In music notation, there are a regular group of note values and their beats. The groups are separated by a vertical line, called; bar-line, and each group between two bar-lines is called bar.
Time signature
The note values and beats are two elements that work hand in hand with the time signature. At the beginning of a piece of music there is a sign, called time signature. It is writing like a mathematic fraction without a strake, ex, .
The top number represnts the number of beats in each bar, and the bottom number represnts the type of the note value.
Time signatuer is placed on the stave like this,
As you see in the example that number 4 is representing the type of note value and you may ask which note value is representing for?
The note value is crotchet, and it means that there are 2 beats in a bar and the beat is a type of crotchet.
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Here re some other time signatures; , as you see the bottom number in bothe are 4 which is representing crotchet of type of the note value as previous example, but the top numbers are changed. It means that three crotchets or their equivalent in every bar, and also, four crotchets or their eqivalent in every bar. These type of time signatures also called as, simple time signature.
Time signatures were not always written in figures: they were formerly expressed by symbols such as circles and half-circles. Most of these symbols haddisappeared by theearly 17th century, but two survived well into the 20th century, though in a modified form: and . has exactly the same meaning as , known as 'common time'.
It is not only changing the top numbers, but sometimes, composers use another type of the note value to represent beats in their music. Other type of note value can be used to represent the beats, but in Grade 1 there are only these time signatures you will study in.