Explaining Time Signatures

[fizzo68]

I love the way this guy talks lol

[Greenjah81]

very good explanation! Thanks a lot.

[Solcius123123]

You're really great, I learned something.

[aarunt1]

This was helpful but the last part was confusing. If there are 7 16th notes how does that = 7 beats per measure? You said 16th notes are 1/4 of a beat. So wouldn't 7 16th notes = 1.75 beats? You would still need 5.25 beats to complete 7 beats per measure wouldn't you? Please clarify. Thanks

[aarunt1]

@aarunt1 Nvm I think I figured it out. In 7/16 a 16th note counts as a beat, so as long as you have 7 16th notes that counts as 7 beats per measure. I supposed another valid variation would be a quarter note and 3 16th notes?

[ino1337]

This is great thanks heaps

[isungmusic]

I have a question to make sure how well I'm getting this. So, this is all just seems like simplifying fractions. Like one time signature can equal equal another time signature when you simplify the numbers-like 4/4 can equal 2/2, etc. Is this right?

[maneatingtoilets]

How do I know how fast to play it? The time signature seems to only tell me how to play all the notes relative to each other, but not how how much time a whole note takes for example.

[JRHartly1984]

Great vid man, appreciate it!

[llzerollfuckyou]

thank you! was searching for this! very good explanation!

[Ayeetbolz]

makes sense... thanks dude!

[elioolivero123]

super clear!!!!!!!!!!!! your great!1

[MelanieAlchemy]

Thanks man, my teacher didn't explain any of this properly. This video helped a lot!

[FasterThanLight1000]

Your a very good teacher, Thanks. Very clear and understandable.

[makeminea99]

I was waiting for the camera to pan round at the end to show a class full of Marines.

[kooliozful]

obviously music is taught different in the us

[ijoshchang]

wow. i learn more on youtube than from my dumbass teacher lol.

[pausebeforeviewtube]

lol, pitch and rhythm, that's quite the oversimplification

[TheIndustrialClef]

Wow! Best explanation I have seen!

[pbagnell27]

Thanks for a good explanation. I never paid much attention until I heard a song that had multiple shifts in time signature, and this helped a lot.

[mailkedi]

Hi, thanks for the neat explanation...

Question 1: sometimes we have notes falling at half the beat, is there any effect on the time signatures in such cases?

Question 2: incase we have a 4/4 piece, greater than 4 beats per measure would alter the time singature correspondingly.. can we have lesser than 4 beats per measure?

[waltribeiro]

@mailkedi what are notes falling? also, if there are more or less than 4 beats in the measure, then yes, the measure numbers change

[dlo3noho3]

@mailkedi this is fucking confusing..this white bitch needs to slow down

[waltribeiro]

@audioproducer88 no disrespect taken. send me a link to the video and I'll tell you if they're accurate. i know what I'm talking about though.

[audioproducer88]

@waltribeiro A quarter note is 1 beat while a whole note is 4 beats so you don't know what you're talking about. You need to remove this video because this info is wrong on all levels.

[waltribeiro]

@audioproducer88 yes, a whole note gets 4 beats. But when you're writing time signatures, the 1 on the bottom signifies that the whole note gets the beat. Trust me, I know it's confusing, but I promise you, I know what I'm talking about. For the bottom note: 1 = whole note 2 = half note 4 = quarter note 8 = eighth note. So if a time signature says 7/16, it's really saying "there are 7 sixteenth notes per measure" or another way "7 beats per measure, 16th note gets the beat"

[audioproducer88]

@waltribeiro Oh yeah this is pretty confusing you can't anything online that gives you solid details on how to learn time signatures because these snobby music teachers expect you to just suck it up and move on and I apologize again for doubting your skills because it's like when you get to this level of piano-learning (time signatures) that's when the nightmare starts but all the other lessons prior to time signatures are very easy to learn

[lylecoastguard90]

very good explanation

[TheDavidDailey]

Thanks so much. I've been playing music for over 12 years and writing in different time signatures by ear. However, I could never write/tab my music properly on paper because I never knew what I was actually playing in. Why I never learned them earlier on is a mystery to me. Thanks again!

[lansayf]

Thanks. The explanation was useful for me.

[pickandstring]

good explanation thanx!



[ZeTaEXiSTeNZ]

Good lesson, but stop shouting at me ;(

[McMatthew23]

I have that same metranome... Just saying.

