Bars and time signatures
Hear which beats are heavier, group them into bars, and read 4/4 and 3/4 so you can count along with a song from the right place.
HEAVY AND LIGHT
Not all beats feel the same
Beats are equal in length, but not in weight. In almost all music, one beat out of every few feels heavier, and the pattern repeats. Say it out loud: ONE two three four, ONE two three four. That heavy beat is called the strong beat, or the downbeat.
Soldiers marching: LEFT right LEFT right. People swaying to a waltz: ONE two three, ONE two three. Same kind of even pulse, grouped differently.
Bar (measure)
One group of beats, starting on a strong beat. In written music, bars are separated by vertical bar lines. Every bar in a song normally holds the same number of beats.
| ONE two three four | ONE two three four | is two bars of four beats each.
Check yourself
Sara taps along to a song and notices the pattern HEAVY light light, HEAVY light light, over and over. How many beats are in each bar?
- One, because only one beat is heavy
- Six, because the pattern comes twice
- Four, because most songs have four
- Three
Show the answer
Three
Yes. A bar runs from one strong beat to just before the next. Heavy, light, light is three beats.
TWO NUMBERS
The time signature
At the start of written music you see two stacked numbers, like 4/4 or 3/4. The top number is how many beats are in each bar. The bottom number says which kind of note counts as one beat; a 4 means the quarter note, which you meet in the next lesson. For now, read the top.
4/4 is four beats per bar: ONE two three four. 3/4 is three beats per bar: ONE two three. It is not a fraction and nothing is being divided.
4/4 "Twinkle Twinkle"
| 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 |
| Twin kle twin kle | lit tle star --- |
3/4 "Happy Birthday"
3 | 1 2 3 | 1 2 3 |
Hap-py | birth day to | you --- Hap-py |Twinkle: the strong beats land on "Twin" and "lit".
Happy Birthday: the strong beats land on "birth" and "you", not on "Hap".Sing each one and stamp only on beat 1. If your stamp lands on "Hap", start again: "Happy" is a little run-up that comes before the first strong beat.
Check yourself
To count along with a song correctly, say "one" on the very first note you hear.
Show the answer
False
Only if the song starts on a strong beat. "Happy Birthday" starts with a pickup on beat 3, so "one" belongs on "birth". Find the heavy beat first, then put "one" there.
The two you will meet most
4/4
ONE two three four. Feels square and steady, like walking. Beat 3 is a little heavy too. Most pop, rock, hip-hop and film music is in four, which is why it is also called common time.
3/4
ONE two three. Feels round and swaying. This is the waltz, and also "Happy Birthday". You can't march to it comfortably, because the heavy beat keeps swapping feet.
Work out the meter of a song
- Tap the beat
Use the method from lesson 1 until your taps are even.
- Find the heavy one
It is where you would naturally stamp or nod hardest. The bass drum often lands there and the chords usually change there.
- Try counting in four
Say ONE two three four with ONE on the heavy beat. If ONE keeps landing on heavy beats, the song is in four.
- If it drifts, try three
When your ONE slides off the heavy beat after a bar or two, switch to ONE two three and test again.
Check yourself
In threes or in fours?
- A waltz at a ballroom
- "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
- A time signature of 3/4
- A drummer counting in a rock song: "one, two, three, four!"
- "Happy Birthday"
- A song where HEAVY light light light keeps repeating
Show the answer
Grouped in threes: A waltz at a ballroom, A time signature of 3/4, "Happy Birthday"
Grouped in fours: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", A drummer counting in a rock song: "one, two, three, four!", A song where HEAVY light light light keeps repeating
Check yourself
Nika writes an intro that is 8 bars long, in 4/4, at 120 BPM. About how long does the intro last?
- 8 seconds
- 32 seconds
- 16 seconds
- 64 seconds
Show the answer
16 seconds
Right. 8 bars of 4 beats is 32 beats. At 120 BPM there are two beats per second, so 32 beats take 16 seconds.
Check yourself
Match what happens to what it tells you
Show the answer
- Your "ONE two three four" keeps landing on the heavy beat → The song is in 4/4
- Two short notes come before the first heavy beat → The song starts with a pickup
- The sheet music shows a 3 on top at the start → Every bar holds three beats
- The bandleader says "four bars of intro" in 4/4 → Sixteen beats before the singer enters
Lesson recap
- Some beats are heavier than others; the heaviest is the strong beat, counted as "one".
- A bar is one group of beats that starts on a strong beat.
- The top number of a time signature is the number of beats in a bar: 4/4 has four, 3/4 has three.
- Songs can start with a pickup, so find the heavy beat before you start counting.
- Bars × beats per bar, together with the tempo, tells you how long a section lasts.