Learning Rhythm: Time Signatures

For many of us learning rhythm starts with tapping fingers or your foot while you are learning to play your instrument or making beats.  Understanding time signatures is a good place to start understanding meter (or the rhythm you hear in your head and feel in your body).

Some of us naturally understand the feel of meter; others struggle a little bit with it.  Knowing your note values, time signatures other staff markings is important.

Counting your rhythm is the first step to understanding rhythm, feeling it deeper than you might if you don’t count.  More importantly understanding how to count with your music allows you to communicate with other musicians.

The time signature is found at the beginning of a piece of sheet music after the cleft and key signature (if there is a key signature).  Unlike the cleft and key signature the time signature will not be seen again on a piece of music unless the time changes in the song.

Learning how to read rhythm is the same as using a beat machine or sequencer.  In the picture below you can see 16 beats or 4 sections of 4. 

Common Time Signatures

In western music the most common time signatures are  4/4, 2/4 and 3/4.  In fact the most common time signature is 4/4 time.  4/4 is so common that it is called common time.

 This is what 4/4 or common time looks like:

The top number tells you how many beats fill a measure and the bottom note tells you what note value receives one beat.

You would count 4/4  time like this:

…1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and…

The number is the strong or up beat while the “and” is the weak or down beat.

Try it buy clapping while you say the number and fill the silence with an “and”.

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