[ahtartersauce101]

Genius explanation of the bottom number I was afraid of other time signatures besides 4/4 or 2/4 happy easy signatures thank ya!

[waltribeiro]

@ahtartersauce101 glad i can help

[audioproducer88]

@waltribeiro Dude I'm sorry for being rude but do you have any idea that everything you're teaching in this clip is absolutely wrong? Because I just came from a very helpful tutorial site that provided me with info completely different from what was used in this clip and you speak way too fast on top of that.

[zanzibarbeer]

This is DEFINITELY the most confusing and complicated explanation of what a time signature is I've ever seen. Dude, you need to stay on one thing at a time, and not change what you've already written to explain changes. I already know this stuff, but watching this video made me feel like I don't know what the hell is going on! I appreciate your zeal, but come on! It's not for you, it's for people that don't know. Keep it simple

[waltribeiro]

@zanzibarbeer my bad

[FasterThanLight1000]

@zanzibarbeer How was that unclear? lol. He used simple terminology, had good examples, he slightly drifted from the subject time to time but that was very obvious.

[aaronedgardrum]

wicked!

[ZeraMalkuth]

You are amazing! Thank you very much. You really cant understand how much information you packed into this vdeo. God greatly bless you.

[javoutube1]

very useful

[pedro911212]

but if a 16th is 1/4 beat then how was the 7 16 example he did , 16 beats per measure

[waltribeiro]

@pedro911212 7 16th notes per measure. 1 e + u 2 e + 1 e + u 2 e + etc

[pedro911212]

@waltribeiro ahh yes. i thought about it for ages then it just clicked but thanks anyway.

[EyeLean5280]

I am a substitute teacher who's been thrown into a long-term gig, covering a music appreciation class. I was not a music major and only have a fairly general music education (at school, singing in choirs, etc) and even that was a long time ago.

These videos are really helping me refresh my knowledge so I can pass it on to students.

Thanks so much!

[waltribeiro]

@EyeLean5280 cool!

[iheller]

Great vid dude. Your energy and enthusiasm as well as great explanation make me actually stay awake through a time sig explanation. So many vids have made me pass out. Keep u pthe good work.

[AgentMerk]

NOW I FULLY UNDERSTAND, 5/4 used to be a weird timing for me even though i get waltz timing just fine. now I am no longer baffled. Thanks Internet and thank you, dry erase music dude!

[waltribeiro]

@AgentMerk yay!

[schadenfreudelolz22]

Oh, thank you so much. I have no understanding of musical theory and I keep hearing how some of my fav bands (Mastodon, Tool, Between the Buried and Me) keep using odd signatures and had no idea what that meant. Everything I read just said so many notes in a measure, but had no idea what that meant when hearing the music. All I knew was these bands sound a lot more interesting that most other bands out there.

[SoyPerezoso]

this i get but i just dont get 5/4 its soo weird lol

[waltribeiro]

@SoyPerezoso its the same as 4/4. But just add another beat. everything else is constant. For a great example of 5/4 listen to Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five

[silentfilmrecords]

thanks!

[MissMaxamus]

I understand now!!! Thanks so much X-D

[inditech96]

Thanks, you made this soo easy man.  Guitar is getting easier for me.

[h3nRiQu3J]

Wow now I understand lol thanks!

[colts32315]

If you were to be playing in 6/8, does that mean that 3 quarter notes would fill a measure?

[metallica5252]

@colts32315 yes

[whangie1]

Hey thank you so much for making me understand something that's been perplexing me for years! I play guitar and have friends who are keen musicians and they all tried to explain time signatures to me but failed. After having watched your video I finally understand. Thanks again man!

[hanzimaster]

whats 3/6 as in faeries aire and death waltz

[waltribeiro]

@hanzimaster confused...

[365daysgone]

This guys enthusiasm is awesome. lol

[waltribeiro]

@365daysgone so are you!

[suppa07625]

Thank you so much. Really a big help.. God bless you.

[waltribeiro]

@suppa07625 glad suppa!

[kweerb8]

i didnt think this was gonna help my retarded ass but it did thank you.

[waltribeiro]

@kweerb8 rock on kweeb!

[macfreak18]

you know, for me, it takes a LONG time for me to be taught something and have me actually learn it. i can't say i learned everything in this video, but i learned what i wanted to know, the basics, and that's hard to do with me =P

[MusicManBurk]

thank you soooo much, it realy has been a help!

