Simple Time Signatures
Senior 1 · Music
Simple Time Signatures
Lesson 3 of 5
22 min
A school band leading a march past and a choir singing a slow hymn feel completely different, even at the same speed. Much of that difference comes from how the beats are grouped: a march pulls you forward in twos, while many hymns and lullabies rock gently in threes. This lesson looks closely at the two smallest groupings, two-four and three-four time.
In two-four time each bar holds two crotchet beats. The accent pattern is strong, weak, like your feet in a march: LEFT, right, LEFT, right. Count "1, 2" in every bar. When a beat is split into two quavers, count the second half as "and" (written &): "1 & 2 &". Two-four is used for marches, many dances and a great number of children's songs.
Worked example
Check bar 2 of the melody above. It holds two quavers and a crotchet: half + half + 1 = 2 beats, so the bar is complete. The two quavers share beat 1 ("1 &"), and the crotchet A falls on beat 2.
In three-four time each bar holds three crotchet beats. The accent pattern is strong, weak, weak. Count "1, 2, 3". Three-four is the time of the waltz, and of many hymns, lullabies and gentle songs that seem to sway.
Worked example
Why does bar 4 of this melody use a dotted minim? The bar needs three beats. A minim gives only 2, and the dot adds half of 2, which is 1, so the dotted minim fills all 3 beats: one long doh to finish. Notice also the t, in bar 3: it is the B just below middle C, the te below doh, so it carries a comma.
Conductors show the beat with standard hand patterns, so that a choir can follow them without a word. The first beat of every bar is always a clear stroke downwards, called the downbeat. The last beat always rises, ready for the next downbeat.
Practise the patterns with your right hand while you sing the two melodies above. For two-four: down, up. For three-four: down, out to the right, up.
To decide whether a song is in two or in three, clap along and find the strong beats, then count the beats from one strong beat to the next. If you count "1 2, 1 2", the song is in duple time; if you count "1 2 3, 1 2 3", it is in triple time.
Tip
March or sway? Two-four marches: LEFT-right, conducted down-up. Three-four sways: ONE-two-three, conducted down-right-up. The downbeat, beat 1, is always the strong one.
Try each question first, then check the worked solution underneath.
How many quavers fill one bar of two-four time?
Solution: 4. Two crotchet beats, and each beat splits into two quavers: 2 × 2 = 4.
Count this bar of two-four aloud: two quavers, then a crotchet.
Solution: "1 & 2". The two quavers share beat 1; the crotchet is beat 2.
A bar of three-four holds a minim. What single note completes it?
Solution: A crotchet (or a crotchet rest), because 2 + 1 = 3.
Which beat of a three-four bar does the conductor show with a stroke to the right?
Solution: Beat 2. The pattern is down (1), right (2), up (3).
A song goes STRONG weak weak STRONG weak weak. Is it more likely in two-four or three-four time?
Solution: Three-four: the strong beats are three beats apart.
Remember
Sources and credits
The lesson text, the two melodies, the notation diagrams, the conducting diagrams and the practice were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
