Time Signatures

Measures can be of different lengths to accommodate different rhythms. The initial measure length is specified at the beginning of the piece. It takes the form of a fraction, the upper number expressing how many beats in each measure, and the lower one the length of each beat. Here’s how it looks:

This indicates four beats to the measure (the upper number). The lower number specifies that each beat has a duration of a quarter note. We call this “four four time.” This is the most common time in music, so is often shown by the abbreviation

The three on top indicates that there will be three beats. The eight below shows that each beat will last an eighth note. We would refer to this as “three eight time.”