Time Signatures
Time Signatures
A time signature, also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature, is a convention in Western music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type are contained in each measure (bar). The time signature indicates the meter of a musical movement.
In a music score the time signature appears as two stacked numerals, such as 4/4 (spoken as four-four time), or a time symbol, such as C common time (spoken as common time). It immediately follows the key signature (or if there is no key signature, the clef symbol). A mid-score time signature, usually immediately following a barline, indicates a change of meter.
Top Number - Beats (Divisions)
Represents the number of beats per measure (bar). This can be thought of as the number of divisions in the measure.
Bottom Number - Sub Divisions
The value of the beat. 2 = Half note, 4 = Quarter note, 8 = Eighth note, etc... This can be thought of as the value needed to fill one of the above divisions.
In the example of 4/4, there are four beats to a measure and the value of the beats is a quarter note. So it takes one quarter note to fill a division and there are four divisions, so it takes four quarter notes to fill a measure.
Signature Symbols
| 𝄴 | The preceding symbol represents 4/4 Time. Known as Common Time. |
| 𝄵 | The preceding symbol represents 2/2 Time. Known as Cut Time, Cut Common Time or Alle Breve. |
Simple Meter
Simple meters are time signatures whose upper number is 2, 3, or 4, sometimes described as duple meter, triple meter, and quadruple meter respectively.
Simple Duple Meter Examples
2/2 time is known as as Cut Time, Cut Common Time or Alle Breve. Used for marches and fast orchestral music.
2/4 time is used for polkas, gallops, marches, and many styles of Latin music (including bolero, cumbia, and merengue).
Simple Triple Meter Examples
3/4 time is used waltzes, minuets, scherzi, polonaises, mazurkas, country & western ballads, R&B, and some pop.
3/8 is also used for waltzes, minuets, scherzi, polonaises, mazurkas, country & western ballads, R&B, and some pop, but usually suggests higher tempo or shorter hypermeter. Sometimes preferred for certain folk dances such as cachucha.
Simple Quadruple Meter Examples
4/4 also known as Common time.
Widely used in classical music and most forms of popular music.
The most common time signature in rock, blues, country, funk, and pop.
Compound Meter
In compound meter, the note values specified by the bottom number are grouped into threes, and the upper number is a multiple of 3, such as 6, 9, or 12. The lower number is most commonly an 8 (representing an eighth-note or quaver)
Compound Duple Meter Examples
Double jigs, jotas, zortzikos, polkas, sega, salegy, tarantella, marches, barcarolles, loures, and some rock music.
Compound Triple Meter Example
Compound triple time: Used in slip jigs; otherwise occurring rarely ("The Ride of the Valkyries", Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, and the final movement of J.S. Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor are familiar examples. Debussy's "Clair de lune" and the opening bars of Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune are also in 9/8)
Compound Quad Meter Example
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 like "The Irish Washerwoman". This is also the time signature of the second movement of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.
Complex or Irregular Meter
Irregular meter are meters that don't fit the definition of simple or compound. They cannot be sub divided by regular intervals as simple and compound can.
Complex time signatures include 5/4, 5/8, 7/4, 7/8, 11/4, 11/8
Beat & Subdivision
Musical passages commonly feature a recurring pulse, or beat, usually in the range of 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). Depending on the tempo of the music, this beat may correspond to the note value specified by the time signature, or to a grouping of such note values. Most commonly, in simple time signatures, the beat is the same as the note value of the signature, but in compound signatures, the beat is usually a dotted note value corresponding to three of the signature's note values. Either way, the next lower note value shorter than the beat is called the subdivision.
On occasion 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. Conversely, at slow tempos, the beat might even be a smaller note value than the one enumerated by the time signature.
Mathematically the time signatures of, e.g., 3/4 and 3/8 are interchangeable. In a sense all simple triple time signatures, such as 3/8, 3/4, 3/2, etc. - and all compound duple times, such as 6/8, 6/16 and so on, are equivalent. A piece in 3/4 can be easily rewritten in 3/8, simply by halving the length of the notes.
The choice of time signature in these cases is largely a matter of tradition. Particular time signatures are traditionally associated with different music styles. It would seem strange to notate a conventional rock song in 4/8 or 4/2, rather than 4/4.
Time Signature Math
Time signature involves mathematics in the sense that the values of the note lengths in each bar need to add up to the time signature.
In its simplest form a meter of 4/4 would be a series of four quarter notes in a bar, but it can be any
series of notes and rests that add up to the meter. The following examples in 4/4 time, illustrates this concept.
