Grade Two Music Theory Lesson 10: Barlines and Time Signatures

Add the missing barlines to this tune. The first bar-line is given.

Look carefully at the time signature - how many beats are there per bar, and what type of beats are they?

This melody is in 3/4, so we need to have three crotchet (quarter note) beats per bar.

Underneath each note, carefully pencil in its value, like this:

Now add the note values together, and draw a barline when each bar has the value of three crotchets:

See lesson 15 for more about adding barlines to melodies that contain triplets.

How to Draw Barlines in Your Music Theory Exam

Always use a ruler to draw your barlines neatly, and place them closer to the edge of the 1st note in the bar, like this:

Don't draw the barline too close the last note of the bar, and make sure you leave more space for longer note values. This barline is in the wrong place because there isn't enough space after the minim (half note), and it's not close enough to the crotchet (quarter note):

This barline is also in the wrong place, because it's more or less exactly half way between the two notes, instead of being closer to the crotchet (quarter note):

In the Grade Two Theory Exam, every bar should be a complete bar, even the last one (although in real life the last bar can be incomplete).

Working Out a Time Signature

The method for adding a time signature is the opposite of that for adding barlines.

Here's an example question:

Add the time signature to this tune.

Start by counting the notes in each bar. Use a value of 1 for a crotchet (quarter note), ? for a quaver (eighth note), 2 for a minim (half note) and so on. Group quavers and semiquavers together to make complete beats:

Here you can see that each bar contains three crotchet beats. The top number of the time signature tells you how many beats to count in each bar, so the top number must be 3 in this case. The lower number tells you what kind of beats to count, and the number 4 means "crotchet" (quarter note) beats, so our time signature needs to be 3/4.

Remember that the lower number of the time signature tells you the type of beats you need to count. In Grade Two, there are only three possibilities:

• 2 = minims (half notes)
• 4 = crotchets (quarter notes)
• 8 = quavers (eighth notes)

And, in Grade Two, there are only three possibilities for the top number too. Your top number will always be 2, 3 or 4.

Difficult Time Signatures

Let's try another question, this time a bit harder. What's the time signature for this tune?

When you count up the notes in each bar, you'll find there are in fact 8 crotchet (quarter note) beats per bar. So is the time signature 8/4? Well, no. (The time signature 8/4 does exist, but it's very rare and it's definitely not on the Grade Two Music Theory syllabus!) We can count the minims (half notes) instead, and we'll find that we have four minim beats per bar.

When we count minims, the time signature has the number "2" as the bottom number. We counted four minims, so the time signature must be 4/2. Other "minim" time signatures you might see in the Grade Two music theory exam are 2/2 and 3/2.

Here's a final question. What time signature do we need here?

Here, we can't count crotchets, because we would have one and a half beats per bar, which is not possible - no half beats allowed! We can't count minims either, so we'll need to count quavers (eighth notes).

This melody has three quaver beats in each bar, so the time signature must be 3/8. Remember that the "8" means "quaver beats".

Here's a summary of all the time signatures that you might find in Grade Two Music Theory:

• 2/2, 3/2, 4/2 (minim beats)
• 2/4, 3/4, 4/4 (crotchet beats)
• 3/8 (quaver beats)

2/2 or 4/4?

You might be wondering what the difference is between 4/4 and 2/2, as they have exactly the same number of beats per bar? Well, the answer is, not much! If you see lots of minims, choose the 2/2 time signature. If you see lots of crotchets, use the 4/4 time signature. Don't worry if you're not sure which one it should be - in Grade Two music theory  these two time signatures are interchangeable.

Here are some typical 4/4 bars - you can usually find crotchets and quavers in the melody:

And here are some 2/2 bars - you'll often see more minims and crotchets, and not so many quavers: