different conducting patterns for duple, triple, and quadruple meters; these are the same in both compound and simple meters.
• Time signatures in compound meters express two things: how many divisions are contained in each measure (the top number), and the division unit — which note gets the division (the bottom number).
• Rhythms in compound meters get different counts based upon their division unit. Beats that are not articulated (because they contain more than one beat or because of ties, rests, or dots) receive parentheses around their counts.

Chapter Playlist

In the previous chapter, Simple Meter and Time Signatures, we explored rhythm and time signatures in simple meters —meters in which the beat divides into two and further subdivides into four. In this chapter, we will learn about compound meters —meters in which the beat divides into three and further subdivides into six.

Listening to and Conducting Compound Meters

Compound meters can be duple , triple , or quadruple , just like simple meters. In other words, the beats of compound meters group into sets of either two, three, or four. The difference is that each beat divides into three divisions instead of two, as you can hear by listening carefully to the following examples:

“End of the Road” (1992) by Boyz II Men is in a duple meter —the beats group into a two pattern. Tap along to the beat and notice how it divides into three parts instead of two. If you further divide the beat (by tapping twice as fast), you will feel that the beat subdivides into six parts.

• T he second movement (Minuet) of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Sonata no. 42 in G Major (1784) is in a compound triple meter . Listen for the groupings of three beats, each of which divides into three. 
• Finally, a compound quadruple meter contains four beats, each of which divides into three. Listen to “Exogenesis Symphony Part III” (2010) by the alternative rock band Muse. This is in a compound quadruple meter; in other words, the beats are grouped into a four pattern.

In general, it is less common for music to be written in compound meters. Nonetheless, you must learn how to read music and perform in these meters in order to master Western musical notation.

Review the conducting patterns for simple meters in the previous chapter , as they are the same for compound meters.

Time Signatures

Measures in compound meters are equivalent to one beat grouping (duple, triple, or quadruple), just as they are in simple meters. However, the two numbers in the time signature express different information for compound meters. The top number of a time signature in compound meter expresses the number of divisions in a measure, while the bottom number expresses the division unit —which note value is the division. Example 1 shows a common compound-meter time signature.

Just like in simple meter, compound-meter time signatures are not fractions (and there is no line between the two numbers), and they are placed after the clef on the staff. In Example 1 , the top number (6) means that each measure will contain six divisions; the bottom number (8) means that the eighth note is the division. This means that each measure in this time signature will contain six eighth notes, as you can verify by examining Example 1 .

In compound meters, the top number is always a multiple of three. Divide this number by three to find the corresponding number of beats in simple meter: top numbers of 6, 9, and 12 correspond to duple, triple, and quadruple meters respectively. In compound meters, the bottom number is usually one of the following:

• 8, which means the eighth note receives the division.
• 4, which means the quarter note receives the division.
• 16, which means the sixteenth note receives the division.

The following table summarizes the six categories of meters that we have covered so far:

Example 2. Categories of meters.

Counting in Compound Meter

While counting compound meter rhythms, it is recommended that you conduct in order to keep a steady tempo. Because beats in compound meter divide into three, they are always dotted. Beats in compound meter are as follows:

• If 8 is the bottom number, the beat is a dotted quarter note (equivalent to three eighth notes).
• If 4 is the bottom number, the beat is a dotted half note (equivalent to three quarter notes).
• If 16 is the bottom number, the beat is a dotted eighth note (equivalent to three sixteenth notes).

In simple meters, the beat divides into two parts, the first accented and the second non-accented. In compound meters, the beat divides into three parts, the first accented and the second and third non-accented. The counts for compound meter are different from simple meter, as demonstrated in Example 3 , which is in [latex]\mathbf{^6_8}[/latex].

Example 3. Counting in a compound duple meter.

In this time signature, each measure has two beats (6÷3=2), indicating duple meter. Each dotted quarter note (the beat) gets a count, which is expressed in Arabic numerals, like in simple meter. For notes that are longer than one beat (such as the dotted half note in the fourth measure of Example 3 ), the beats that are not counted out loud are still written in parentheses. Divisions are counted using the syllables “la” (first division) and “li” (second division). As the final measure of Example 3 shows, further subdivisions at the sixteenth-note level are counted as “ta,” with the “la” and “li” syllables on the eighth-note subdivisions remaining consistent.

