Time Signatures

Whatever your musical taste you need to know some basic time signatures. We get to grips with the essentials

IIn recent months, we’ve been looking at music whose rhythm follows a four-count. Known as 4/4 (say ‘four-four’) time, it is the most common time signature and, unless you have extremely eclectic taste, most of the music you listen to will be in 4/4. Still, there are other time signatures, each with its own rhythmic groove. We’re looking at three examples: 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8 time. Don’t be intimidated by the numbers – 4/4 just means that four quarter notes make up each bar of music. Following that rule, 3/4 has three quarter notes per bar and 6/8 has six eighth notes.