[waltribeiro]

@MusicManBurk no prob burk!

[sonicshopper]

So helpful! I was looking around for materials to help me understand this so I can tutor my son for his exam. Great that I found this video! Thanks!!!

[waltribeiro]

@sonicshopper glad it helped!

[RobertDowneyImprov]

11 people need to learn to play the bongos.

[waltribeiro]

@RobertDowneyImprov 11 people need my help more!

[sweetbutterfly5]

he sounds like he has a bit of Australian in his accent, he's good and cute ; )

[waltribeiro]

@sweetbutterfly5 south jersey :)

[logansportgurl]

Kinda look like Mike Posner..just a glance lol..Anyways thanks for the vid :]

[waltribeiro]

@logansportgurl i get that every once in a while!

[maccorf]

Haha you said "this is a big butt"

[waltribeiro]

@maccorf haha

[noahm123]

nice video bro.

[waltribeiro]

@noahm123 no prob noah

[MiamiJunkie]

very "raw" but i understood everything .. thanks !

[waltribeiro]

@MiamiJunkie yayayayyaya miam!

[holyfire001202]

its 4:16 bro what are you doing teaching us about time signatures? get the bong ready

[nocheddarno]

Dude, could you not do so much meth before trying to "explain" this stuff. Take a breath, focus or just do a second take.

[ashnty]

thanks coach

[TheMayor5000]

Dude you can be the most easy and the most understating music teacher i ever met. I learn everything from you 10 times faster then some other boring musical teacher.

[h879xx]

i'm lost. i just dont get it and i'm not sure i want to.

[FFXfan010]

how do you count 3/2 time??? I never understood how to count in that time signature

[Kylork]

It's just have the speed of 3/4 time.

[stevieVantanna]

3 beats a measure - half note gets the beat.

[Fluffypopcicle]

@FFXfan010

try counting in 3/7 time it's even harder.

[gelskkraun]

is the bottom number always even?

[19rocknrollcircus68]

wheres the rest of this video?It just got to the important part then finished!

[beemaster69]

dudes smart

[SpeakingOf08]

thank you!!!!!! understand this stuff so much better now!! [:

[jskizz808]

Wow. This helped a fuckload.

I've been trying to figure out the bottom number for such a long time. Now I finally get it. Thank you so much. ;D

[brokenwingsarefallin]

this guy should be on tv selling stuff. ..reminds me of the slap chop guy

[sodhawk]

Great lesson, thanks man

[Vectrox666]

Mkay ;)

Gr8 lesson

[jet07son]

why is he yelling?

[Grumme3]

HAHA! Laughing my ass off now, damn great coment dude. HAHA! LOL

[celestialvoyager82]

your a good teacher well done keep it up buddy ;)

[popple53]

where is part two

[waltribeiro]

Go to my website under the 'Videos/Charts' tab and there are many video there in order. Hope that helps!

[Funkyskunk01]

well done

[CrispyCupcakes]

is beats per measure the same as beats per minute? :/ i know it's a silly question but i'm kinda confuse with the bpm thing.

awesome lesson , i learn a lot from you :D

[waltribeiro]

Beats per minute is the tempo of how fast you play. Beats per measure is not tempo - its the amount of beats or pulses you have er measure. So its possible to play 4 beats per measure at 160 beats per minute. Get it?!

[CrispyCupcakes]

get it :D thanks a lot man you rock! :)

[CindyCata]

you are awesome! this was extremelllly helpful! your energy and instruction was just perfect! I just wished it wasnt cut off, but other than that, thank you very very much! :D

[waltribeiro]

Your welcome Cindy!

[lejink]

so how do u specify howmany bmp one whole note should take? or whats the standard? not sure if i explained that properly :S

[waltribeiro]

no.. A whole note gets 4 beats no matter what. The BPM tell you how fast the drummer plays

[lejink]

no i know that, what defines what one beat is in time, like if im counting 4/4 time and your counting 4/4 time, how do we know whos counting at the correct speed, say im counting it slightly faster than u- , what is the standard bpm i can set a metranome to, to know what speed we should be working at.

how can someone new to music learn how fast to count 1-2-3-4 without hearing the song, just from looking at music. is there a standard bpm to base your counting on?

