Time Signature

Time Signature
A Time Signature, or meter, is a
written indicator that shows the
number of beats per measure and
type of note that carries the beat in a
piece of music.

 The two numbers in the time

signature tell you how many beats
are in each measure of music. A
piece with a time signature of 4/4
has four quarter note beats; each
measure with a 3/4 meter has three
quarter note beats; and each

 The time signature (also known as meter signature,

meter signature, or measure signature) is a notational
convention used in Western musical notation to specify
how many beats (pulses) are to be contained in each
bar and which note value is to be given one beat. In a
musical score, the time signature appears at the
beginning of the piece, as a time symbol or stacked
numerals, such as Common time inline.png or 3
4 (read common time and three-four time, respectively),
immediately following the key signature or immediately
following the clef symbol if the key signature is empty. A
mid-score time signature, usually immediately following
a barline, indicates a change of meter.

Simple Time Signature

Simple time signatures consist of two
numerals, one stacked above the other:
The lower numeral indicates the note value
that represents one beat (the beat unit).
The upper numeral indicates how many
such beats there are grouped together in a
bar.

 For instance, 2/4 means two quarternote (crotchet) beats per bar
3/8 means three eighth-note
(quaver) beats per bar.
The most common simple time
signatures are
2/4, 3/4, and 4/4.

Basic time signatures: 4/4, also known as

common time (C) ; 2/2, also known as cut time
or cut-common time (C); plus 2/4; 3/4; and 6/8

Notational variations in simple time

The symbol C is sometimes used for
4/4 time, also called common time or
imperfect time. The symbol is derive
from a broken circle used in muusic
notation from 16th centuries, where a
full circle represented what today
would be written in 3/2 or time,
and called tempus perfectum
(perfect time).

Notation variation in simple

time
The symbol C is also a carry over
from the notational practice of late
medieval and renaissance music,
where it signified diminished
imperfect time. More precisely, a
doubling of the speed, or proportio
dupla, in duple meter.
In modern notation, it is used in place of
2/2 and called alla breve or, colloquially,
cut time or cut common time.

Compound time signatures

In compound meter, subdivisions of the main
beat (the upper number) split into three, not two,
equal parts, so that a dotted note (half again
longer than a regular note) becomes the beat
unit.
Compound time signatures are named as if they
were simple time signatures, in which the onethird part of the beat unit is the beat, so the top
number is commonly 6, 9 or 12 (multiples of 3).
The lower number is most commonly an 8 (an
eight-note) as in 9/8 or 12/8

Beat and time

Time signature indicating two beats
per bar (whether it is simple or
compound) are called duple time;
those with three beats to the bar are
triple time. To the ear, a bar may
seem like one singular beat. For
example, a fast waltz, notated in 3/4
time, may be described as being one
in a bar. Terms such as quadruple (4),
quintuple(5), and so on are also

Simple of Time signature

4/4 (quadruple) common time:
widely used in most forms of western
popular music. Most common time
signature in rock, blues, country,
funk, and pop.

 2/2 (duple) alla breve, cut time: used

for marches and fast orchestral
music frequently occurs in musical
theater. The same effect is
sometimes obtained by marking a
4/4 meter in 2.

 3/4 (triple) used for waltzes, minuets,

scherzi, country and western ballads,
R&B, sometimes used in pop.

Compound time signatures

6/8 (duple) double jigs, polkas, sega,
salegy tarantella, marches,
barcarolles, irish jigs, loures, and
some rock music.

 9/8 (triple) compound triple time,

used in triple (slip) jigs, otherwise
occurring rarely.

 12/8 (quadruple) also common in

slower blues (where it is called a
shuffle) and doo-wop; also used more
recently in rock music. Can also be
heard in some jigs.

Octave
In music, an octave (Latin: octavus:
eighth) or perfect octave is the
interval between one musical pitch
and another with half or double its
frequency. It is defined by ANSI as
the unit of frequency level when the
base of the logarithm is two. The
octave relationship is a natural
phenomenon that has been referred
to as the "basic miracle of music",

 The most important musical scales are

typically written using eight notes, and the
interval between the first and last notes is an
octave. For example, the C Major scale is
typically written C D E F G A B C, the initial
and final C's being an octave apart. Two notes
separated by an octave have the same letter
name and are of the same pitch class.
Three commonly cited examples of melodies
featuring the perfect octave as their opening
interval are "Singin' in the Rain", "Somewhere
Over the Rainbow", and "Stranger on the
Shore"