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The time signature indicates the meter of a musical movement at the bar level. In a music score the time signature appears as two stacked numerals, such as 4. 4 (spoken as four–four time ), or a time symbol, such as (spoken as common time ). It immediately follows the key signature (or if there is no key signature, the clef symbol).
Basic time signatures: 4 4, also known as common time (); 2 2, also known as cut time or cut-common time (); etc. In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially doubling the tempo resolution or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of 4 4 approximate a ...
Etymology[edit] Clave is a Spanish word meaning 'code,' 'key,' as in key to a mystery or puzzle, or ' keystone ,' the wedge-shaped stone in the center of an arch that ties the other stones together. The rhythm also gave the name to the claves Afro-Cuban musical instrument which consists of a pair of hardwood sticks.
Duple metre (or Am. duple meter, also known as duple time) is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples ( simple) or 6 and multiples ( compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with 2. 2 ( cut time ), 2. 4, and 6. 8 (at a fast tempo) being the most common examples.
Simple time signatures This example shows that each measure is the length of three quarter notes (crotchets). 3 4 is pronounced as "three-four" or "three-quarter time". Compound time signatures In a compound meter, there is an additional rhythmic grouping within each measure. This example shows 6
Alla breve [alla ˈbrɛːve] – also known as cut time or cut common time – is a musical meter notated by the time signature symbol (a C with a vertical line through it), which is the equivalent of 2. 2. [1] The term is Italian for "on the breve", originally meaning that the beat was counted on the breve. [2]
In music of the common practice period (about 1600–1900), there are four different families of time signature in common use: Simple duple: two or four beats to a bar, each divided by two, the top number being "2" or "4" (2 4, 2 8, 2 2... 4 4, 4 8, 4 2...). When there are four beats to a bar, it is alternatively referred to as "quadruple" time.
Marches can be written in any time signature, but the most common time signatures are 4 4, 2 2 (alla breve, although this may refer to 2 time of Johannes Brahms, or cut time), or 6 8. However, some modern marches are being written in 1 2 or 2 4 time. The modern march tempo is typically around 120 beats per minute.