Meter Notation

A photograph of a group of 10-15 women dressed in cultural Irish clothing, dancing in formation on an outdoor stage with townhouses visible in the background. A group of dancers perform an Irish stepdance at the International Folklore Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 2012. Stepdance often uses hard shoes which, like tap shoes, adds a rhythmic percussion line to the dance's musical accompaniment.
(Branka Vucicevic Vuckovic | CC BY-SA-4.0)

Because music is usually characterized not only by the pitch and duration of notes but the rhythmic context in which they are set, many systems of notation have methods to notate meter.

Rhythmic Solmization

Musicians often use syllables to represent the duration of a note, its placement within a beat or measure, or both. This system, called rhythmic solmization, is helpful for sight-reading, and is commonly used in music education.

A common method of solmization involves using numbers to indicate beats within a measure, with various other syllables for notes between strong beats, which sometimes vary among different musicians.

A diagram illustrating three beats. The first is divided in half, the second is divided in thirds, and the third is divided in fourths. Beneath the diagram are two lines of text: `1 and 2 and a 3 e and a` and `ta di ta ki da ta ka di mi`.
Figure 1: Divisions of the beat represented in two different systems of rhythmic solmization. The top line shows a common method which involves labeling downbeats with numbers and divisions with short syllables. The bottom line shows Takadimi, a popular method of rhythmic solmization developed in 1996 by American theorists Richard Hoffman, William Pelto and John W. White.

Other systems of solmization have more complete and clearly defined vocabularies which use different syllables, and may or may not include the number of beats within the measure.

Konnakol is a detailed system of rhythmic solmization that practiced and revered in Indian musical culture as a virtuosic performance art in itself.

Figure 2: Indian musicians Kumari Shivapriya and Somashekar Jois perform a series of exercises followed by a work by Indian composer B.C. Manjunath which feature konnakol, a rhythmic solmization system which incorporates performing the tala, or meter, with the hands.

Staff Notation

Staff notation portrays meter using a system of barlines, time signatures, and beaming.

Barlines

In staff notation, measures are separated using a vertical line through the staff, called a barline.

A staff divided into three measures. The first measure ends with a single vertical line through the staff, the second has two closely spaced vertical lines through the staff, and the third ends with a vertical line followed by a much thicker vertical stroke.
Figure 3: Three empty measures separated by barlines. The first is a normal barline, the second is a double barline, often used to separate sections of music. The last is a final barline, indicating the end of a piece or movement.

Time Signatures

Meter is indicated with a time signature placed at the beginning of the piece or at points where the meter changes. Time signatures usually consist of two numbers stacked vertically; what the numbers represent depends on the type of meter.

Simple Meter

In simple meters, where the beat is divided into two equal intervals, the top number of the time signature represents the number of beats in each measure, and the bottom number indicates which note value is used to represent the beat: 2 for a half note, 4 for a quarter note, 8 for an eighth note, and so on.

Five lines of staff notation with three measures on each line. Each measure contains a different time signature, consisting of two boldface numbers stacked vertically at the left edge of the measure. The first line contains the time signatures 2/1, 3/1 and 4/1; the measures contain two, three and four whole notes on G4. The second line is the same but with 2/2, 3/2 and 4/2 and half notes instead of whole notes. The third line shows 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 with quarter notes, the fourth line shows 2/8, 3/8 and 4/8 with eighth notes, and the last line shows 2/16, 3/16 and 4/16 with sixteenth notes.
Figure 4: Time signatures for simple meters. In each case, the top number denotes the number of beats per measure, and the bottom note indicates the type of note used to represent the beat.

Though composers will usually use shorter note values for the beat in faster music and longer notes for slower music, the time signature has no bearing on tempo: a section can be notated in 4/16 time and marked adagio, or notated in 3/2 time and marked presto.

Because of its ubiquity, 4/4 meter is often referred to as common time, and represented with a special symbol. Though used less often, 2/2 meter is called cut time and also has a special symbol.

Two measures of staff notation. The first one contains four quarter notes and in place of a standard key signature, there is a stylized letter C. The second one contains two half notes and in place of a standard key signature, there is the same stylized letter C but with a vertical line bisecting it.
Figure 5: Symbols for common time, left, and cut time, right. While these symbols look like the letter C, they actually evolved from a symbology which used a complete circle for triple meter and a broken circle for duple and quadruple meter.

