If you would like to support my channel and efforts, please buy me a Ko-fi here ko-fi.com/practicalpianotips . I really appreciate your support because it will help me to start creating content again to help you learn music theory!
Yes it can be hard to explain. I think the main thing with 6/8 time is that the note values change as well. Thank you! I’ve had so many questions on time signatures. It seems the more videos I make on time signatures, the more questions people ask.
I love how well-articulated you are, your explanation always makes music theory so much easier to understand especially to beginners like me! Your content truly deserves more views and subscribers :)
Thank you so much Jane! ❤️ This means a lot! It is sometimes discouraging to work so hard and not see much progress, but I am keeping my hopes up that this channel will start growing soon.
I've been slightly confused about the bottom number for a while now, and just 20 seconds in (looking at the illustrations) it all finally clicked. Thank you so much!
Great video, I never usually comment on RUclips videos but I am a student who is pretty good at reading music and has a good understanding of music theory, however, this bottom number has always confused. I now feel I have a much better understanding. Thank you so much. I have one question, when you say composers don’t use numbers like 5,7 and 9 on the bottom number, is this just rare or will it never be seen in an exam or score?
Hi James, good question. I don’t believe it is possible to have a 5, 7 or 9 on the bottom of a time signature, so you won’t see it on an exam. The math just does not work for those numbers.
Thank you! This was very simple and to the point. No other vídeo explained it this way. I was able to get out of this time signature plateau I was in for the past 3 days lol
I've been looking for an good explanation of time signatures and finally I found it!!!! thank you so much you do not know how happy I am. I have an orchestra final tommorow and this was tricky for me. Not anymore!
Thank you for your explanation, but I still don´t understand the actual ¨why¨ of the bottom number. I mean, if I have 3/4 I know I can´t use [O], so, as long as I know what notes to use to not go over the established beats per bar (3 in this example), why do I need the bottom number? >_
Thank for the question :) the bottom number tells you which type of note gets one beat. So if the bottom number is 2, a half note gets 1 beat. If the bottom number is 4, the quarter note gets 1 beat, if the bottom number is 8, the 16th note gets one beat. So in some ways you can figure out most of it by just looking at the top number as you said, how many beats you get per measure. But the top number does not tell you which note actually gets 1 beat. For example: in the time signature 12/8, you get 12 beats per measure, and it is the 8th note that gets 1 beat. In 6/4, you get 6 beats per measure and the quarter note gets 1 beat.
@@PracticalPianoTips Hey, thanks for your comment! And I get that. Bottom number = what note gets 1 beat. But my question remains: why? What's the purpose of this? Why is this necessary to the point of creating a writing system around this? My best guess, given my limited music knowledge, is that it makes writing less cumbersome. Say I have a melody on 5/8. That would be very difficult to write on 4/4. Possible, yes, but the mental gymnastics involved in the process would be totally unnecessary. I can settle for that answer, but I'd like to know if there's anything else. I guess I see the bottom number as Area 51. When you inquire about it you always get the same PR answer (bottom number = what note gets 1 beat) but I get the feeling there's something else hiding underneath the surface. In any case, I truly appreciate you helping me in my journey to find the meaning of the bottom number >: )
@@Bestialce2007 I think that you are right. It is to avoid the mental gymnastics and make the music as simple as possible to read. I’m not sure if there is any deeper reason for the bottom number than that. So interesting to get your thoughts on this :) thank you for your comment!
@@PracticalPianoTips I’m no expert but I would think that the bottom numbers used were decided as an aid to composition e.g. from a pure beat perspective having 4:4 as 4:1 would still result in 4 beats per bar however when writing scores how would you notate a note that lasted the whole bar? Having the beat value at a quarter note gives flexibility? In reality I think you just have to accept the bottom numbers as defined, the top number is the most important.
