Two-four time
Two quarters per bar, accent on the one — march and polka.
What it means
Two-four time contains two quarters per bar. The beat is the quarter, the structure conceivably simple: one heavy and one light beat. This makes it the most compact of the common even time signatures.
It is to be distinguished from four-four time, which contains twice the note value per bar and has a secondary point of weight on the three, and from alla breve, which likewise has two beats but the half note as the beat. The difference from alla breve is chiefly one of notation and of the felt size of the unit: the same music can appear in both notations but seems notated in smaller units in two-four time.
Six-eight time likewise has two beats, but divides them into three parts.
In the notation
The time signature 2/4 stands at the beginning of the line. Eighths and sixteenths are beamed into groups of one quarter each. A full bar is filled by a half note or a whole rest; the whole rest, as in all time signatures, stands for the whole bar, regardless of its actual length.
Musical use
Two-four time is the metre of the march, the polka, the galop, and many further fast dances. It is also widespread in children's and folk songs, because its alternation of heavy and light corresponds to the step. In art music it carries movements of a brisk, vigorous character, often with short, pithy motives. The continuous duple division gives the music a firm, forward-directed pull.
It is typical of marches and polkas. It is conducted in two beats, the one downward, the two upward, and the subdivision proceeds in eighths.
Performance practice
Keep the second beat distinctly lighter than the first — precisely from this the striding character arises. Play accompaniment figures on the two short and soft, while the bass on the one carries. At a fast tempo, feel the bar as one beat with subdivision. And with upbeats, take care that they stay light: in the compact two-four time, too heavy an upbeat stands out especially.