Time signature Kids Encyclopedia

A time signature is a set of two numbers, one on top of the other one, written right after the key signature in a piece of music. The two numbers in a time signature tell you how many of one kind of note there are in each measure in the song. For example, $\frac 4 4$ means that there are four quarter notes, or notes that last one beat, in each measure.

Finding out what certain time signatures mean

The number in the top of the time signature tells a player how many of a certain kind of note there are in each measure. The number in the bottom of the time signature tells what kind of note is used a certain number of times in each measure. The number on the bottom of the time signature can be any exponent of 2. So, 64 could be a number that is put in the bottom of the time signature, but 65 could not be one.

Number on the bottom of the time signature	What it means
1	A whole note lasts one beat
2	A half note lasts one beat
4	A quarter note lasts one beat
8	An eighth note lasts one beat
16	A sixteenth note lasts one beat

This table shows different numbers that could be the bottom of a time signature, and what they mean. Note that each note down lasts for one-half of the amount the note above it lasted. For example, one quarter note lasts one beat, and one-half note lasts one half of a beat, because one divided by two is one-half.

Time signatures that are used very often

Time signature	What it means
$\frac 4 4$	Four quarter notes in each measure
$\frac 3 4$	Three quarter notes in each measure
$\frac 2 4$	Two quarter notes in each measure
$\frac 6 8$	Six eighth notes in each measure

Symbols that are used instead of time signatures

• The letter C has been used instead of using $\frac 4 4$ time.
• The symbol "" is called "cut time" (alla breve) and has been used instead of using $\frac 2 2$ time, where every note is cut in half. So, in "cut time", a quarter note, which usually gets one beat, gets one-half of a beat.

Related pages

• Key signature
• Note (music)
• Bar (music)

Images

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  Detail of score of Tchaikovsky's String Quartet No. 2 in F major, showing a multiple time signature

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  Simple duple drum pattern: divides each of two beats into two
  

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  Simple triple drum pattern: divides each of three beats into two

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  Compound duple drum pattern: divides each of two beats into three

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  Compound triple drum pattern: divides each of three beats into three

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  Compound quadruple drum pattern: divides each of four beats into three

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  Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition Promenade

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  Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance

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  Example of Orff's time signatures