Beats that divide in two.

In the first lesson in this unit we introduced the concept of "meter", which is how we feel different groupings of beats in music. Most popular music can be felt with pulses in groups of 2 or 4. 3 is also common. Less common is odd groupings like 5 or 7, but it's not too hard to track down examples of those either.

By now you have undoubtedly noticed that at the beginning of a piece of music, you'll see two numbers stacked on top of each other. This is the time signature, and it is how the meter of the music is defined. It tells you two things:

  • Top number — how many beats are in each measure
  • Bottom number — what note value gets one beat

4/4 time: 4 beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat. This is by far the most common time signature in Western music — so common it's literally called common time and sometimes written as a big C instead of 4/4. Almost all of the examples of counting beats from our previous lessons assumed that there were 4 beats in each measure.

3/4 time: 3 beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat. This is waltz time.

2/4 time: 2 beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat. Marches and polkas live here.

In simple meter, each beat divides naturally into two equal parts. A quarter note splits into two eighth notes. An eighth note splits into two sixteenth notes. Always two.

This is important because it's not the only way beats can divide — but it's the default for most music you hear every day. We'll cover the alternative (compound meter) in the next lesson.

If you watched the videos we linked in the previous lessons, you've already seen this in action. Now that you understand why beats group the way they do, let's make sure the counting system is solid.

"1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and"

The numbers land on the quarter notes. The "and"s land on the eighth notes between them. If you need to count sixteenth notes, the standard system is:

"1 e and a, 2 e and a, 3 e and a, 4 e and a"

This sounds ridiculous when you read it, but it works beautifully when you're actually counting along to music. Try it — put on a song in 4/4 and count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" along with it.

Not every piece of music starts on beat 1. Sometimes a melody begins with one or two notes before the first full measure. These are called pickup notes (or an anacrusis if you want to sound fancy).

Think of "Happy Birthday" — the words "Happy birth-" land before the first downbeat. The "day" is beat 1. Or the Star-Spangled Banner — "Oh say can you see" — the "see" is the downbeat.

In notation, a pickup is written as a short, incomplete measure at the beginning of the piece. If a song in 4/4 starts with one quarter note pickup, that first measure only has 1 beat in it. The time signature still says 4/4 — it applies to every full measure that follows.

  • The Hound + The Fox - Auld Lang Syne - Classic song you've probably heard a million times.... notice how it's the second word that actually sounds like the beginning of a measure. 'should' is a pickup note. 'AULD' is beat 1.

You'll sometimes see the last measure of a piece shortened to compensate — if the pickup has 1 beat, the final measure might only have 3. The two incomplete measures add up to one full measure. This isn't a hard rule, but it's common.

Need more?

Count along with music. Seriously — this is the most useful thing you can do right now. Pick three songs and count "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and" along with them. If a song is in 3/4 (a waltz, or something that feels like it sways in threes), count "1 and 2 and 3 and."

The goal isn't to be perfect. It's to start feeling where the beats and subdivisions land.