@@garryrawlinson5548 I guess flexibility is the only accepted answer, because to notate 1 note that lasts a full bar at 4/1 you'd have to create a new note that's worth 4 [○], but that'd be needlessly complicated. Honestly, I hink you can read and write a score as long as you have the top number and you know that the total sum of the notes you write/play per bar cannot exceed the number of beats. If I have 4/1 I know I can't write [○ ○ ○ ○ ○] because that's 1 [○] too many. The difference between 4/1 and 4/4 would be the tempo. At 120bpm, 4/1 sounds slower than 4/4 but in that case, you only play around with the tempo to suit your needs. There's no real difference between 1 bar of 16 quarter notes in 4/1 at 120bpm and 4 bars of 4 eighth notes each in 4/4 at 60~ish bpm. So, even if I had the top number only (4) I'd still know I can't write 5 [○] or 20 eighth notes because in each scenario, that would exceed the value of 4 beats per bar. I see this as the flats and sharps. Why do flats even exist? I know it's to avoid E# and B#, but isn't it easier to just keep in mind that E# and B# are actually F and C instead of adding another symbol to the already complex system? I know I am wrong and I have to lower my head and accept it the way it is, like gravity, but I feel like I'm ritght. Am I even making any sense to you? lol In any case, thank you for putting in your 2 cents :)
Music notation can be difficult to understand at first, but I do think it makes sense once you really spend some time with it. I have been reading music for quite some time and I do feel that it logically makes sense. The difficult part is that there are so many things a music sheet is trying to communicate. There are the notes you need to play, the tempo, the mood, the rhythm, the fingering, the dynamics, articulation, accents, repeats and such, and probably something else that in forgetting.
![How to Count Time Signatures [How to Count Music]](/img/1.gif)
If you would like to support my channel and efforts, please buy me a Ko-fi here ko-fi.com/practicalpianotips . I really appreciate your support because it will help me to start creating content again to help you learn music theory!
You explained it in the best way there was ever in the whole universe 🥺😍 i owe you this
I have watched so many videos on this and yours is the first one that made sense. Thank you!!
I’m so glad it made sense for you
I had a hard explaining the 6/8 time. lol. Easy to do, hard to explain... I like how you tell what is common & what is not!
Yes it can be hard to explain. I think the main thing with 6/8 time is that the note values change as well. Thank you! I’ve had so many questions on time signatures. It seems the more videos I make on time signatures, the more questions people ask.
I love how well-articulated you are, your explanation always makes music theory so much easier to understand especially to beginners like me! Your content truly deserves more views and subscribers :)
Thank you so much Jane! ❤️ This means a lot! It is sometimes discouraging to work so hard and not see much progress, but I am keeping my hopes up that this channel will start growing soon.
I've been slightly confused about the bottom number for a while now, and just 20 seconds in (looking at the illustrations) it all finally clicked. Thank you so much!
So good to hear that! I’m glad I could help :)
Oh my god 🎉 thank youuuu, finally understandd!!!!!!!!!!
Great video, I never usually comment on RUclips videos but I am a student who is pretty good at reading music and has a good understanding of music theory, however, this bottom number has always confused. I now feel I have a much better understanding. Thank you so much. I have one question, when you say composers don’t use numbers like 5,7 and 9 on the bottom number, is this just rare or will it never be seen in an exam or score?
Hi James, good question. I don’t believe it is possible to have a 5, 7 or 9 on the bottom of a time signature, so you won’t see it on an exam. The math just does not work for those numbers.
Wonderful. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Thank you! This was very simple and to the point. No other vídeo explained it this way. I was able to get out of this time signature plateau I was in for the past 3 days lol
Very clear explanations. Great job.
Thank you
I've been looking for an good explanation of time signatures and finally I found it!!!! thank you so much you do not know how happy I am. I have an orchestra final tommorow and this was tricky for me. Not anymore!
I’m so glad I could help! Hope your exam went well.
I got a 95!(missed one question) I got all of the time signature questions right!
@@danielsantosnavarro1209 amazing! Way to go!!
Best explanation ever, thanks!
You’re welcome! Glad to help!
I've been finding this kind of tutorial! Gosh this really helped! Thanks a lot!
You’re welcome!
Great . Helpful.
I’m glad it was helpful :)
Wow beautiful 😍
This is very helpful and great! New subscriber by the way, keep it up! 💚
Thank you! So happy to have you part of our music community! 💕🎶
Thank you for this question! Hope you find this video helpful. If you have any other questions, please comment below!
Do you have any tips on what to practice to master time, like how to practice syncopating and changing time signatures?
@@Richard-cq4kv that’s a great question! I don’t have any videos on this topic yet, but I will write down the idea and look into the topic.
Thanks sooo much for making these time signature videos. Nicely done.
You’re very welcome!!
would make a lot more sense if there were musical examples.
