# Time signature

Source: https://arcosounds.com/glossary/time-signature
Also known as: metre, meter

**A time signature is a pair of numbers showing how many of a given note value fill a bar; their grouping indicates the metre and main beats.**

The upper number counts the note values named by the lower number, 4 means quarter notes (crotchets), 8 means eighth notes (quavers). In simple metre, 3/4 has three quarter-note beats per bar. In compound metre, 6/8 has six eighth notes normally grouped into two dotted-quarter beats, each divided in three. The same total of six eighth notes can therefore be grouped as 2 + 2 + 2 in 3/4 or 3 + 3 in 6/8.

Common time, the C symbol, means 4/4; the same symbol with a vertical stroke means cut time, or 2/2, where the half note takes the beat. Reading the metre correctly before playing a note is what makes a rhythm feel right rather than merely be correct.

Canonical source: https://arcosounds.com/glossary/time-signature