Time Signatures

Now that you have an idea of basic rhythmic values and notation used in music, you
need to learn a little about time signatures.
A TIME SIGNATURE tells you how the music is to be counted. The time
signature is written at the beginning of the staff after the clef and key
signature.
Time signatures consist of two numbers written like a fraction.

The top number of the time signature tells you how many beats to count. This could be any
number. Most often the number of beats will fall between 2 and 12.
The bottom number tells you what kind of note to count. That is, whether to count the
beats as quarter notes, eighth notes, or sixteenth notes. So the only numbers you will see as
the bottom number (the denominator) will correspond to note values:
• 1 = whole note (you’ll never see this)

• 2 = half note
• 4 = quarter note
• 8 = eighth note
• 16 = sixteenth note
You could continue on with 32, 64, but you will hopefully never encounter them! After a
while it gets a bit unwieldy. The most common bottom numbers are 4, 8 and 16.

Let me give you some examples so you better understand the concept...

4/4 Time Signature Example:

A time signature of 4/4 means count 4 (top number) quarter
notes (bottom number) to each bar. So the pulse, or beat, is
counted 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on.

That means all the notes in each bar must add up to 4 quarter
notes. Any combination of rhythms can be used as long as they add up to 4 quarter notes. For
instance, a bar could contain 1 half note, 1 quarter note rest and 2 eighth notes. (See
diagram.) Summed together they add to 4 quarter notes total. You can never have more than
or less than the sum total of the number of beats in the time signature.

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3/4 Time Signature Example:
A time signature of 3/4 means count 3 quarter notes to each
bar. This is an often-used time signature giving you a waltz feel.
1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3…

Again, the rhythms in each bar can be anything as long as they

add to 3 quarter notes. This is where time signatures start to seem illogical and students often
get confused. How can 3 quarter notes add up to a whole measure? You have to remember that
all of our rhythmic terminology is based on 4/4 time since it is the most common. You’ll just
have to accept the fact that music has some weird conventions just as any language. Think of
all the illogical ways similarly spelled English words are pronounced.
6/8 Time Signature Example:
A time signature of 6/8 means count 6 eighth notes to each bar.
This is also a very often-used time signature. You would count
the beat: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and so on…

Now you will wonder why can’t you just reduce 6/8 to 3/4?
After all, they add up to the same amount. One reason you might pick one time signature
versus the other is how the music is organized. 6/8 is grouped
into 2 groups of 3 eighth notes. 3/4 time would be grouped into
3 groups of 2 eighth notes. Depending on the structure of the
bassline or song, it may make sense to group it one way instead
of the other. So 6/8 feels more like two, while 3/4 feels more
like three.
Time Signature Abbreviations
A few other time signatures you may see use special
abbreviations instead of numbers. 4/4 is called COMMON
TIME since it is so common. 4/4 time is often marked with a C
instead of 4/4. It means the same thing.
[Completely unimportant historical note: the C is not actually
short for the word common. It is actually an incomplete circle from an older form of notation
called mensural notation.]

Another common abbreviation is for CUT TIME meaning 2/2 time. Cut time is usually
written as a C with a slash through it.

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Time Signature Summary
This was just a brief guide to what time signatures mean and their notation in written music.
In later lessons I will explain meter and time signatures in much more detail.

The main thing to remember is a time signature tells you: How many of what kind.
That’s it. A time signature is the number of beats and the type of note the beat is.

WHAT IS A SEMITONE and WHOLE TONE?

A semitone (half step or half tone) is the smallest interval in Western music. It is the shortest
distance between two keys on your piano. It can be from black to white, white to black or white to
white key, for example C# to D, F# to G and B to C, respectively. As long as the key you’re playing
is to the immediate right or immediate left of another, the distance is a semitone.

Two semitones (two half steps/half tones) make up one whole tone (one whole step). Pick a key
on your keyboard and move one half step to the right, then another half step to the right. There
you have it: a distance of a whole tone. You can move two half steps to the left as well. Examples
of whole tones are C to D, D to E, and B flat to C. A key is skipped every time.
A whole tone can be from white to black, black to black, black to white or white to white key. For
example, B to C#, F# to G#, Bb to C and C to D, respectively.
There are two types of semitones. They are chromatic and diatonic semitones. When a
semitone contains two notes with the same letter name, it is chromatic. For examples, C to C# and
D to D sharp are chromatic. When the two notes have different letter names, example, C to D flat
and D to E flat, the semitone is diatonic.
Chromatic and diatonic semitones, such as C to C# and C to Db, respectively, sound the same.
They are played with the same keys on your piano. Hence, C# and Db are enharmonic equivalents.
The only difference is that they have different note names. C# is a chromatic semitone higher than
C and Db is a diatonic semitone higher than C.

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WHAT IS DYNAMICS?

Dynamics refers to the volume of a sound or note

WHAT IS TEMPO?
Tempo is the speed of the underlying beat. It tells how fast or slow the music is.

WHAT IS LENTO?
Lento means slow. The music should be played slowly.

WHAT IS RITARDANDO?
Ritardando (or rit.) is an indication to gradually decrease the tempo of the music

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WHAT ARE ACCIDENTALS?
An accidental in music is a symbol that indicates the modification of a pitch. A
music accidental can turn a pitch sharp, flat, or back to its natural state. The most
commonly used accidentals in music are the sharp (♯), the flat (♭), and the natural (♮).
These accidentals raise or lower a pitch by a half-step, making the pitch either higher
or lower than it was before the accidental. If an accidental is used on a pitch within a
measure, the note with the accidental remains affected by the accidental throughout
the measure. To cancel an accidental in the same measure, another accidental, usually
the natural sign, must occur within the measure. Black piano keys can also be called
accidentals.

WHAT ARE FOLK TUNES?

FOLK TUNES are the melody of folk songs