Time Signature
The time signature is the pair of numbers after the clef. The top number says how many beats are in each measure; the bottom says which note value gets one beat.
In 4/4 there are four beats per bar and a quarter note is one beat. In 3/4 there are three, which is why waltzes feel like they do. In 6/8 the eighth note is the beat and they group in twos of three.
How To Spot Time Signature
Two numbers stacked at the start of the piece, right after the key signature. It is written once and holds until it changes.
Find It In Thirty Seconds
Read the time signature of any piece, then count that many beats per measure through the first line. If the count comes out even at every bar line, you have read it right.
Open any piece of sheet music on this site and do it now. Reading is a recognition skill, and recognition is built by finding things, not by reading about them.
Related Topics...
How to Read Sheet Music: Learn how to read sheet music using interactive lessons from Chordzy. Or browse our various reading music topics.
Music Notation Glossary: Every symbol on a page of piano music, explained in one sentence each — clefs, note values, rests, accidentals, dynamics and repeat marks.
Bar Line: A bar line is the vertical line crossing the staff that divides music into measures. A double bar line marks the end of a section, and a thick double bar marks…
Key Signature: The key signature is the group of sharps or flats just after the clef. It applies to every note of those letter names, in every octave, for the whole piece.
Measure (Bar): A measure — also called a bar — is the space between two bar lines. The time signature says how many beats each measure holds.
Quarter Note: A quarter note is a filled-in note head with a stem, and it lasts one beat in common time.
More in This Section
Treble Clef: The treble clef is the curled symbol at the start of the upper staff. It fixes the second line from the bottom as G above middle C, which is why it is also cal…
Triplet: A triplet is three notes played in the time of two of the same value, marked with a small 3 above or below the group.