Time signatures
A time signature says how many beats are in a bar and which note value counts as one beat. 4/4 is four quarter-note beats to the bar; 3/4 is three; 6/8 is six eighth notes, felt as two big beats of three. The three below play the same drum kit at the same tempo, 100 BPM, so the only thing that changes is how the beats group.
Four beats to the bar
ONE two three four
Four beats, the first strongest, the third next. Almost all pop, rock, hip hop and dance music is in 4/4, which is why the grid on every other Swung page has sixteen steps: four beats of four.
You hear: A backbeat: kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, hats on every eighth.
Three beats to the bar
ONE two three
Three beats, one strong and two light: a waltz. The bar comes round sooner than you expect after 4/4, which is the lilt. Folk, country waltzes, some ballads and a lot of film music live here.
You hear: Kick on 1, soft snares on 2 and 3, hats grouped in twos: six eighth notes as 2 + 2 + 2.
Two big beats, three each
ONE two three FOUR five six
Six eighth notes, felt as two big beats of three: a rolling, rocking pulse. Slow soul and rock ballads, Irish jigs, Afro-Cuban bembé and a lot of gospel are in 6/8. It has the same six eighths as 3/4; the difference is how they group.
You hear: Kick on 1, snare on 4 (the second big beat), hats grouped in threes: 3 + 3.
Start with the beat
Unit 1 of the course is free with a Google sign-in: the loop, the beat, tempo, on and off the beat, and your first beat on the grid.
Pick up where you left off
Carry on with Unit 1; the beat is its second lesson.
How to read the two numbers
The top number is how many beats you count before the bar starts again: four in 4/4, three in 3/4, six in 6/8. The bottom number says what kind of note gets one count: 4 means a quarter note, 8 an eighth note. So 3/4 is three quarter notes and 6/8 is six eighth notes, which add up to the same length of time at the same tempo.
Then why are 3/4 and 6/8 different? Because of where the accents fall. 3/4 groups its six eighth notes in twos: ONE-and two-and three-and, three equal beats. 6/8 groups the same six in threes: ONE-two-three FOUR-five-six, two big beats that swing. Listen to the hats in the two examples above; they are the same six notes, grouped differently, and your foot taps three times in one and twice in the other.
4/4 is the default. It is called common time for a reason: nearly all pop, rock, hip hop, house, trap and drum & bass is in 4/4. Every pattern loop on Swung is one bar of 4/4, sixteen steps because each beat is split into four. The free lesson on the beat teaches that grid.
Odd meters such as 5/4 (“Take Five”) or 7/8 add or drop a beat so the bar never quite lands where you expect. They are rare in pop and common in progressive rock, jazz and Balkan folk. The metronome lets you set 5 or 7 beats to the bar to feel them.
BPM and time signature are separate. The tempo says how fast the beats come; the time signature says how they group. The slider in each panel changes one without touching the other. BPM and tempo covers the speed side.