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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).
Time signatures indicate the number of beats in each measure (the top number) and also show what type of note represents a single beat (the bottom number). There may be any number of beats in a measure but the most common by far are multiples of 2 or 3 (i.e., a top number of 2, 3, 4, or 6).
Following the key signature is the time signature. The time signature typically consists of two numbers, with one of the most common being 4 4. The top "4" indicates that there are four beats per measure (also called bar). The bottom "4" indicates that each of those beats are quarter notes. Measures divide the piece into groups of beats, and ...
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.
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.
This is a list of musical compositions or pieces of music that have unusual time signatures. "Unusual" is here defined to be any time signature other than simple time signatures with top numerals of 2, 3, or 4 and bottom numerals of 2, 4, or 8, and compound time signatures with top numerals of 6, 9, or 12 and bottom numerals 4, 8, or 16.
Like the more common duple, triple, and quadruple meters, it may be simple, with each beat divided in half, or compound, with each beat divided into thirds. The most common time signatures for simple quintuple meter are 5 4 and 5 8, and compound quintuple meter is most often written in 15 8.
Time signatures in music contain patterns of strong and weak beats. In every time signature, the first beat, or the downbeat, is the strongest. 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8 time are the most common time signatures in popular styles. In 4/4 time, four beats are present in one measure. The first beat is the strongest, with the third beat the second-strongest.