The third measure of Example 3 presents two of the most common compound-meter rhythms with divisions, so make sure to review this measure carefully if you are not familiar with compound meter.

Please note that your instructor may employ a different counting system. Open Music Theory privileges American traditional counting, but this is not the only method.

Example 4 gives examples of rhythms in  (a) duple,  (b) triple, and  (c) quadruple meter. Just as with simple meters, compound duple meters have only two beats, compound triple meters have three beats, and compound quadruple meters have four beats.

Like in simple meters, beats that are not articulated because of rests and ties are written in parentheses and not counted out loud, as shown in Example 5 . However, because dotted notes receive the beat in compound meters, dotted rhythms do not cause beats to be written in parentheses the way they do in simple meters.

Example 5. Beats that are not counted out loud are put in parentheses.

Counting with Division Units of 4 and 16

So far, we have focused on meters with a dotted-quarter beat. In compound meters with other beat units (shown in the bottom number of the time signature), the same counting patterns are used for the beats and subdivisions, but they correspond to different note values ( Example 6 ).

Example 6. The same rhythm written with three different beat units: (a) dotted quarter, (b) dotted half, and (c) dotted eighth.

Each of these rhythms sounds the same and is counted the same. They are also all considered compound triple meters. The difference in each example is the bottom number—which note gets the division unit (eighth, quarter, or sixteenth), which then determines the beat unit.

Beaming, Stems, and Flags

In compound meters, beams still connect notes together by beat; beaming therefore changes in different time signatures. In the first measure of Example 7 , sixteenth notes are grouped into sets of six, because six sixteenth notes in a [latex]\mathbf{^6_8}[/latex] time signature are equivalent to one beat. In the second measure of Example 7 , sixteenth notes are grouped into sets of three, because three sixteenth notes in a [latex]\mathbf{^{\:6}_{16}}[/latex]   time signature are equivalent to one beat. 

When the music involves note values smaller than a quarter note, you should always clarify the meter with beams, regardless of whether the time signature is simple or compound. Example 8 shows twelve sixteenth notes beamed properly in two different meters. The first measure is in simple meter, so the notes are grouped by beat into sets of four; in the second measure, the compound meter requires the notes to be grouped by beat into sets of six.

The same rules of stemming and flagging that applied in simple meter still apply in compound meter. For notes above the middle line, stems and flags point downward on the left side of the note, and for notes below the middle line, stems and flags point upward on the right side of the note. Stems and flags on notes on the middle line can point in either direction, depending on the surrounding notes.

Like in simple meters, partial beams can be used for mixed rhythmic groupings. If you aren’t yet familiar with these conventions, pay special attention to how the notes in Example 9 are beamed.

• Compound Meter Tutorial (musictheory.net) (compound meter starts about halfway through)
• Simple vs. Compound Time Signatures (YouTube) (start at 1:49 for compound meter)
• Compound Meter Counting and Time Signatures (John Ellinger)
• Compound Meter Counting (YouTube)
• Compound Meter Rhythmic Practice (YouTube)
• Compound Meter Beaming (Michael Sult)
• Meter Identification (Simple and Compound) ( .pdf ,), and with Bar Lines ( .pdf )
• Meter Beaming (Simple and Compound) ( .pdf ), and pp. 4 and 5 ( .pdf )
• Time Signatures (Simple and Compound) ( .pdf )
• Counting in 6/8 ( .pdf ,  .pdf ,  .pdf )
• Time Signatures ( .pdf ,  .pdf , .pdf )
• Bar Lines ( .pdf ), and p. 2 ( .pdf )
• Compound Notes, Rests, and Bar Lines ( .pdf , .docx )
• Rebeaming Compound Rhythmic Notation ( .pdf , .mscz )

Media Attributions

• Compound Meter Time Signature © Chelsey Hamm is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license
• Simple and Compound Beaming © Mark Gotham is licensed under a CC BY-SA (Attribution ShareAlike) license

A meter that divides the beat into three parts.

