Simple Time Signatures
Senior 1 · Music
Simple Time Signatures
Lesson 2 of 5
20 min
Before a choir starts a new song, the leader counts them in: "one, two, three" or "one, two, three, four". How does the leader know which count to use? It is printed at the start of the music, in the time signature. Two small numbers tell every performer how to count the whole piece.
A time signature is two numbers written one above the other at the start of the music, just after the clef (and after the key signature, when there is one). It is not a fraction: there is no line between the numbers, and we say it in words, for example "three-four time".
| Bottom number | The beat is a… |
|---|---|
| 2 | minim |
| 4 | crotchet |
| 8 | quaver |
The bottom number comes from the American note names you met in Unit 1: a crotchet is a "quarter note", so 4 means crotchet beats; a quaver is an "eighth note", so 8 means quaver beats.
Worked example
What does the time signature two-four mean? The top number, 2, gives two beats in each bar. The bottom number, 4, makes each beat a crotchet. So every bar holds exactly two crotchets' worth of notes and rests.
All the time signatures in this unit are in simple time: each beat can be split into two equal halves. A crotchet beat splits into two quavers, and a quaver beat splits into two semiquavers. Simple time signatures are also named by their number of beats: 2 beats in a bar is duple time, 3 is triple and 4 is quadruple.
| Time signature | Beats in a bar | The beat | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| two-four | 2 | crotchet | simple duple |
| three-four | 3 | crotchet | simple triple |
| four-four | 4 | crotchet | simple quadruple |
| two-eight | 2 | quaver | simple duple |
| three-eight | 3 | quaver | simple triple |
Two-four, three-four and four-four are by far the most common, and you will study each of them in the next two lessons.
Every complete bar must hold exactly the number of beats the time signature asks for, counting rests as well as notes. Add the values of everything in the bar.
Worked example
In four-four time, a bar holds a dotted minim and a quaver. Is it complete? The dotted minim is 3 beats and the quaver is half a beat, so the bar holds three and a half beats. Four are needed, so half a beat is missing: add a quaver or a quaver rest.
Tip
Top: how many. Bottom: what kind. The top number counts the beats in a bar; the bottom number names the beat (2 minim, 4 crotchet, 8 quaver). Always say a time signature in words, "three-four", and check every bar by adding up its beats.
Try each question first, then check the worked solution underneath.
Explain three-eight time.
Solution: Three beats in every bar (top number 3), and each beat is a quaver (bottom number 8). It is simple triple time.
How many crotchets fill one bar of four-four time? How many quavers?
Solution: 4 crotchets, or 8 quavers, because each crotchet beat splits into two quavers.
In two-four time, is a bar holding one crotchet and two quavers complete?
Solution: Yes. 1 beat + half + half = 2 beats.
In three-four time, a bar holds a crotchet and a crotchet rest. What is missing?
Solution: One more crotchet beat: a crotchet or a crotchet rest. 1 + 1 = 2, and three beats are needed.
A time signature has 3 on top and 2 underneath. What does it mean?
Solution: Three beats in a bar, and each beat is a minim. It is simple triple time with minim beats, sometimes used in hymns.
Remember
Sources and credits
The lesson text, the notation diagrams, the tables, the worked examples and the practice were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
