Time Signature (Demo Page, Some Links May Not Work)
Songs are played to a set tempo,
this tempo is measured in beats. We then group these beats into bars
with our bar lines. Between each bar line there is an even
amount of beats. To find out how many beats are in each bar
we use what is called a time signature.
The most popular time signature is 4/4 (four - four time). This
is also called common time. This tells us that there are four beats
per bar. The four on the top tells you how many beats there are
in one bar. The four on the bottom tells you what each beat is worth.
In this case each beat is worth a quarter note.
Each one of these Ts represents your tempo (an even paced recurring beat).
T
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T
Then we place these Ts into groups of two, three,
four, five, and six and so on.
|
T T | T T T | T T T T | T T T T T | T T T T T T |
Now let’s place a quarter note under each T (remember a quarter
note is worth one beat).
The number on the top tells you how many beats are in the bar.
In this example there are four beats in the bar.
The number on the bottom tells us what each beat is worth. In
this case each beat is worth a quarter note.
Now let’s place an eighth note under each T, remember an
eighth note is worth half a beat.
