Understanding Time Signatures

In order to read music proficiently, the time signature and its function must be clearly understood. The time signature is a musical notation—normally appearing in the form of a fraction—placed at the beginning of a piece or section of written music which indicates the number of beats contained in a measure, and the kind of note that represents a single beat.

Very often, a piece of music is in a single time signature and therefore, the time signature needs only to appear at the beginning of the piece. However, time signatures sometimes change during the course of a piece of music. In each case of a time signature change, the new time signature must be clearly indicated and is in effect until it is replaced by another time signature, or until the end of the piece.

While time signatures are most often seen in the form of a fraction, there are times when the time signatures are indicated by symbols. (See Fig. 2 & 3)

Fig. 1   Here is the the most common time signature in music, 4/4:

Note: 4/4 is so common that it is also referred to as common time.

Fig. 2    Here is the symbol for common time:



Fig. 3    Here is the symbol for cut time (2/2):

What Do the Numbers in the Time Signature Mean?

Fig. 4
 Top Number/Numerator: Number of beats per measure
 Bottom Number/Denominator: Type of note which equals 1 beat

The Numerator in the time signature indicates the number of beats in a measure. For example, in 4/4, there are 4 beats per measure.

The Denominator indicates which type of note receives one beat. If the denominator is a 4, a quarter note counts as one beat; if the denominator is an 8, an eighth note counts as one beat; if the denominator is a 16, a 16th note counts as one beat, and so on...

The most common time signatures have denominators of 4 or 8, which represent quarter notes and eighth notes, respectively. Less commonly, you'll see time signatures with a 2 or a 16 in the denominator. If you see a time signature with a 32 on the bottom (yes, they do exist), someone might be playing a cruel joke on you! Refer to the Denominator Chart below and see just how simple it really is to decipher time signatures!

Denominator Chart

1      (Whole Note)

2       (Half Note)

4       (Quarter Note)

8        (8th Note)

16    (16th Note)

32    (32nd Note)

Simplifying Time Signatures, Once and For All!

OK, now that we've examined what time signatures are all about, it's time to boil it down to the simplest terms possible. 4/4 time means each measure contains 4 quarter notes; 3/4 time means 3 quarter notes per measure; 6/8 time means 6 eighth notes per measure; 7/16 time means 7 sixteenth notes per measure. It's really that plain and simple!

I hope this lesson has helped you to make sense of time signatures and cleared up any questions you may have had on the subject. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.