4/4 Time Signature

So far we've just been concerned with the pitches of the notes (i.e., how high or low they are) and where they are positioned on the staff. Now we'll learn about the vital part that rhythm plays in music, and in how we notate the music. Most styles of music have a rhythmic beat or pulse to them. When you tap your feet along with a piece of music, most likely you are tapping along with the beat. These beats are then grouped into measures (or bars) when the music is notated. Here is an example of a treble staff with bar lines separating the measures:

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Notice at the end that we have two bar lines, one thin and one thick. This “double bar line” is known as the final bar line or final double bar, and is used to show the end of the song. In future musical examples, you may see two thin bar lines at the end. This is used to show the end of a section of music, but not the “end end.”

Much of the music that you will play will have four beats in each measure. This means that, when we count the beats, after we get to 4 we will go back to 1: “1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4,” etc. By now you're probably thinking that we need a way to let whoever's reading the music know how many beats there are in each measure. Well, you'd be right. This is called a time signature and is placed right after the clef sign, as follows:

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The top number of the time signature (4 in this case) indicates how many beats there are in each measure. These beats are where you would normally tap your foot! The bottom number of the time signature (again 4 in this case) indicates what rhythmic value is assigned to the beat.

We're about to be introduced to different rhythmic values (i.e., note lengths) such as quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes. The 4 at the bottom of the time signature means that each beat in the measure will be a quarter note. The 4/4 time signature, therefore means that there are four quarter-note beats per measure. More about quarter notes in a minute…

The 4/4 time signature is also referred to as “common time,” probably because it is overwhelmingly the most common time signature in music. “Common time” also has its own symbol:

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So any time you see this “C” symbol used as a time signature, that's equivalent to 4/4 time. You may see either one—they both mean the same thing.