So the 2/4 to a Time Signature, as I discussed the other day is that there is a top note which tells you beats per measure and then there is the bottom note which tells you which note gets the beat. Do not worry about this bottom part. That is completely none important at least at this point in the stage of like understanding Time Signatures. What you really want to worry about is this top par, beats per measure.
You might have seen 8/8, you might have seen 7/16, you might have see 4/4, 2/2 so the way that works is that the trick is all in the bottom note. Now, this here, you got to think is that if there is a two here, we only have mainly four notes in music. You have your whole note, you have your half note, you have your quarter note, and you have your 8th note. The bottom note, which now gets the beat, if you see four, it, is telling you a quarter note. If you see an eight, it is telling you 8th note. If you see a two, it is telling you a half note, and if you see a one, it is telling you a whole note.
Now this seems confusing. Just think 4/4, this is four beats per measure. So what is a beat? A beat would be — for example, your metronome. So here is a little metronome that I have here, there we go. Here is an A metronome. So one, two, ready, go. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. That is what your metronome would be play into. So just think, is that your metronome—your beat is really just the pulse of the piece of music. Pulse, pulse, pulse. So, let us take this and say beats per measure. For example, a clock is 60 beats per measure because they are 60 beats per minute. In every minute, there are 60 seconds.
So 4/4, four beats per measure and in this example, the quarter note gets the beat. So if you want to get specific with it, just note that when something is in 4/4, it is telling you that there is going to be four quarter notes in that beat. All right, so check this out. When you are in 2/2, it is telling you that there are two half notes in a measure. 4/4 is that there are four-quarter notes. When you are in 7/16, it is saying that there are 7/16 note in a measure. I did not write that down. They get to be a little much. 16th note have two flags. 7/6 in a measure. So you are going to say to yourself, “Hey, all those are green but how do I apply it?” Well, it is actually quite simple. Check this out.
You have a piece of music here right there. If you have your triple cleft; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, here is your key signature. Let us put it with one sharp key G and let us make it in 4/4. Well there is going to be four-quarter notes in this measure, absolutely. So one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. And then there you have it, one measure. And let us put a liner here. Now, if you want to, you do not necessarily have to have exactly four quarter notes. What it is really saying is that you have to have either four-quarter notes or the duration of four-quarter notes. And remember, a quarter note gets one beat. So one, two, three, four. There are four beats in this measure. Well, remember what I said, half note gets two beats, a quarter note gets one beat. So you could also if I were to expand this in the next measure, you can very well have two half notes and that will be perfectly fine. And in the next measure, you are going to have a whole note.
But, and this is a big but too. If you even for a second were to put another quarter note in this measure, or like here, then this Time Signature is now obsolete in this measure. Because look at what we have. We have a half note which is two beat. We have a quarter note which gets one beat, and we have another half note which gets two more beats. Here, we have five beats in this measure. Two plus one plus two is five beats in that measure. While here, your Time Signature told me that you can only have four beats in this measure. So here, I have one of two things, all right. You do not have to erase this quarter note or I have to now tell you that we are in measure of 5/4 because now, we have five beats in a measure, no longer four beats in that me
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