In this example the following abreviations are used:
WN = Whole Note, WR = Whole Rest
HN = Half Note, HR = Half Rest
QN = Quarter Note, QR = Quarter Rest
EN = Eighth Note, ER = Eighth Rest
SN = Sixteenth Note, SR = Sixteenth Rest
D = Dotted Note
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/4)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/4)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(3/8)
(1/8)
(1/4)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(1/8)
(3/16)
(1/16)
(3/8)
(3/16)
(1/16)
Tempo Terms
From slowest to fastest:
- Larghissimo - very, very slow (24 bpm and under)
- Adagissimo - very slow (24-40 bpm)
- Grave - very slow (25-45 bpm)
- Largo - slow and broad (40-60 bpm)
- Lento - slow (45-60 bpm)
- Larghetto - rather slow and broad (60-66 bpm)
- Adagio - slow with great expression (66-76 bpm)
- Adagietto - slower than andante (72-76 bpm) or slightly faster than adagio (70-80 bpm)
- Andante - at a walking pace (76-108 bpm)
- Andantino - slightly faster than andante (although, in some cases, it can be taken to mean slightly slower than andante) (80-108 bpm)
- Marcia - Moderato moderately, in the manner of a march (83-85 bpm)
- Moderato - at a moderate speed (108-120 bpm)
- Andante Moderato - between andante and moderato (thus the name) (92-112 bpm)
- Allegretto - by the mid-19th century, moderately fast (112-120 bpm); see paragraph above for earlier usage
- Allegro Moderato - close to, but not quite allegro (116-120 bpm)
- Allegro - fast, quick, and bright (120-156 bpm) (molto allegro is slightly faster than allegro, but always in its range; 124-156 bpm)
- Vivace - lively and fast (156-176 bpm)
- Vivacissimo - very fast and lively (172-176 bpm)
- Allegrissimo or Allegro Vivace - very fast (172-176 bpm)
- Presto - very, very fast (168-200 bpm)
- Prestissimo - even faster than presto (200 bpm and over)
Additional Tempo Terms
- A Piacere - the performer may use their own discretion with regard to tempo and rhythm; literally "at pleasure"
- Accelerando - gradually play faster
- Assai - (very) much
- A Tempo - resume previous tempo
- Con Grazia - with grace, or gracefully
- Con Moto - Italian for "with movement"; can be combined with a tempo indication, e.g., Andante Con Moto
- Lamentoso - sadly, plaintively
- L'istesso, L'istesso Tempo, or Lo Stesso Tempo - at the same speed; L'istesso is used when the actual speed of the music has not changed, despite apparent signals to the contrary, such as changes in time signature or note length (half notes in 4/4 could change to whole notes in 2/2, and they would all have the same duration)
- Ma Non Tanto - but not so much; used in the same way and has the same effect as Ma non troppo (see immediately below) but to a lesser degree
- Ma Non Troppo - but not too much; used to modify a basic tempo to indicate that the basic tempo should be reined in to a degree; for example, Adagio ma non troppo to mean ″Slow, but not too much″, Allegro ma non troppo to mean ″Fast, but not too much″
- Maestoso - majestically, stately
- Molto - very
- Meno - less
- Più - more
- Poco - a little
- Subito - suddenly
- Tempo Comodo - at a comfortable speed
- Tempo Di - the speed of a ... (such as Tempo di valzer (speed of a waltz, dotted quarter note. ≈ 60 bpm or quarter note≈ 126 bpm), Tempo di marcia (speed of a march, quarter note ≈ 120 bpm))
- Tempo Giusto - at a consistent speed, at the 'right' speed, in strict tempo
- Tempo Primo - resume the original (first) tempo
- Tempo Semplice - simple, regular speed, plainly
Tempo Changes
Composers may use expressive marks to adjust the tempo:
- Accelerando - speeding up (abbreviation: accel.) Opposite of Ritardando, it is an Italian term pronounced as [aht-che-le-rahn-daw] and is defined by gradually increasing the tempo until the next tempo mark is noted. It is either marked by a dashed line or simply its abbreviation.
- Affrettando - speeding up with a suggestion of anxiety
- Allargando - growing broader; decreasing tempo, usually near the end of a piece
- Calando - going slower (and usually also softer)
- Doppio Movimento, or Doppio Più Mosso - double-speed
- Doppio Più Lento - half-speed
- Lentando - gradually slowing, and softer
- Meno Mosso - less movement; slower
- Meno Moto - less motion
- Più Mosso - more movement; faster
- Mosso - movement, more lively; quicker, much like Più Mosso, but not as extreme
- Precipitando - hurrying; going faster/forward
- Rallentando - a gradual slowing down (abbreviation: rall.)
- Ritardando - slowing down gradually; also see rallentando and ritenuto (abbreviations: rit., ritard.) sometimes replaces allargando.
- Ritenuto - slightly slower, but achieved more immediately than Rallentando or Ritardando; a sudden decrease in tempo; temporarily holding back. (Note that the abbreviation for Ritenuto can also be rit. Thus a more specific abbreviation is riten. Also, sometimes Ritenuto does not reflect a tempo change but rather a 'character' change.)
- Rubato - free adjustment of tempo for expressive purposes, literally "stolen"—so more strictly, to take time from one beat to slow another
- Slargando - slowing down, literally "slowing down", "widening" or "stretching"
- Stretto - in a faster tempo, often used near the conclusion of a section. (Note that in fugal compositions, the term stretto refers to the imitation of the subject in close succession, before the subject is completed, and as such, suitable for the close of the fugue.[24] Used in this context, the term is not necessarily related to tempo.)
- Stringendo - pressing on faster, literally "tightening"
- Tardando - slowing down gradually (same as ritardando)
- Tempo Primo - resume the original tempo