Measures and Time Signatures: Beginner Level

 
To begin this lesson, I am going to explain measures. And I don't mean the measuring that you do with a ruler with inches and stuff like that. I mean measures... you know, the musical kind. 

In music, there are measures in every song you see. It doesn't matter what instrument you play. Measures will be there. As shown in the picture above, you can see the bar lines or measure lines. Each line divides the music into sections. These sections are called measures. I am explaining measures first because you will need to know this to really understand time signatures. In each measure there are a certain number of beats that you can see. It will always be consistent. In the treble clef section (if you don't remember what that is, see my other lesson on Treble and Bass Clef) there are four beats per measure. I know this because two half notes equal four and four quarter notes also equal four (see Note Values lesson for a refresher).

In the bass clef section below, each measure has three beats. Even if there is no time signature, you can tell how many beats are in each measure by counting the note values. 

Time signatures look like a fraction, as you can see in the picture above. I drew out two of the most common time signatures you will see. A time signature tells you how many beats are in each measure and what note will get the beat. This is essential to know if you want to play with good rhythm... and honestly is essential for being a good musician in general. Counting and rhythm are two peas in a pod and are a must when playing and learning an instrument.

The top number of a time signature tells you how many beats are in a measure; the bottom tells you what note gets the beat. In the example above, the treble clef section should have four beats per measure. Can you guess how many beats the bass clef section gets? ... If you guessed three, you are correct! Now, the bottom number of both, I decided to keep the same to keep things simple. Things start getting kind of crazy when the bottom number starts to change. I will do a deeper dive in a later lesson.

 In this example the four on the bottom simply means that the quarter note gets one beat, so it is normal. You may be thinking, "Wait a minute. The note values that I just learned can change?" And the answer is yes. It can change. Confusing, I know. That's why I kept it simple! 

In summary all you need to remember is this:

A measure is a section of music between two bar lines.

A time signature tells you how many beats are in each measure. That will guide you in counting as you play. 

I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Remember to go practice!