The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat.
In a musical score, the time signature appears at the beginning of the piece, as a time symbol or stacked numerals (such as or 3
4) (read "common time" and "three four time", respectively) immediately following the key signature (or immediately following the clef if the key signature is empty). A mid-score time signature, usually immediately following a barline, indicates a change of meter.
There are various types of time signatures, depending on whether the music follows simple rhythms or involves unusual shifting tempos, including: simple (such as 3
4 or 4
4), compound (e.g., 9
8 or 12
8), complex (e.g., 5
4 or 7
8), mixed (e.g., 5
8 & 3
8 or 6
8 or 3
4), additive (e.g., 3+2+3
8), fractional (e.g., 2½
4), irrational meters (e.g., 3
10 or 5
24), or other meters.
Read more about Time Signature: Simple Time Signatures, Compound Time Signatures, Beat and Time, Most Frequent Time Signatures, Complex Time Signatures, Mixed Meters, Irrational Meters
Famous quotes containing the words time and/or signature:
“Art and power will go on as they have done,—will make day out of night, time out of space, and space out of time.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The childless experts on child raising also bring tears of laughter to my eyes when they say, “I love children because they’re so honest.” There is not an agent in the CIA or the KGB who knows how to conceal the theft of food, how to fake being asleep, or how to forge a parent’s signature like a child.”
—Bill Cosby (20th century)