Compound Meter

In staff notation, compound meters — which have beats divided into three equal intervals — use dotted notes to represent the beat. Because the system used for simple meter time signatures does have an intuitive way to represent a dotted note with a number, Compound meter time signatures traditionally show the division of the beat rather than the beat itself: the top number indicates how many divisions are in a measure, and the bottom note shows which note value represents the beat division.

Four lines of staff notation with three measures on each line. Each measure contains a different time signature, consisting of two boldface numbers stacked vertically at the left edge of the measure. The first line contains the time signatures 6/4, 9/4 and 12/4; the measures contain two, three and four dotted half notes on G4. The second line is the same but with 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8 and dotted quarter notes instead of dotted half notes. The third line shows 6/16, 9/16 and 12/16 with dotted eighth notes, and the last line shows 6/32, 9/32 and 12/32 with dotted sixteenth notes.
Figure 7: Time signatures for compound meters. In each case, the top number denotes the number of divisions of the beat in each measure, and the bottom note indicates the type of note used to represent the division of the beat, or one third of the actual beat.

Complex Meter

Complex meters, which combine simple and compound beats in a regular pattern, usually follow the same practice as compound meters regarding time signatures: the top number indicates the number of divisions per measure and the bottom number shows which note represents the beat division.

Four measures of staff notation. The first two have the time signature of 5/8 and each contains five eighth notes on C5; in the first measure, the measure also contains a quarter note followed by a dotted quarter note on A4, and the second measure contains a dotted quarter note followed by a quarter note on A4. The third and fourth measures both have 7/8 signatures and contain seven eighth notes on C5; the third measure also contains quarter note, quarter note, dotted quarter note on A4, and the fourth measure contains dotted quarter note, quarter note, quarter note on A4.
Figure 8: Complex meters, which contain mixtures of simple and compound beats, also use the division of the beat to construct time signatures.

In some cases, the top number will replaced with two or more numbers to demonstrate the pattern of simple and compound beats within the measure.

A measure containing two dotted quarter notes and a quarter note. The time signature has an 8 on the bottom, but instead of a single top number it shows `3+3+2`.
Figure 9: Complex meters sometimes use time signatures that show the breakdown of simple and compound beats.

Beaming

In addition to measures and time signatures, staff notation uses a system of grouping shorter notes together to portray beat divisions and facilitate sight-reading.

When grouped together, note values shorter than a quarter note are notated with beams instead of flags.

A diagram with three parts. In the first part, two eighth notes are shown individually with flags, and then shown grouped together with beams, thick horizontal bars that connect their stems, instead of flags. In the second part, two sixteenth notes are shown similarly: separate with two flags each, and then connected with two beams. In the third part, two thirty-second notes are shown separate with three flags each, and then connected with three beams.
Figure 10: Notes smaller than a quarter note can be grouped using beams instead of flags.

Beaming should not be used indiscriminately: notes should be beamed together within beats, but not between them.

Two measures of 3/4 time, each filled with eighth notes. The first contains a beamed group of two notes, then a beamed group of three notes, and then a single note with a flag. The second contains three groups of two notes eat.
Figure 11: On the left, notes are beamed inconsistently, which is incorrect. On the right, notes are beamed to show the beats in the measure, which is correct.

In most cases, notes that start off the beat and last into the next beat should be rewritten as multiple notes tied together in order to show the beat divisions within a measure.

Two measures of 4/4 time: the first measure contains no ties and notes which cross the beat boundaries, and the second shows the same rhythm but with smaller notes connected with ties so beamed groups show the four beats in the measure.
Figure 12: It is sometimes necessary to separate notes which cross beat boundaries into smaller notes connected with ties.

Tuplets

Composers will often use rhythms in which the beat is divided in a way that does not correspond to standard note values. These divisions are notated in staff notation as tuplets: notes grouped together with a numeral indicating how the beat is divided. Grouping is shown through beaming or with a bracket.

Three measures of staff notation displaying several tuplets: in 2/4 time, three eighth note triplets, firve sixteenth note quintuplets, and three quarter note triplets; in 6/8 time, two eighth note duplets and four eighth note quadruplets. For all but the quarter note triplets, the stem-down notes in the group are beamed together with a number just below the beam indicating the division. For the quarter note triplet, since there is no beam, the number appears with a bracket embracing the notes.
Figure 14: Several types of tuplets: triplets, quintuplets, duplets and quadruplets.