A meter with two beats per measure.

A meter with three beats per measure.

A meter with four beats per measure.

An indication of meter in Western music notation, often made up of two numbers stacked vertically.

The note value that divides the beat into two or three parts (in simple or compound meters, respectively); for example, the eighth note in 4/4 or 6/8.

A meter that divides the beat into two parts.

Created by bar lines, a measure (or bar) is equivalent to one beat grouping.

The horizontal lines that connect certain groups of notes together.

Open Music Theory Copyright © 2023 by Mark Gotham and Chelsey Hamm is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Integrated Music Theory an open, interactive, online textbook for college music theory

CC BY-NC-SA 2018.

Integrated Music Theory 2018-19

Chapter 4) Rhythm and Regular Meters Discussion 4a - Simple Meters ❯

Lesson 4a - Simple Meters

We will be assuming that you are already familiar with the basics of rhythmic notation, so we will be skipping most of the basic rhythmic terminology. If you would like to review, I have included some materials from Open Music Theory in the Further Reading .

Simple meters

Instead, we will be skipping ahead into classifications for meters. For today’s topic, we will be focusing exclusively on simple meters, one of the two classifications for regular meters.

First, a few basic terms: Meter is the manner in which we organize strong and weak pulses in music over time, and it is from this grouping that we determine the length of each measure . At its most basic, meter tells us two things:

• how we divide the meter into regular or irregular pulses called beats
• how many of these beats are in the measure

If we imagine meter as a hierarchy, beats are the highest level. Beats are then divided into divisions , and divisions can be further divided into subdivisions . A regular meter is one in which every beat is the same length.

Finally, remember that meter is somewhat subjective and can be greatly altered by many factors, especially tempo. Where one listener might listen to a piece with four quarter-notes per measure and feel that the quarter notes are the beat, another listener may listen to the same piece and hear the beat in a slow two with the half-note as the beat.

Goals for this topic

Using the following examples, determine:

• the characteristic that all simple meters have in common
• what the top and bottom numbers mean in a simple time signature
• what duple , triple , and quadruple mean when describing a meter
• “theoretically ideal” beaming in simple meters
• a list of common meters in simple duple , simple triple , and simple quadruple
• the common beat-counting system that we’ll be using in this course (written in the “Simple Quadruple” example)

Conclusions

This is always an interesting class discussion, because creating objective definitions depends on the students differentiating their opinions from the underlying principles of the concept.

While most students intuitively understand what a simple meter, it is often difficult to agree on the common characteristic of all simple meters. When asked to identify what all simple meters had in common, they landed on, they often focus on the visual or mathematical representation of the time signature–for example, “The top number of the time signature is divisible by two.” Not only is this not true for all simple meters (e.g. 3/4) as shown in Examples 4a, it still would not differentiate this class of meters from compound meters. 6/8 and 12/8 are both compound time signatures that have a top number that is divisible by two.

The common characteristic of simple meters is how the individual beats are divided. Simple meters are any regular meters in which the beat is divided into exactly two equal parts.

Duple, Triple, and Quadruple

When looking at the above examples, simple meters can be divided into collections of duple, triple, and quadruple meters:

• ex: 2/4, 2/2, 2/8, 2/16
• ex: 3/4, 3/2, 3/8, 3/16
• ex: 4/4, 4/2, 4/8, 4/16

While this is correct for the meters above, it does not provide a definition of what these numbers mean. These words–simple, triple, quadruple, and so on–are used to signify how many beats are in a measure.

Simple time signatures

Most students correctly identify the function of the top and bottom numbers of the simple time signatures (but struggle with the same concept for compound meters.)

