Four-four time

Four quarter notes, one hierarchy

The upper number in the time signature says how many beats a bar has, the lower which note value forms one beat. In 4/4 there are four beats of one quarter note each. The page Rhythm says that four-four time is also written as “C”. The C goes back to the Latin tempus imperfectum.

What matters is that the four beats are not equally weighted. The article Understanding and counting syncopation describes this built-in hierarchy: the one is the strongest beat, the three the second strongest, two and four are weaker, and everything in between is weaker still. The ear expects this order even when nobody explains it.

Counting in eighths

The most important trick in learning rhythm is, according to the page Rhythm, steady counting aloud. In four-four time you count the four basic beats “1 – 2 – 3 – 4”. If a beat divides into two eighth notes, you slip an “and” in between: “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and”. An eighth note is half a beat long, a sixteenth note a quarter of a beat.

All note values are in a fixed relationship to one another. The page on Rhythm Dictation sums it up like this: a whole note lasts as long as two half notes, four quarter notes, eight eighth notes or sixteen sixteenth notes. In four-four time a whole note therefore fills exactly one bar.

The bar in the score

Guitar

• Gitarrenschule, Stück Nr. 9 Johann Kaspar Mertz · from: Guitar-Skole · guitar · 1 page

  The time signature C, which stands for 4/4, follows the clef. Above the first staff is “Adagio”.

The bar is divided off by barlines. If you play a piece marked with the time signature C, you can count by the principle above: four quarter notes per bar, stress on one and three.

Why four-four time is so common

On the page Rhythm it says that 4/4 is the most common time in pop, rock and marches. For practising with the metronome the page Études and Practice Studies gives it as an example: as soon as the piece is well learned, you should no longer let the metronome click on every beat but, in four-four time, set it to half, so that it clicks only on 1 and 3. You then carry the pulse between the clicks yourself. According to the page that is exactly the ability you need in ensemble playing.

Common mistakes

• Playing all four beats equally strongly: The bar then sounds flat. The one carries the greatest weight, the three somewhat less.
• Rushing the eighth notes: The “and” lies exactly in the middle between two beats. Count aloud until it is even.
• Confusing 4/4 with 2/2: The C means 4/4. A crossed-out sign ¢ is used for alla breve time and means something different.