The time signature (along with the key signature) is one of the first things you encounter when you read music. The time signature usually consists of two numbers written one on top of the other, almost like a fraction except there is no line (other than the lines of the staff and that doesn't count). These provide you with two important pieces of information about the song that you are going to play. The top number tells you how many beats are in a measure. Measures are explained in the lesson Before You Accuse Me. The lower number, the number that sits on the bottom, indicates which note is going to count as “one beat.” The vast majority of music you are likely to encounter will be in 4/4 timing:

Sometimes you will see “4/4” timing written out as “C.” “C” and “4/4” are interchangeable. And if you're really interested in a theory of the origins of this symbol, check out the Email of the Week in this old newsletter.

As well as “C” there is also a “C” with a vertical line slashing it - (C)

It looks like the symbol for a penny. This is known, appropriately enough, as “cut time,” or

There are also songs, many marches in fact, which are in 2/4 time. And you have undoubtedly heard songs that use 3/4 timing as well. Waltzes are in 3/4:

Probably eighty-five to ninety percent of all songs are written in either of these two time signatures. 6/8 timing is very similar to 3/4 in that it has the same kind of “triplet” feel. It's easier to count in groups of threes rather than sets of six.

For a complete lesson on time signatures check out the article Timing is Everything. There is also a detailed explanation with examples in the article House of the Rising Sun.

On Guitar Noise

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