Beat and meter · Rhythm and meter · Music theory
Music rests on a steady beat, and the meter groups it into beats of a measure; the first is the strongest. The bar line separates one group from the next.
Beat and meter
Music rests on a steady beat, and the meter groups it into beats of a measure; the first is the strongest. The bar line separates one group from the next.
In a simple meter, the top number says how many beats there are and the bottom one which note value gets one beat (4, the quarter; 2, the half; 8, the eighth). 2/4 has two beats (strong, weak); 3/4, three (strong, weak, weak), and 4/4, four (strong, weak, medium, weak). 4/4 is also written as a C, and 2/2 as a C with a line through it.
Grouping well: reading without counting
Beams are not decoration: they show the beat. In 4/4 the middle of the measure is usually visible, so that the start of the third beat stands out, and 6/8 is grouped in threes. A well-grouped score reads much faster.
The C sign and the cut C come from the mensural notation of the 14th to 16th centuries: a circle meant perfect time, of three, and a broken circle imperfect time, of two. So the C is not an initial but an open circle. Today they equal 4/4 and 2/2.