Time signature is the divisor in the equation. But if you divide 4 by 1/2, you get 8: EIGHT half notes can fit into the measure. Say you're supposed to divide by 1/2 (the note value) to see how many notes fit into the measure.But what is your capacity? WHAT are you dividing by 1/2? If you divide 2 by 1/2, you get 4: FOUR half notes can fit into the measure.
This is because the note has to be proportionate to the time signature. The number and type of each note that can fit into a measure depends on not only the note's length, but the time signature. TIME SIGNATURES So, how many of each type of note fit into a measure? Unfortunately, that question isn't as simple as it sounds. There, you can see what each type of note actually looks like! Click here for a chart of the different types of notes. As you can see, this makes perfect mathematical sense. For example, TWO half notes make a whole note, TWO quarter notes make a half note, TWO eighth notes make a quarter note, and so on. (There are other types of notes: thirty-second notes, sixty-fourth notes, one hundred twenty-eighth notes, double whole notes.but those are rarely used.) Each "level" of notes are half as long as the level above it. Notes are, basically, named after fractions: Whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes are the basic ones. But how are you able to tell each note's duration? By memorization? Not likely! Based on what each note looks like, a musician can tell how long to hold that note. It's all well and good to know which notes to play. NOTE VALUES AND TIME SIGNATURES NOTE VALUES That's about all there is to know about the structure of written music! The key signature is not labeled since the key is C Major, and there are no sharps or flats. Any area between two repeat signs (or, if there is only one, between the beginning of the piece and the repeat sign) needs to be played twice.Ĭlick here for a diagram of some music. If a double bar line is anywhere in the music with two dots in front of it, it is a repeat sign. Double bar lines indicate the end of a piece. The end of a piece has two, thicker bars: the double bar line. At any rate, measures are separated by vertical lines running down the page. The number and types of notes which can fit into a measure depend on the time signature, which is shown at the beginning of the measure just after the clef symbol and key signature (clefs and key signatures are explained on this page) as a "fraction." Time signatures will be covered later.
Notes are organized into groups called measures or bars. Naturally, written music can't just consist of a bunch of notes cluttered together on a sheet of music. Information about rhythm, note values, time signatures, and more In standard music notation and quite often in basic guitar tablature too, vertical lines, called bar lines are used to separate these equal beat groupings into bars or measures.Never thought I'd be making a website about anything remotely involving math. Note Duration, Tempo and Time SignatureĪs a tab reader, you’re probably already familiar with the basic timing elements of music such as the beat and the equal grouping of beats called the meter ( beats to the bar or measure).
It’s very worthwhile, in fact, and if you’d rather learn that, then please feel free to visit my tutorial: Standard notation for guitarists.Īlso, if you're not already familiar with guitar tab, you can learn the basics of it in my guitar tab basics tutorial. Not that a knowledge of standard music notation isn't worthwhile. This way the reader can get an understanding of timing without going through the laborious and time consuming process of learning to read music in standard notation. The purpose of this article is to explain to “tab only” readers the basic timing and note duration aspects of standard music notation.