Simple Time Signatures
Primary 6 · Creative Arts
Simple Time Signatures
Lesson 2 of 5
30 min
Let's begin
Mugisha opens the school songbook. At the start of the first line, just after the clef, he sees two numbers, one on top of the other: a 3 above a 4. "Is this a maths problem?" he asks.
It is not. It is a time signature, and it tells you how to count the whole song.
The time signature is written at the very start of the music, just after the clef. It is two numbers, one above the other, with no line between them. It stays the same for the whole song unless a new time signature appears.
The top number tells you how many beats there are in every bar. When the top number is 3, every bar holds three beats.
The bottom number tells you which kind of note counts as one beat. In this unit the bottom number is always 4, and 4 stands for the crotchet (also called the quarter note). So a 3 above a 4 means "three crotchet beats in every bar".
We read a time signature by saying both numbers. A 2 above a 4 is two-four time, a 3 above a 4 is three-four time, and a 4 above a 4 is four-four time.
Two-four, three-four and four-four are called simple time signatures. In simple time, each beat can be split into two equal halves: one crotchet beat lasts as long as two quavers (ti-ti).
You met these notes in P4. Here they are again with one new friend, the dotted minim. A dot after a note makes it longer by half of its own value. A minim lasts 2 beats and half of 2 is 1, so a dotted minim lasts 2 + 1 = 3 beats.
A rest is a sign for silence. During a rest you keep counting, but you do not sing or play. Musicians also use the semibreve rest to mean "be silent for the whole bar", whatever the time signature.
Every bar must hold exactly the number of beats shown by the top number. To check a bar, add up the beats of its notes and rests. Here are four correct bars in three-four time:
A bar with two minims would be wrong in three-four time: 2 + 2 = 4, which is one beat too many.
To put bar lines into music, count the beats from the start and draw a bar line every time you reach the top number.
Worked example
(two-four time): crotchet, crotchet, minim, quaver, quaver, crotchet.
Count: 1 + 1 = 2, so draw a bar line. The minim is 2, so draw another. Then ½ + ½ + 1 = 2, and the music ends with a final bar line.
Answer: | crotchet crotchet | minim | quaver quaver crotchet ||
Tip
Top = how many. Bottom = which note. The top number counts the beats in each bar. A 4 at the bottom means each beat is a crotchet. A time signature is not a fraction, so there is never a line between the numbers.
Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.
A time signature has a 2 on top and a 4 underneath. How many beats are in each bar, and which note gets one beat?
Answer: 2 beats in each bar, and the crotchet gets one beat.
How many beats does a dotted minim last?
Answer: 3 beats (a minim is 2, and the dot adds half of 2, which is 1).
A bar has a crotchet, a crotchet and a minim. How many beats is that?
Answer: 4 beats (1 + 1 + 2).
In three-four time, a bar has one minim. What ONE note or rest completes it?
Answer: A crotchet or a crotchet rest, because 2 + 1 = 3.
Put bar lines into this music in four-four time: minim, crotchet, crotchet, semibreve, crotchet, crotchet, minim.
Answer: | minim crotchet crotchet | semibreve | crotchet crotchet minim || (3 bars of 4 beats).
What you learned today
Sources and credits
The songbook story, the notation drawings, the worked examples and the practice questions were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
What does the top number of a time signature tell you?
