Time Signature and Different Types of Meter

Today we're going to talk about time in pieces of music. More specifically, the differences between different types of time signatures, and how they represent different forms of meter within a piece.

A Time Signature gives you two important piece of information when reading music:

1. How many beats are in a single measure
2. What note value constitutes one beat within a measure

By Beat, I mean the primary unit of rhythm in music. This beat can be heard through the use of instrumentation (such as the bass drum in a rock ballad, or an artificial bass affect in a electric song), and typically gives the piece it's structure. Let's look at an example:

The two numbers in red make up the time signature for a piece of music. The top number tells us that there will be 4 beats per measure, and the bottom note tells us that a quarter note equals 1 beat.


(Also note that the time signature is placed after the clef symbol, in this case, the treble clef)






So your standard measure of 4/4 time is going to look like this:



Now this is a simple example of how notes fit within the measure according to the beat. Remember that melody lines are not limited to only using the note values given by the time signature! There could be eighth-notes, half-notes, even triplets in this measure and it would still be considered 4/4 time as long as the sum of the note values used is equivalent to 4 quarter notes.

Here's an example of a song that uses 4/4 Time. (just so you can get a feel for it)

(Try to tap out the rhythm played by the piano. You'll notice that the measure are divided by taps of four)

So that's 4/4 time, but what if we change the top number? Lets now look at 3/4 time.

Because the top number in the time signature is 3, only three beats are allowed per measure. The bottom number is still 4, so the quarter-note still represents 1 beat.

Example of 3/4 time. (It's a waltz)

Lets now see what happens when we change the bottom note. (This is where things can get a bit confusing if you are unfamiliar with music notation)

Top Number: 6- there are going to be six beats per measure.


Bottom Number: 8- the eighth-note gets the beat.

So one simple complete measure would have 6 eighth-notes, each representing one beat of the measure.

Makes sense?
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Assuming that you have a firm grasp on time signatures, let's now talk about how time signatures divide pieces of music into either Simple or Compound meter.

If a piece of music is in simple meter, than the beat cannot be subdivided any further than indicated, and the "pulse" of the song falls on the beat. For example, the American Folk song Yankee Doodle is in simple meter because the melody falls on the beat within the 2/4 time it's played in.

If a piece of music is in compound meter, than the beat indicated by the time signature can be further simplified and defined by the "pulse" of the music. For example, the American Folk song When Johnny Comes Marching Home is considered to be in compound meter because the beat can be expressed as both 6/8 and having 2 beats with two subdivisions of 3.

Here are some examples of Simple and Compound meter:

Simple
2/4
3/4
4/4

Compound
6/8
9/8
12/8

Notice this pattern between the two forms of meter;

6 / 3 = 2 ---> Duple
9 / 3 = 3 ---> Triple
12 / 3 = 4 ---> Quadruple

These three numbers represent the basic beats that songs are composed of. If there are two pulses in a song, then it would be described as having a "Duple" feel. Likewise if there were three pulses as in a waltz it could have a "triple" feel. 

Lets look at a couple example of combining these terms with ones we learned earlier. 

3/4 = Simple triple: Simple division of the beat and there are three beats in the measure. 

6/8 = Compound duple: Subdivisions of the beat are present in the meter, and there are two subdivisions. 

12/8 = Compound quadruple: Subdivisions of the beat are present, and there are four subdivisions. 

2/4 = Simple duple: Simple division of the beat, and there are two beats in each measure. 

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If you guys have any questions about time signature, compound and simple, or distinguishing between duple, triple, and quadruple meter, then please leave comments below so I can answer them! 

I will be posting some examples of different forms of meter in a couple days, so stick around it this is still a little confusing! 

Sincerely, ZS