4/7: Rhythm

Time Signature

A time signature is how each bar is made up of beats. It is written like a mathematical fraction, for example 34 or 58.

While the upper numeral indicates the beat count, the lower numeral indicates the beat value.

Beat Count

The beat count tells us how many beats are in a whole bar.

Listen to rhythms with different beat-counts:

3/4
4/4
5/4
7/4

Beat Value

The beat value represents the duration of each beat.

Quarter-notes are considered the default beat value, whereas eighth-notes take up half the duration.

Which of the following rhythms is in 88?

A
B
Reveal answer   'A' is in 8/8, 'B' is in 4/4