[waltribeiro]

both you and the drummer should naturally keep yourselves in check. There is no standard BPM in music. Some songs are slow others are fast.

Songs tell you how fast you should play. If the tempo is 154 BPM, then use a metronome to find out how fast it is :)

[agreatforest]

Standard BPM for classical pieces is the good ole' 120 BPM. Simply because in the old days they didnt have metronomes, only their watches. 60 seconds in a minute, so 60 Beats Per Minute, but thats far too slow for anything with musical value, so they doubled it. 120 Beats Per minute, or 2 beats per second. So...thats what is believed to be "standard".

But, what Walt is saying about gettin a metronome to find out the correct counting speed is totally correct and I also suggest this. Good Luck.

[Twisted19881]

really awesome, i completely understand now :) thanks man!

[joshvalo1]

great stuff

[Xformat01]

Hey this is really cool that you would freely help out our up and coming students. Props to you!

[PaulBaOBeI]

best video so far in explaining time signatures

[wizkrant]

thanks a lot man! really helpful.

[doggeds]

cool

[renski202]

OOO THANKS I UNDERSTAND NOW

[xX47Xx]

Wow, thank you. You're an amazing teacher.

[Stickalas]

You helped me to understand in ten minutes what my music teacher failed to teach me in two years. Thanks mate :)

[waltribeiro]

No Prob Stick!

[hexponi]

that was great thanks

[iKICKshinsXD]

thank you!!!!! now i think i could star playing now ^_^

[waltribeiro]

Nah.. you didn't need me! You could have started playing months ago. But I agree - now is always the best time to do something. Stay awesome Kick!

[wsetrecords]

Thank you so much. That helped alot

[waltribeiro]

Good I'm glad i helped! Keep in touch :)

[MusicalSilence207]

i could of explained it better, and you were babaleing alot a begginer wouldnt understand any of this.

[waltribeiro]

Sorry about that :( Will try to be more clear next time.

[smerrigan]

why the insults? And could you have explained it better? If so, how come you aren't on here taking the time to teach people like this man is? This guy has helpmed me to re-learn theory that I have long forgotten as a kid-and he's helped alot of other people if you haven't noticed..use spellcheck next time before you start insulting people

[jakbowtell]

Also your drawing your notes incorrectly, and calling them the incorrect names. It's :

i) Semibreve

ii) Minim

iii) Crotchet

iv) Quaver

and the list goes on.

[RatedXdrummer]

His not calling them incorrectly they can be called half notes, quarter notes etc aswell as crotchet, quavers and so on.

[waltribeiro]

@jakbowtell so confused...

[jakbowtell]

Why don't you shout a bit louder ...

[Joverdorff]

Much clearer than my teacher!

Thanks man! Keep up the good work!

[crocopie]

Sir I understand the basic idea behind time signatures, but when I'm listening to a song, how can I tell if it's a 3/4 or a 6/8?

[idiotkrati]

But another thing IS, why can you use another note when the signature number says the quarter note gets 4 beats... DAMN, this is really confusing.

[waltribeiro]

stop in my show.. i'll explain it to you

[idiotkrati]

(CONTINUEING)

That would mean 4 beats every measure for a half note ? And since it's 4 beats, it would mean 2 half notes on a measure, or 4 quarter notes on another measure ? .. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[idiotkrati]

There is one thing I really dont get. Okey, the upper number tells you how many beats there are in one measure, let's say 4. And the bottom number tells you which kind of note will get those 4 beats, am I right? , ok.. here comes the problem. How in gods name do you know that 4 equals a quarter note ? ..What if the number down there was 2.

[jakbowtell]

4 on the bottom = Crotchet beats

8 on the bottom = Quaver Beats

Compound and simple time.

[justsid]

GO WALT!

[kool2bniceguy]

wow..nice tutorial..d best so far i've seen!

[frozenheartnight]

Youtube Hero!!!he exists..

THANKS Walt!!!

[courtjester24]

nice

[puggs101]

Walt man. I am very glad to have you as a friend here on youtube. You've taught me a lot about music through your videos. Nobody takes time to actually disect the parts to give a full explanation. Thanks a bunch man!

-Corey

[waltribeiro]

@puggs101 glad it helped corey!

[cocomajobo]

You are quite possibly the most helpful person in the world. ( :

[MetallicDxtrem]

cool dude