Read music
Time signatures explained
A time signature is the pair of numbers at the start of a piece. The top number tells you how many beats are in each bar, and the bottom number tells you which kind of note gets one beat. In 4/4 there are four beats in a bar and a quarter note gets one. In 3/4 there are three, which is what gives a waltz its swing.
Click any key to hear it. Your computer's A to K row works too.
What does 4/4 mean?
Four beats to the bar, with a quarter note getting one beat. It is by far the most common time signature in western music, which is why it is sometimes called common time and written as a large C instead of numbers. Count one two three four, one two three four, evenly, with a slight emphasis on the one.
What does 3/4 mean?
Three beats to the bar, quarter note gets the beat. Count one two three, one two three. Waltzes are in three, and so is Silent Night, which is why it sways rather than marches. The first beat of each bar carries the weight, and feeling that is what stops three time sounding like limping four time.
What is the bottom number really telling me?
Which note value counts as one beat. A 4 means a quarter note, an 8 means an eighth note. So 3/8 has three eighth-note beats in a bar, which is what Für Elise uses and why it feels quick and light despite having fewer beats than 3/4.
How do I actually feel the beat?
Count out loud, not in your head, and tap your foot. Counting aloud is unpopular and it works, because it forces the pulse to exist outside your playing rather than depending on it. The metronome does the same job once counting becomes automatic.
Keep going
Read next
Lines are E G B D F, spaces spell FACE. How to read the treble clef and find each note on Open → ♪ Bass clef notes: lines and spaces
Lines are G B D F A, spaces are A C E G. How to read the bass clef, and why it is not the Open → ♪ Key signatures on the piano
The sharps or flats at the start of a line tell you which notes to alter all the way throu Open → ♪ Piano sight reading exercises
How to practise sight reading properly: small range, steady pulse, never stop to correct. Open →
Put it into practice in the practice room, or start at the beginning with the five minute walkthrough.
Questions
Common questions
What is the most common time signature?
4/4, four beats in a bar with a quarter note getting the beat. It is also written as common time.
What time signature is a waltz?
3/4, three beats to the bar, with the weight on the first.
Does the time signature change during a piece?
It can, though rarely in beginner music. When it does, a new time signature is printed at that point in the music.