Reading Music: Time Signatures & Bars

A steady stream of beats needs shape. Music groups beats into bars (Americans say measures), separated by vertical bar lines, and a time signature at the start of the stave says how that grouping works.

Reading the two numbers

A time signature is two stacked numbers. The top number is how many beats are in each bar. The bottom number says which note value counts as one beat: 4 means a crotchet, 8 a quaver, 2 a minim. So 4/4 is four crotchet beats a bar, and 6/8 is six quaver beats.

Feel the grouping

The first beat of every bar - the downbeat - is naturally the strongest. Press Count it and listen: the accented click marks beat 1, and you can hear how 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8 group the pulse differently even at the same tempo.

Time signature vs key signature

Both sit at the start of the stave, right after the clef, so they are easy to confuse. They do completely different jobs: a time signature governs rhythm - how beats are grouped - while a key signature governs pitch - which notes are sharp or flat.

Pitch, rhythm and metre give you the notes. The last layer is how they are performed: Dynamics, Tempo & Articulation.