Lesson 7: Time Signatures and Simple Songs
- Feel the difference between duple meter (4/4) and triple meter (3/4) in the body.
- Play a piece in each, with the meter audibly shaping the phrasing.
- Lesson 6 — rhythm reading.
- Duple meter (4/4).
- Triple meter (3/4).
- Meter and phrasing.
A waltz is not a march played in three.
A time signature tells you two things: how many beats fill a bar, and which note value gets one beat. The top number is the count; the bottom number names the duration. 4/4 means four quarter notes per bar; 3/4 means three.
But meter is more than counting. The first beat of each bar feels heavier; in 3/4 the second and third beats are lighter still. Your playing should make that audible without trying.
4/4 — common time
The most frequent meter in folk and popular music. Feel: ONE-two-three-four, with a secondary stress on three. March cadence.
Quarter notes, with the downbeat of each bar slightly more present. Don't accent — just let it breathe.
3/4 — waltz time
Three beats per bar. Feel: ONE-two-three. The second and third beats float upward toward the next one. A waltz sweeps; a march pounds.
Three quarters per bar. Lean very slightly on each ONE.
Play: two folk songs, two meters
Twinkle is 4/4 march-like; Aunt Rhody is felt in slow 4/4 too but the half-note motion makes it feel different. Find a 3/4 piece in “Now play these” below.
Now play these
- Au Clair de la Lune · 4/4
- Calm, even, walking. Feel the downbeats without leaning on them.
- Go Tell Aunt Rhody · 4/4
- Long note values within a slow four. The meter is felt, not heard.
- Amazing Grace · 3/4
- The most-played waltz hymn in English. The melody starts on beat 3 of a partial bar — an upbeat.
When the same five-note tune sounds different in 4/4 and 3/4 because of how you play it, not because the notes are different, you have meter in your hands. Move on to Lesson 8.
For a learning approach that builds meter from rhythm-clapping first, see learning a piece.