Reading Music · Chapter 6 of 12

Beats, Measures and Time Signatures

Music is divided into small, equal groups of beats called measures. Two numbers at the start tell you how to count them.

The beat is the steady pulse under the music: the thing you tap your foot to. Beats fall into groups, and the first beat of each group usually feels a little stronger: ONE two three four, ONE two three four.

Measures and bar lines

Each group of beats is written as a measure (also called a bar). Measures are separated by bar lines, thin lines straight across the staff. A double bar line marks the end of a section, and a thin line followed by a thick one, the final bar line, marks the end of the piece.

Four measures of 4/4 time. Every measure holds four beats, filled with different notes. The thick line at the end is the final bar line.

The time signature

At the start of the music, right after the clef, are two numbers stacked like a fraction. That’s the time signature.

The top number

How many beats are in each measure.

The bottom number

Which kind of note gets one beat: 4 means a quarter note, 2 a half note, 8 an eighth note.

So 4/4 means four quarter-note beats in each measure, 3/4 means three, and 2/4 means two. Here are the ones you’ll see most:

3/4: three beats in a measure. Waltzes, minuets and Amazing Grace. Count “1 2 3, 1 2 3.”

2/4: two beats, like a march: “1 2, 1 2.”

C is common time, another way to write 4/4.

Cut time, a C with a line through it, means 2/2: two beats, each a half note. It feels faster, in two.

In 6/8 there are six eighth notes in each measure, but they’re usually felt as two beats of three eighths each: 1 2 3 4 5 6. Each of those big beats lasts a dotted quarter note. 3/8 time, which Für Elise uses, has three eighth notes in a measure.

6/8: the eighth notes are beamed in threes, so you can see the two big beats.

Counting “1 & 2 &”

Counting out loud is the best way to play rhythms right. Say the beat numbers. When notes are shorter than a beat, fill in between with “and” (written &): “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &”. Each eighth note gets one word. For sixteenths, say “1 e & a, 2 e & a”.

Quarters get a number; pairs of eighths get “number, and”. Press Hear it and count along out loud.

Read it, then tap it

Here’s where it comes together. A two-bar rhythm appears on the staff. Listen to it first, then tap it yourself with the metronome click. You’ll get one bar of clicks to get ready. Count out loud!

Pickups

Some music starts before the first full measure, with a note or two leading in, like the word “A-” in “A-mazing grace.” That short first measure is called a pickup (or anacrusis). Its missing beats are usually found in the last measure of the piece, so the two together make one full measure.

The start of Amazing Grace: the pickup note D comes on beat 3, then the first full measure begins.

Remember

Bar lines divide music into measures of equal length.
Time signature: top number = beats per measure; bottom number = the note that gets one beat.
C = 4/4 (common time); cut time = 2/2. 6/8 is usually felt in two.
Count out loud: “1 & 2 &”.