Session Three:
Top Figure of the Time Signatures
At the beginning of music notation composers put two figures.
One above the other. They are called Time Signatures.
2 Beat Song
Time Signature
2
4
3 Beat Song
Time Signature
3
4
4 Beat Song
Time Signature
4
4
Time signatures help Musicians to understand how to start solving the riddle of reading the music.
The top figure of a Time Signature tells the player how the beats are measured.
The top figure tells you which Accent Beat to clap to give you a feeling of the Time Pattern or Meter.
• 2 at the top means beats are measured into groups that equal 2 beats.
• 3 at the top means beats are measured into groups that equal 3 beats.
• 4 at the top means beats are measured into groups that equal 4 beats.
There are many other ‘meters’ but the top figure will always tell a player how many beats are in each group of beats.
The groups are often called bars.
Sometimes they are called measures.
Bars and Beats
People eat bread and vegetables and sometimes, chocolate.
Notes eat time.
Time can’t be seen but think of time as a bar of chocolate.
Chocolate bars can be divided into bits.
Bars of time can be divided into beats.
