Music Time SignaturesLet’s learn what music time signatures are. You’ll see them written as two numbers, one above the other. The top number tells you how many beats there are in a bar and the bottom number tells you the value of those beats. So let’s use 4 4 as an example. 
OK the top number here means there are for beats in each bar, and the bottom number means that each of those beats is equal to one quarter note. 
Now lets try some others, 3 4, in this example the 3 means that there are 3 beats in each bar and that each beat is still equal to one quarter note. You’re probably starting to get the idea now.
Here are some more examples for you. Common time is the same as 4 4 but often written like this. 
2 4 has 2 beats in each bar and can be written as 2 4 (example right) or cut time (example left)
Then we have 6 8 which has a 123456, 123456 feel, similar to 3 4 but usually faster. With 6 beats in each bar, every beat being equal to an eighth note. So as you can see there are a lot of time signatures, so far we've covered the basic ones, next I'd like to take you through some of the more exotic ones that will need more explaining because of the complex groupings of rhythm. Don't move on until you understand these ones though. Return from Music Time Signatures to Piano Theory
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