Thank you for your explanation, but I still don´t understand the actual ¨why¨ of the bottom number. I mean, if I have 3/4 I know I can´t use [O], so, as long as I know what notes to use to not go over the established beats per bar (3 in this example), why do I need the bottom number? >_
Thank for the question :) the bottom number tells you which type of note gets one beat. So if the bottom number is 2, a half note gets 1 beat. If the bottom number is 4, the quarter note gets 1 beat, if the bottom number is 8, the 16th note gets one beat. So in some ways you can figure out most of it by just looking at the top number as you said, how many beats you get per measure. But the top number does not tell you which note actually gets 1 beat. For example: in the time signature 12/8, you get 12 beats per measure, and it is the 8th note that gets 1 beat. In 6/4, you get 6 beats per measure and the quarter note gets 1 beat.
@@PracticalPianoTips Hey, thanks for your comment! And I get that. Bottom number = what note gets 1 beat. But my question remains: why? What's the purpose of this? Why is this necessary to the point of creating a writing system around this? My best guess, given my limited music knowledge, is that it makes writing less cumbersome. Say I have a melody on 5/8. That would be very difficult to write on 4/4. Possible, yes, but the mental gymnastics involved in the process would be totally unnecessary. I can settle for that answer, but I'd like to know if there's anything else. I guess I see the bottom number as Area 51. When you inquire about it you always get the same PR answer (bottom number = what note gets 1 beat) but I get the feeling there's something else hiding underneath the surface.
In any case, I truly appreciate you helping me in my journey to find the meaning of the bottom number >: )
@@Bestialce2007 I think that you are right. It is to avoid the mental gymnastics and make the music as simple as possible to read. I’m not sure if there is any deeper reason for the bottom number than that. So interesting to get your thoughts on this :) thank you for your comment!
@@PracticalPianoTips I’m no expert but I would think that the bottom numbers used were decided as an aid to composition e.g. from a pure beat perspective having 4:4 as 4:1 would still result in 4 beats per bar however when writing scores how would you notate a note that lasted the whole bar? Having the beat value at a quarter note gives flexibility? In reality I think you just have to accept the bottom numbers as defined, the top number is the most important.
@@garryrawlinson5548 I guess flexibility is the only accepted answer, because to notate 1 note that lasts a full bar at 4/1 you'd have to create a new note that's worth 4 [○], but that'd be needlessly complicated. Honestly, I hink you can read and write a score as long as you have the top number and you know that the total sum of the notes you write/play per bar cannot exceed the number of beats. If I have 4/1 I know I can't write [○ ○ ○ ○ ○] because that's 1 [○] too many. The difference between 4/1 and 4/4 would be the tempo. At 120bpm, 4/1 sounds slower than 4/4 but in that case, you only play around with the tempo to suit your needs. There's no real difference between 1 bar of 16 quarter notes in 4/1 at 120bpm and 4 bars of 4 eighth notes each in 4/4 at 60~ish bpm. So, even if I had the top number only (4) I'd still know I can't write 5 [○] or 20 eighth notes because in each scenario, that would exceed the value of 4 beats per bar. I see this as the flats and sharps. Why do flats even exist? I know it's to avoid E# and B#, but isn't it easier to just keep in mind that E# and B# are actually F and C instead of adding another symbol to the already complex system? I know I am wrong and I have to lower my head and accept it the way it is, like gravity, but I feel like I'm ritght.
Am I even making any sense to you? lol
In any case, thank you for putting in your 2 cents :)
content is good but pls go slow and would be good to see these time signatures played out on the piano in parallel.
Find the full Time Signatures Playlist here: m.ruclips.net/p/PLfSjxatOcMu6cASKagtxWgOfIGMHn5uHP
I just wanna talk with the person who invented the Music Sheet.
Music notation can be difficult to understand at first, but I do think it makes sense once you really spend some time with it. I have been reading music for quite some time and I do feel that it logically makes sense. The difficult part is that there are so many things a music sheet is trying to communicate. There are the notes you need to play, the tempo, the mood, the rhythm, the fingering, the dynamics, articulation, accents, repeats and such, and probably something else that in forgetting.
Verry complicated is not a good reason .
Imma go make music in 2000/719
Thanks, I’ll take note of that for future videos.
@@PracticalPianoTips no problemo