For simple meter time signatures:

• the top number represents how many beats are in the measure
• if a 4 is on the bottom, the beat is represented by a quarter note
• if an 8 is on the bottom, the beat is represented by an eighth note

To easily figure out the bottom number’s rhythmic value, I tell students to imagine that the bottom note becomes the denominator (lower number) of a fraction under a numerator of 1. A bottom number of 4 becomes 1/4 – a quarter. A bottom number of 2 becomes 1/2 – a half.

Beat-counting system in simple meters

It seems that for every unique syllable, there is a beat-counting system for affixing syllables to beats, divisions, and subdivisions. Each of these have their strengths and weaknesses, but for this theory course, we will be using the following for simple meters:

• beat numbers for each beat (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.)
• & for the division (e.g. 1-& 2-& etc.)
• e (pronounced ‘ee’) and a (pronounced ‘ah’) for the first level subdivisions (e.g. 1-e-&-a 2-e-&-a)

While this system can blend together aurally if said quickly, its primary benefit is that it has a unique syllable for each level through the first subdivision, and this makes communicating easier with higher specificity. For example, it is easy to ask, “Is the G4 on the ‘e’ of beat four a non-chord tone?”, and this does not require further information.

Theoretically ideal beaming versus common practice

The two examples of Examples 4a demonstrate something I term “theoretically ideal” beaming versus two counterparts of the same rhythm beamed in a more commonly used manner. For these:

• Half notes and whole notes are obvious exceptions.
• This focuses more on eighth notes, sixteenth notes, and further subdivisions.

This is very much inline with my general intention. Well-engraved music is meant to look pleasing and be easy for a performer to read. This often leads to grouping rhythmic patterns according to non-rhythmic ideas: lyrics, spacing measures across the page, phrasing, a limited number of systems, etc. Theoretically ideal beaming would never obscure a beat in order to provide the easiest reading of harmony within a score. Of course, no musician will ever use this in its strictest form because it would become difficult to read in many situations; imagine not using a whole note in 4/4 time and instead using four tied quarter notes.

That being said, it is important for students of music to begin trying to understand how grouping and beaming decisions are made, because in harmonic analysis, it is easy to sometimes miss voices because of obscured beats. It is also an excellent thought exercise to help students to begin demonstrating mastery of meters and rhythmic values.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

I. Fundamentals

3. Simple Meters

3.1 introduction.

Chapter 2 outlines the different ways in which the underlying pulse of a piece of music (the beat) can be regularly divided. In this chapter we will continue that discussion by looking at simple meters, those in which the beat is regularly divided into two equal durations. This chapter will also provide a brief description of beaming—a notational device that shows how beat subdivisions group into beats in any particular meter.

3.2 Simple meters and time signatures

Consider the following two examples:

Despite the obvious differences in character, there is an important connection between Example 3–1 and 3–2. Each piece has two beats per measure and each beat tends to divide into two equal durations. Both of these pieces, then, are said to be in a simple duple meter. Any of the beat groupings mentioned in the previous chapter—duple, triple, or quadruple—can represent a simple meter. A simple triple meter, for example, would have three beats per measure, each of which would regularly divide into two equal durations.

You probably noticed that both of these examples—as well most of the examples in the previous chapter—include a pair of large numbers at the beginning of the first line of music. These numbers together are referred to as a time signature (or meter signature ). They indicate to the performer the type of meter present in any given piece or passage of music.

Note: The meter is not always consistent all the way through a piece. Sometimes it changes. In such cases, the new meter is typically indicated by a new time signature.

A time signature consists of two numbers, one stacked on top of the other. For simple meters, the top number represents the number of beats and the bottom number the note value of a single beat. In Examples 3–1 and 3–2, we saw the time signature 2 / 4 and called that meter “simple duple.” The top number, in this case 2, tells us there are two beats per measure (hence, “duple”). The bottom number, in this case 4, tells us that each beat has a duration equivalent to a quarter note.

Consider the following short piece:

We see the time signature 3 / 4 at the beginning of Example 3–3. Here, the 3 indicates that there are three beats per measure and, once again, the 4 indicates that each beat is the length of a quarter note. As the shorter durations make clear, the meter is simple: each quarter note divides into two eighth notes.

