Each note type has a specified time value which we measure in beats. Time signatures are designed to group these beats into smaller and more manageable sections. A time signature is a pair of numbers, written vertically, and placed at the beginning of the staff, just after the clef. This will dictate the number of beats that must be grouped together. The grouping of beats are identified or separated by a BAR line. A bar line is a vertical line set across the staff designed to divide or section off the beat groupings as dictated by the time signature. Therefore, because each grouping of beats is separated by a barline, we end up with each beat grouping separated into a box. These boxes of beat groupings are known as BARS or MEASURES.

As you can see, every time we add a new bar line to separate a beat grouping, we end up creating a new bar.
Each bar or measure will have a certain number of beats that must be present. This is the job of the time signature. The time signature is a pair of vertically written numbers, the top number of the time signature is what dictates how many beats must be present in each bar. For example, if the top number of the time signature is a 4, this will indicate that each and every bar must contain 4 full beats, therefore your beat grouping per bar is 4. If the top number of the time signature is a 3, then you must have 3 full beats in each and every bar.

It is important to keep in mind that you may use any combination of note and rest types in a bar to accomplish the prerequisite number of beats, however you may not exceed or lessen the required number of beats.

The bottom number of the time signature is somewhat more complicated, something we will discuss later.

As you can see, the time signature is placed just after the clef in the first bar. It is important to note that the time signature will only appear once, unlike a clef which is required on every line.

Sometimes, a time signature will change part way through a piece, when this happens, you will see a new time signature written in the bar where the change occurs.

From this point on, the new time signature will dictate the beat grouping for the remainder of the piece or until we see a new time signature.

Some common time signatures are:

The bar line we have seen up to this point is simply referred to a normal or standard bar line. Again, the function of this bar line is to separate the beat groups as dictated by the time signature and to create our bars or measures.

In addition to the normal bar line, we have several others that are used to signify different aspects of a musical piece. The Bar line you see here is called a Double bar line. This bar line also separates our beat groupings like the standard bar line, however it is also used to signify a section change or the end of a section within a musical piece.

A section refers to a certain part of a song such as a verse or a chorus. Each time we move into a new section, for example moving from a verse into a chorus, we use a double bar line to signify that the first section is complete and the second section is beginning‪.‬.

The final or end bar line is similar to the double bar line, however the second of the two lines is thicker than the first.
This bar line is used to signify the end of the song or the final bar of the song. This tells the musician that there is no more music to be played once they have reached the end bar line.

It is most common to see this bar line on the last bar of the notated music, however it may also be placed mid-way through the notated score. This generally occurs when a musician is directed to replay a portion of the song prior to completing.

A note of any duration may not extend over the bar line, all notes must remain within the bar or measure. If the duration of the note exceeds the required beat amount of a bar, then it cannot be used in that bar.

For example, if we have a bar with a time signature of four-four filled with four quarter notes (1 beat each), but we wish for the last quarter note to ring out for 2 beats, we cannot use a half note ‪-‬ as we will exceed the required number of beats set by the time signature‪.

There is only one exception to this, the TIE, the tie’s function is to allow us to extend the duration of a note over the barline. The tie is a curved line, which connects one note to another note of the same pitch.

Essentially the tie combines the values of the two notes ‪-‬ therefore extending the length of the first note. The second note must be the same pitch as the first and is never sounded or struck. The first note is struck and held for the duration of both notes. For example, if we tie a whole note in bar 1 to a half note in bar 2, it would have a duration of 6 beats.

So if we wish to extend the length of a note from one bar to another, we can use a tie to do so. It is important to note that the tie is drawn from note head to note head..

And can be used many times in succession, as long as all the notes are of the same pitch.

Now that we have learned about the different types of notes, it is important that we learn to notate them correctly. As we have seen, notes symbols may contain multiple parts:

Some notes may have multiple flags ‪-‬ ‪like the‬ sixteenth and thirty-second notes
Let’s begin with the stem; the stem may move either up‪,‬ or down‪ ‬from the note head

As you can see, when the stem is moving up from the note head, it is placed to the right and when the stem is moving down from the note head it is placed to the left. In order to determine if the stem should move up or down, we must look at the note head placement on the staff. If the note head is above the third line of the staff then the stem of the note must move downwards. If the note head is below the third line, then the stem of the note must move up. If the note head is on the third staff line, then the stem may move in either direction.

It is very important to remember and to follow these rules; the stem directions keep the notation clean and easy to read.

In addition to the direction of the stems, certain notes have flags protruding from the stem; such as eighth notes, sixteenth notes and thirty-second notes. When using multiple flagged notes, the flags should be joined in one beat groupings. When we join flags together, they create what we call a beam. For example, if we were using two eighth notes, which are equal to one beat, then the flags from both notes will be joined to create a beam.

In the case of sixteenth notes, because they have two flags, we will need to 2 beams.


8.2 It does not matter what combination of flagged notes are used, they must always be grouped in to one beat using beams. Here are some more examples:

As you can see, any combination of flagged notes may be beamed, this keeps the notation clear and easy to read for musicians. It is also acceptable to beam flagged notes in groupings of two beats; however, only beats 1 and 2 or 3 and 4 may be joined. Beats 2 and 3 must never be joined or beamed, as we must always be able to divide the bar in two‪.‬

Rests must also follow certain rules to ensure the notation remains consistent and legible. To begin, we will first address the usage of rests over beats 2 and 3 of the bar. A single rest may not be used to represent beats 2 and 3. Again when using rests beats 2 and 3 must not be joined. You may use a single rest to represent beats 1 and 2 or 3 and 4.


When dealing with smaller value rests it is important to remember that you must always use the biggest rest first, the rest that will occupy the entire needed time.
As you can see, the first rest used is an eighth rest to occupy half of a beat, using the biggest rest means to use, for this example, an eighth rest instead of two sixteenth rests. We did the same for the quarter rest in the last beat of the bar. The quarter rest occupies 1 full beat and therefore, no other rest is required. This is the correct usage of a rest. It would be considered incorrect to use 2 eighth rests of 4 sixteenth rests for this scenario as we are always required to use the largest available rest.
When filling in rests for an odd number of beats, as in this example where we require one and a half beats of rest, you must first complete any unfinished beat and then fill in the remaining time with the largest possible rest.

As you can see, the unfinished beat is the dotted quarter, worth one and a half beats. This is considered unfinished or incomplete because it is not rounded to a whole number such as one or two beats. So our first step is to use a rest that will complete the beat or round the one and a half beats to two.

We will use an eighth rest to do so as it will round out our incomplete beat to two beats, and it is also the largest available rest for this scenario.

This will now leave us with one beat that requires a rest, beat 4. For this we are required to use a quarter rest as it is the largest rest available for the given scenario.