The Difference Between Meter and Time Signatures
Time Signatures ⏰✍🏻
One of the best indications in a piece of music as to how the music is going to feel is the relationship between time signatures and meter. Many musicians will be very familiar with time signatures, yet meter is often something that is misunderstood or neglected.
Usually in a piece of music the time signature is seen at the beginning of the music as two numbers on top of each other. The top number indicates how many beats there are in each bar of music and the bottom number tells us what type of beat we are going to be counting. If the bottom number is the number “4” then we count quarter notes (crotchets). If the bottom number is an “8” then we count eighth notes (quavers).
This means that a time signature of 4/4 tells us that there are “4” “quarter notes” in each bar.
A time signature of 6/8 tells us that there are “6” “eight notes” in each bar.
2. Meter 📏
Unlike time signatures, meter is much more concerned with the feeling of each bar of music and refers to where we feel strong beats within the bar. We can have a time signature that has 6 beats in a bar to count, but the meter could only have 2 strong beats within that bar.
The meter is largely why music is so “danceable”. Feeling strong beats and weak beats within a bar grounds the piece of music and allows a listener to predict the groove.
However, the meter of the piece of music is not always instantly clear. While time signatures don’t change (unless a new time signature is written into the music). The meter of a piece of music can change throughout. One part of the music can feel as though there are two strong beats within the bar and another part of the music might feel like it has four strong beats in the bar.
Interestingly all learning musicians will be aware of time signatures, yet many won’t have learnt the concept of meter. Yet meter has a significant impact on what we actually hear and how the music feels.
3. Common Stresses 😩
Having said this, time signatures and meter are not entirely independent of each other. There are actually some common ways that we feel the meter of particular time signatures. There are generally two types of common regular time signature; simple time signatures and compound time signatures.
A simple time signature means that eighth notes (quavers) are beamed into groups of 2 (or 4) throughout the music.
A compound time signature means that eighth notes (quavers) are beamed into groups of 3 throughout the music.
How many groups that we see in a bar can be described as duple, triple or quadruple. So if we see 2 groups of 2 eighth notes beamed together, then this would be a duple simple time signature. - This would also be a time signature of 2/4 because 2 groups of 2 eighth notes would give us a bar that contains 2 quarter notes. This would also give us a meter with two stresses in the bar because we have two groups within the bar.
If we see 2 groups of 3 eighth notes beamed together, then this would be a duple compound time signature. - This would also be a time signature of 6/8 because 2 groups of 3 eighth notes gives us 6 eighth notes. This would also give us a meter with two stresses in the bar because we have two groups again!
Here are the most common time signatures and there groupings:
2/4 - duple simple (2 groups of 2 eighth notes)
3/4 - triple simple (3 groups of 2 eighth notes)
4/4 - quadruple simple (4 groups of 2 eighth notes)
6/8 - duple compound (2 groups of 3 eighth notes)
9/8 - triple compound (3 groups of 3 eighth notes)
12/8 - quadruple compound (4 groups of 3 eighth notes)
Although these are the most common ways that we feel the meter of these time signatures. This doesn’t mean that the meter can’t change within the music. While these stresses within the bar are the “defaults” for these time signatures, meter is a much more changeable element within a piece of music. Often a piece of music will show you which beats need to be stressed within a bar by using a combination of many different musical elements (accents, melodies, percussive bass notes etc..).
The important thing is that when you approach a piece of music, the meter and the stresses within a bar contribute to the sound you are trying to produce!
Matthew Cawood
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