Another new subject for you to learn in this lesson is the time signature.?

A time signature is written at the beginning of every piece and it's purpose is to indicate the number of beats or counts that are made in each bar.? The time signature does not indicate the speed or tempo of the piece but simply HOW MANY beats you are to make in each bar.? Speed is indicated by another simple device explained later.?

A time signature consists or TWO FIGURES, one written above the other with a little line separating them,? much like a fraction:

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This one is called three-four time.

In modern music the time signature invariably remains the same throughout the entire piece.?

There are many time signatures but only a few are common to the popular pieces played today.? We will deal in detail with each one as we progress but for the meantime let us concentrate on the above three-four time.?

Three-four time is commonly known as Waltz Time and is used in pieces such? as Jazz Waltzes, Old time Waltzes, Swing and countless popular melodies.? You will no doubt play many popular three-four time pieces as you progress.

The top number in a time signature indicates the actual number of counts? that are made in each bar.?

The bottom number tells you the value of each count.

The figure 4 at the bottom of a time signature indicates to you that the counts are of CROTCHET value.? Therefore, this time signature:???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

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Indicates that you are to play the equivalent of 3 crotchet beats in every bar.?

This does not mean that there will only ever be 3 notes in every bar.?

What it does mean is that whatever number of notes occur, the value of them in the time sense will always equal three crotchet beats.?

You can safely say that any piece written in three-four time will have three beats in every bar to be counted evenly as 1, 2, 3, in the manner learnt in your previous lessons.? Go back and revise your section on counting if you are still unsure because you must understand that your counts must be even and that there are no breaks or pauses between the last count in one bar and the first count in the following bar.?

Now you might be wondering to yourself why is the lower number 4 when it is indicating a crotchet, or one count.? Should it not be a 1 if all it is doing is indicating 1 count.? Well, strictly speaking, in musical theory, the SEMIBREVE is called a whole note and as the semibreve has a value of 4 beats the crotchet is regarded as a quarter note because 4 crotchets are needed to make up a semibreve.?

Looked at in this light you can see that the lower number - 4 in this case - represents the mathematical fraction of one quarter.? It relates to a crotchet note ( one quarter).? Place a 3 above it and the signature indicates that three crotchets are counted for each bar.

In the early stages of learning, it is vital that you make your counts slow and even.? Faster counts may be made as your playing improves and you gain more confidence.

Select a piece of music which you know well in three/four time and hum it to yourself without playing.? Tap a pencil to the correct value of each type of note as you hum it.? Point to each note with your left hand index finger as you hum and tap the pencil for it's beat value.? If you go through this piece several times on this basis you will get the idea of evenness and continuity that must apply to every piece written in three-four time.

If your are not progressing as well with this piece as you would like, try humming the melody again very slowly and follow each of the treble notes in turn as you do.? This will give you the idea that playing and reading the notes is? a quite straight forward matter for you.? As you hum along,? very, very slowly, tap a pencil to the 3 even beats.?

From a long range point of view your aim should be to play from music without having to constantly look at the fret board to see your fingers are in fact on the notes you wish to play.? It is necessary every now and then to keep your eyes on the music as much as possible.? Only look at your fingers when you have to.? Doing this, you are bound to make mistakes in the early stages but you will certainly benefit later on when, all of a sudden, you realize that you can play without looking at your fingers at all.? It will happen quite quickly if you try.