Time Signature and Meter (http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory4.

htm) Where we divide time into various units of measurement (hours, minutes, seconds), so we divide music into beats. You can think of the beat as the 'pulse' of the music. The association of music with 'dance' is central to much of Western music and demonstrates how responsive we are to repetitive rhythmic patterns. Dancers require that dance music be regular. It should neither speed up nor slow down. This is best achieved by imitating the dancers' steps in the rhythm of the musical line. The shape or pattern of the step sequences finds itself reflected in the pattern of strong and weak beats in the accompanying music. A march, for example, imitates the 'left-right' pattern of the marchers' steps - the meter comprises two beats; the first strong and the second weak. By convention, the first beat in a bar is usually the strongest. Bar Pattern of Beats or Meter Pattern over Four Bars
1 beat bar 2 beat bar 3 beat bar 4 beat bar 6 beat bar Strong Strong Weak Strong Medium Weak Strong Weak Medium Weak Strong Medium Weak Strong Medium Weak 1: S | S | S | S | 2: S W | S W | S W | S W | 3: S M W | S M W | S M W | S M W | 4: S W M W | S W M W | S W M W | S W M W 6: S M W S M W | S M W S M W | S M W S M W | S M W S MW

The regularity of the meter is imposed on the musical line by using a regular number of beats in each bar but we have to choose which note sign is going to be the beat. The time signature is written as two numbers, one set above the other, usually placed immediately before the first note. The upper number tell us the number of beats in a bar. The lower number tells us which note sign is to represent the beat. Some examples are explained below.
Time Signature 2 1 3 2 4 4 6 8 11 16 Description two beats in the bar the beat is a semibreve (whole note) three beats in the bar the beat is a minim (half note) four beats in the bar the beat is a crotchet (quarter note) six beats in the bar the beat is a quaver (eighth note) eleven beats in the bar the beat is a semiquaver (sixteenth note) Beat Time Duration Explanation a bar contains 2 times 1/1 (semibreve=a whole note) a bar contains 3 times 1/2 (minim=a half note) a bar contains 4 times 1/4 (crotchet=a quarter note) a bar contains 6 times 1/8 (quaver=an eighth note) a bar contains 11 times 1/16 (semiquaver=a sixteenth note) Bar Time Duration

A bar may be made up of notes and/or rests. We give some examples below which demonstrate the use of notes and rests to complete bars. In each case the total number of beats in a bar reflects that expected from the time signature.

The time signatures we have discussed above are examples of what in music is termed divisive rhythm, a rhythm in which a larger period of time is divided into smaller rhythmic units. While time signatures usually have no particular connotation as time signatures, experience shows that certain signatures are associated with certain tempi and particular musical forms. We give a summary below.
Time signature Associated information 1 1 used very rarely: several times by Edward Elgar (1857-1934) in several of his studies and in Variation 7 (Troyte, Presto, C major) of his Variations on an Original Theme (later called 'Enigma'), Op. 36, and by Alexander Borodin (18331887) in the Scherzo of his Symphony No. 2 in B minor usually used instead of 2/2, the mark, as applied up to the mid-eighteenth century, is employed in music that is very slow and also in music that is extremely fast. For example, the markings alla cappella or alla breve indicate an exceeedingly fast 2-in-a-bar tempo cut time or alla breve, used for marches, sometimes marked cut time, alla breve or 'in 2', sometimes marked used for marches and fast orchestral music, and frequently occurs in musical theatre an alternative to 3/4, usually signifying a quicker tempo although Hotteterre (1719) indicates that music in 3 might be very slow or sometimes very fast also known as double triple or major triple, because its pulse should be twice as slow as that of ordinary triple time (i.e. 3/4), the meter is usually taken in three slow beats alla breve, rare in music since 1600, although Brahms used it occasionally. Marpurg (writing in about 1755) informs us that "this metre is used only in counterpoint and fugues" used for polkas or marches. for music that is neither too slow nor too fast; in other words, the speed is generally moderato used for waltzes, minuets and scherzi and country & western ballads. In pre-mid-eighteenthcentury French music, 3/4 signifies music that is neither too fast nor too slow occasionally published time signatures can be incorrect. common time widely used in classical music; the usual time signature in rock, jazz, country, and bluegrass, and most modern pop or dance music. used for Dave Brubeck's Take Five and the original versions of the theme from Mission:Impossible 1. It is also used in classical music by Gustav Holst in Mars from The Planets; usually grouped as 3+2 or 2+3 in pre-mid-eighteenth-century French music, sometimes called 'the meter of six slow beats'. Although originally used in slow music (and seldom found in Italian music), it was used later for lively buoyant airs and particularly for Reprises in French baroque opera used for numerous Genesis songs, Money by Pink Floyd (see also 7/8 below) and The Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck in pre-mid-eighteenth-century French music, suitable for music with three slow beats in each bar, neither too slow nor too fast Brossard (1703) writes that this meter "is suitable for tender, affectionate kinds of expression, and sometimes for lively and animated kinds as applied to pre-mid-eighteenth-century music, the marking 2/8 is usually to be thought of as a metre of one rapid beat, suitable for Tambourins and other pieces of like character or minor triple, as applied to pre-mid-eighteenth-century music, generally very quick, twice as

2 2 1 2 2 3 3 2 4 2 2 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 6 4 7 4 9 4 12 4 2 8 3

8 4 8 6 8

fast as music in 3/4 as applied to pre-mid-eighteenth-century music, although sometimes used in place of 2/4, the marking 4/8 is usually to be thought of as a metre of two rapid beats used for light, double and triple jigs, fast waltzes or marches. In general, music in 6/8 is taken at a faster speed than music in 6/4 and is most commonly felt as two beats to the bar the sheet music for Money by Pink Floyd shows a predominant time signature of 7/4 (simple septuple). Most rock music is in 4/4, or common time, and most of the exceptions are in 3/4 or a similar triple meter. During the guitar solo the song changes to 4/4, then returns to 7/4, then ends in 4/4 again. Critics have commented that the change in dynamic (maintaining tempo but changing from seven beats to the bar to 8 beats making the song feel quicker) is one of the track's strengths a distinction between 7/4 and 7/8 is discussed and demonstrated in this video compound triple time, used today rarely although it occurs in Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice and in traditional slip and hop jigs. common in blues and doo-wop, as well as some traditional single jigs or slides. In the eighteenth century the 12/8 metre was taken in 4, with three quavers (eighth notes) to each beat. a rare compound time (one sixteenth note triplet to the bar) which in the opinion of Brossard (1755) is suitable for extremely lively and exceedingly rapid music a rare compound time (two sixteenth note triplets to the bar) used for extremely rapid pieces, what the Italians would describe as a prestissimo a rare compound time (three sixteenth note triplets to the bar) for very fast music suitable for extremely lively and rapid music which the Italians describe with the word prestissimo [Brossard (1755)]. Hotteterre (1719) suggests that one of the earliest to use this marking in France was Franois Couperin used by Philip Glass' Mad Rush

7 8

9 8 12 8 3 16 6 16 9 16 12 16 14 16

although, as we mention above, rock music uses a basic 4/4 beat (however accented or syncopated), math rock frequently uses compound time signatures (meters) such as 7/8, 11/8, or 13/8, or features constantly changing meters based on various groupings of 2 and 3. This rhythmic complexity, seen as "mathematical" in character by many listeners and critics, is what gives the genre its name