Time signatures are employed in music to tip off to the musician several things. Firstly, how many beats there are in a bar and secondly, the length of the notes found in the bar.
The most tasteless time signature found in music is 4/4 pronounced "four by four", "four over four" or "four four". It is also often written "C", standing for tasteless Time.
Four by Four
To analyze, it is easier to split the time signature into 2 parts - the beats and the value of the notes. The top estimate (4) denotes the value or length of the note in the bar and the bottom estimate (4) denotes the estimate of beats in the bar. If we look at the bottom estimate first, as this is easier to explain. With a 4 for the bottom number, there are going to be 4 beats in the bar (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 ), then the next bar (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 ), then the next bar (1 - 2 - 3 - 4) and so on, unless an additional one time signature is written.
Now for the top number. There are many variations in the length or time value of each note, often referred to as 'tones'. Beginning at 1, you have 1 tone, 2 tones, 4 tones, 8 tones, 16 tones, 32 tones etc. You can see that they are doubling each time we move to the next category. Each tone has a name. 1 tone = semi brieve, 2 tones = minim, 4 tones = crotchet, 8 tones = quaver = 16 tones = semi quaver, 32 tones = demi semi quaver etc. Using the names we can therefore say that a time signature of Four by Four (4/4) means that there are 4 beats per bar and the length of the beats are crotchets.
Remember, time signatures vary and they will make the music feel distinct when being played.
What Are Time Signatures and What Does 4-4 Mean?
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