Four Beats in a Bar

The Numbers at the Start of the Staff

Just after the clef there are two stacked numbers: 4 over 4. They have been there since your very first lesson. This is the time signature, and it tells you how to count the music. The top number says how many beats are in each bar. The bottom number says which kind of note is worth one of those beats — a 4 there means the quarter note.

What a Bar Is

Music is grouped into equal packets called bars, and a thin vertical bar line marks where one ends and the next begins. In 4/4 every bar holds exactly four beats — no more, no less. Grouping notes this way is what gives music its pulse, and it is why you can tap your foot to a song you have never heard before.

Counting It Out

Count steadily: one, two, three, four. A quarter note takes one count, so four of them fill a bar. A half note takes two counts, so two halves fill a bar. A whole note takes all four on its own. The note values you learned are not arbitrary lengths — they are fractions of the bar, and they always have to add up.