Simple meters are generally very easy to recognize. Any time signature in which the top number is 2, 3, or 4 represents a simple meter.

Note: For simple meters, the general rule of thumb is that the top number of the time signature indicates the number of beats per measure (duple, triple, or quadruple) and the bottom number indicates the beat value. As we will discuss in Chapter 4 , however, this rule of thumb does not apply to compound meters.

The following examples show several common simple-meter time signatures:

a. simple quadruple

b. simple triple

c. simple duple

d. simple duple

Note that Example 3–4c and Example 3–4d ( 2 / 4 and 2 / 2 ) are both simple duple meters. Both of them have two beats per measure. They differ only in the note value of the beat (a quarter note and a half note, respectively).

Note: The difference between 4 / 4 and 2 / 2 is subtle. Both time signatures have measures whose durations are equal to a single whole note (four quarter notes or two half notes). The difference lies in how the music is performed or heard. The former will have four distinct beats per measure, while the latter will have only two.

Frequently, you will encounter other, non-numeric symbols used as time signatures. These are shown in Example 3–5:

a. “common time”

b. “cut time” (or “ alla breve “)

These time-signature symbols are often used as a shorthand way to write 4 / 4 or 2 / 2 .

Note: The symbol used for common time resembles the letter “C”—the first letter of the word “common.” The symbol used for cut time has a vertical line, cutting the “C” in half. These mnemonic devices, though useful, are not grounded by any historical accuracy.

Activity 3–1

For each of the following simple-meter time signatures, identify the number of beats per measure and the note value of a single beat.

Exercise 3–1a:

How many beats per measure are indicated by the following time signature?

Remember that for simple meters, the top number of the time signature indicates the number of beats per measure.

Follow-up question

What is the note value of the beat, as indicated by this time signature?

Remember that for simple meters, the bottom number of the time signature indicates the note value of the beat.

Exercise 3–1b:

Exercise 3–1c:.

eighth note

Exercise 3–1d:

3.3 beaming.

Note durations shorter than a quarter note—eighth notes, sixteenth notes, thirty-second notes, etc.—are written by adding flags to the stem. (Refer to Chapter 1 for more on rhythmic notation.) These flags can also be notated as beams: horizontal lines that connect two or more notes. Beams can be a helpful way to make a score appear less cluttered. They can also help emphasize the meter to the performer.

Beams are typically used to reflect the meter by grouping notes that occur within a single beat. Consider the following examples:

a. incorrect

Both of the rhythms in Example 3–6, if performed, would sound exactly the same. Although the corresponding note durations are identical, the beaming is quite different. Both rhythms are in simple duple meter, with two quarter notes per measure. The dashed lines divide each measure in half, making clear which beats belong to the first beat and which to the second in each measure.

As you can see, in Example 3–6a some of the beams connect notes over the dashed line. This obscures the meter, making it difficult to recognize that there are two beats per measure. (The first measure, for example, looks as though it has three beats.) In Example 3–6b, on the other hand, none of the beams cross a dashed line. The durations of each group of beamed notes add up to that of the beat—a quarter note in this case. It is much easier to recognize the duple meter in Example 3–6b.

Note: If you look closely, you will find that the beaming practice described above is not always followed in some scores. Composers will sometimes break and add beams to indicate phrasings and other expressive gestures. The beams in Example 3–2, for example, are not consistent throughout the excerpt.

Activity 3–2

Exercise 3–2:

Which of the measures in the following rhythm have beaming that obscures the meter rather than supports it?

m. 2 and m. 4

3.4 Summary

The meter of a particular piece is generally indicated by the time signature —a stack of two numbers written on the first line of music, just to the right of the key signature. For simple meters, the top number indicates the number of beats per measure while the bottom indicates the note value of the assigned beat.

Beams—the horizontal lines that connect notes whose durations are shorter than a quarter note—can be used to help express the meter of a particular piece of music. Notes are typically grouped with beams within a single beat instead of across two or more beats. This makes the meter easier to recognize for both the performer and the analyst.

Fundamentals, Function, and Form Copyright © by Andre Mount is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book