What is 4/4 time? (2)

Continuing from last time, let's talk about time signatures. Time signatures are written on music sheets in the form of fractions. For example, in a 3/4 time signature, a 4 is written in the denominator position of the fraction, and a 3 is written in the numerator position.

The number in the denominator position indicates the note that counts as one beat (e.g., 4 is a quarter note), and the number in the numerator position indicates how many beats there are in one measure. In other words, 3/4 time means that "counting a quarter note as one beat, there are three beats in one measure."

Similarly, 4/4 time means that "each quarter note counts as one beat, and there are four beats in one measure," and when you think about it this way, you can see that it can be clearly distinguished from the 2/2 time signature mentioned last time.

In music, beats are very important. If you don't recognize beats correctly, various problems can occur. One example that we sometimes see is when a 2/2 beat is mistaken for a 4/4 beat, which causes the tempo to be set very slowly. It also disrupts the flow, making it impossible to express the original musical idea that the composer intended.

In addition, there are cases where people are playing without realizing that they have made counting errors, such as having four beats or only two and a half beats in a measure even though the measure is in 3/4 time.

I hope you can correctly understand the beats written on the sheet music so that you can play well.