Lead Sheet Notation

Lead sheets are a common method for notating chord changes in musical styles which center around improvisation. In its simplest form, lead sheet notation consists of notating chord symbols alone, or above lyrics.

Four lines of lyrics. The first line reads `Love, oh love, oh careless love` with an `F` written above the first syllable, a `C7` written above the second `love`, and an `F` above the last syllable. The second line reads `You fly right through my head like wine` with `D7` above `head` and `Gm7` and `C7` above `wine`. The third line reads `You've broke my heart of many a gal` with `F` above `broke`, `F7` above `heart`, `B flat` above `many` and `B flat minor` above `gal`. The last line reads `and you nearly broke this heart of mine` with `F` above `near`, `C7` above `broke` and `F` above `mine`.
Figure 15: A lead sheet for the first verse of the traditional song Careless Love, showing only lyrics and chords.

For instrumental pieces, lead sheets are often written on a staff, where the chord symbols are written above the staff that shows barlines to delineate measures and beat markers to show the beats in each measure.

A treble clef staff displaying two measures of 4/4 time. The measures are empty except for four short slashes showing each beat, with the chord symbols E flat, B flat, C minor and A flat on each half note.
Figure 16: A four-chord progression written in slash notation, commonly used in instrumental lead sheets.

When chord changes occur off the beat, beat markers are written with dots, beams or flags as necessary to show the harmonic rhythm.

A percussion staff with four measures. The first, second and fourth measures show the beats with slash notation, while the third measure uses stems, flags and ties with slashes as noteheads to portray a specific rhythm.
Figure 17: A percussion part showing a fill with a specific rhythm in the third measure.

Lead sheet notation is often combined with staff notation to show pieces which combine composed melodies with improvisatory sections. Though modern editions are almost always notated using notation software, jazz charts are usually notated with music fonts which mimic traditional manuscripts notated with a broad-nib pen.

Braille Music Notation

In braille music notation, initial time signatures are indicated centered on the first line of a piece in a block which includes both time signature and information about the key of the piece.

Three examples of time signature blocks: 4/4 time, 12/8 time, and 3/16 time. In each case, the corresponding braille symbols are shown.
Figure 18: Time signature blocks in braille music notation.

Changes of meter are shown with time signatures inline with the surrounding music.

Meter Notation: Summary

  • Rhythmic solmization is a system of using syllables to indicate beats and subdivisions of beats within a measure.
    • Number-based solmization uses numbers for beats and syllables like "e", "and" and, "a" to show subdivisions.
    • Takadimi and Konnakol use broader systems of short syllables and can describe many different subdivisions of the beat.
  • Staff notation uses barlines to delineate measures and time signatures and beaming to indicate meter.
    • Barlines include a single vertical line to separate measures, double lines to separate larger sections, and final barlines to indicate the end of a piece or movement.
    • Time signatures consist of two numbers stacked vertically.
      • In simple meters, the top number indicates the number of beats in each measure, and the bottom number corresponds to the type of note that gets the beat.
      • In compound meters, the top number indicates the number of subdivision in each measure, and the bottom number corresponds to the type of note used as the subdivision, which corresponds to one-third of the beat.
      • 4/4 time is also called common time, and 2/2 time is also called cut time. Both of these meters are sometimes represented with special symbols instead of a traditional time signature.
      • Time signatures for complex meters, which combine simple and compound unit beats, follow the same protocol of compound meters by using the subdivision as a base.
    • Beaming involves combining groups of notes smaller than a quarter note into beat groupings by replacing their flags with horizontal beams.
    • Tuplets use beams, brackets and numbers to show non-standard groupings of notes within a beat.
  • Lead sheets show where chords change in a piece by including chord symbols above lyrics or above a staff showing slash notation.
    • Slash notation uses short slashes on a staff to show each beat within a measure.
    • Rhythmic slash notation uses short slashes with stems, flags, dots, ties, and beams to portray rhythm without specifying pitch.
  • Braille music notation scores show the time signature of a piece in the first line of music alongside information about the key of the piece.

Exercises

Exercise 1: Description of Exercise

Exercise 2: Description of Exercise