Simple Time Signatures
Senior 1 · Music
Simple Time Signatures
Lesson 1 of 5
18 min
At a wedding, the guests clap together while the singers lead; at a school assembly, the pupils march in step to the drum. In both cases everyone feels the same steady pulse without being told. That pulse is the beat, and it is the ground on which every rhythm in a song is built. Before you can read a time signature you need to hear and feel the beat and the way beats group together.
The beat (or pulse) is the steady, regular pulse that runs underneath a piece of music, like the ticking of a clock or your heartbeat. Some notes last for one beat, some for several beats, and some for only part of a beat, but the beat itself stays even. The speed of the beat is called the tempo: a lullaby has a slow tempo and a dance song a fast one.
Beats are not all equal. Some feel heavier than others. A beat that is felt more strongly is said to carry an accent. When you march you feel LEFT-right, LEFT-right: a strong beat and then a weak one. When you sway to some songs you feel ONE-two-three, ONE-two-three: one strong beat and two weak ones.
Because strong beats come back regularly, music is divided into equal groups of beats called bars (also called measures). Each bar starts with a strong beat. On the staff, a vertical line called a bar line is drawn just before each strong beat, so every bar holds the same number of beats.
Bars are counted from the start of the piece: bar 1, bar 2, and so on. This lets a choir leader say "start again from bar 9" and everyone knows where to look. The small > sign above a note is an accent mark; in the diagram it shows the strong first beat of each bar.
Worked example
A drummer plays 12 steady beats, with a strong beat on beats 1, 4, 7 and 10. How are the beats grouped, and how many bars are there? The strong beats are 3 beats apart (1 → 4 → 7 → 10), so the beats are in groups of 3. Twelve beats in groups of 3 make 12 ÷ 3 = 4 bars, and a bar line is drawn before beats 4, 7 and 10.
Tip
Find the strong beats, then draw the lines. A bar line always goes just before a strong beat. Count the beats from one strong beat to the next and you know how many beats are in each bar.
Try each question first, then check the worked solution underneath.
What is the difference between the beat and the tempo?
Solution: The beat is the steady pulse itself; the tempo is how fast that pulse goes.
Which beat of a bar is the strongest?
Solution: The first beat. A bar line is drawn just before it, so every bar begins with its strongest beat.
A song has 16 beats with a strong beat every 4 beats. How many bars does it have?
Solution: 4 bars, because 16 ÷ 4 = 4.
You clap: STRONG weak weak STRONG weak weak. How many beats are in each bar?
Solution: 3. Counting from one strong beat up to the next one gives three beats.
How can you tell a double bar line from a final bar line?
Solution: A double bar line is two thin lines and ends a section. A final bar line is a thin line followed by a thick line and ends the whole piece.
Remember
Sources and credits
The lesson text, the beat diagram, the four-bar example and the practice were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
