Time Signatures & Dotted Notes
Understanding rhythm is just as important as knowing the right notes. This lesson demystifies time signatures like 4/4 and 3/4, and explains how dotted and tied notes work.
Understanding rhythm is just as important as knowing the right notes. This lesson demystifies time signatures like 4/4 and 3/4, and explains how dotted and tied notes work.
At the beginning of all music there are two numbers - the time signature. This tells you how many beats should be counted for each bar. (A bar is the space between two bar lines.)
The top number tells you how many beats are in each bar. The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets one beat (4 means a quarter note gets one beat). The two most common time signatures in guitar music are 3/4 and 4/4.
In 4/4 time, there are four beats per bar and the quarter note gets one beat. This is sometimes called "common time" and is marked with a C rather than the numbers 4/4 in classical notation. Most rock, pop, R&B, folk, and country music is in 4/4. When you tap your foot four times and it feels natural and even, you are likely in 4/4.
In 4/4 time, your strumming hand moves down on each of the four beats and up in between. A full bar of eighth-note strumming would be D-U-D-U-D-U-D-U, covering eight strokes across the four beats. This constant arm motion, whether or not every stroke hits the strings, is the foundation of all 4/4 strumming.
In 3/4 time, there are three beats per bar. The classic count is "1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3." Songs in 3/4 have a swaying, lilting quality: "STRONG-weak-weak, STRONG-weak-weak." The first beat of each bar is naturally accented. Famous songs in 3/4 include "Amazing Grace," "Take Me Home Country Roads," and the traditional Happy Birthday.
The typical 3/4 strumming or bass-strum pattern is: bass note on beat 1, strum on beat 2, strum on beat 3 (written BASS-STRUM-STRUM). This gives waltz-style playing its characteristic bouncing feel. When you are trying to figure out whether a song is in 3/4, try counting in groups of three and see if the accented notes (the louder moments) fall on the "1" of each group.
In 6/8 time, there are six eighth-note beats per bar but they group naturally into two sets of three. You feel 6/8 as two big beats, each of which contains a triplet-like subdivision. Songs like "House of the Rising Sun," "Nothing Else Matters," and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" are in 6/8. The strum pattern often goes D-d-d-D-d-d (with the capital D being a louder downstroke on beats 1 and 4 of the six eighth notes).
A dot placed after a note increases its duration by half its original value. A dotted quarter note lasts 1.5 beats (one beat plus half a beat). A dotted half note lasts three beats. Dotted notes create a slightly uneven, lilting rhythm that is different from straight even subdivisions. Many guitar strumming patterns and melodies use dotted note rhythms to create rhythmic interest.
The dotted quarter note followed by an eighth note (together equalling two beats) is one of the most common rhythmic patterns in music. You hear it in countless melodies and it gives music a distinctive "long-short" feel. Clapping the rhythm of any song you know well will likely reveal dotted note patterns throughout.
When learning a new rhythmic pattern, clap it before picking up the guitar. Your body understands rhythm better when it is physical and whole-body rather than just in your hands. Once you can clap the pattern accurately, transferring it to the guitar becomes much more natural. This simple habit of clapping first can cut learning time for new strumming patterns in half.
Notes are sometimes made longer by joining them to the next note with a curved line called a Tie. The first note lasts for the total number of beats of both notes tied together.
A tie is different from a slur. A tie always joins two notes of the same pitch - you play the first note and hold it for the combined length without plucking again. This is especially useful for creating notes that last across bar lines, which cannot be shown with a single note value.
Always count out loud when learning a new piece with dotted or tied notes. Speak the counts clearly: "1 2 3 4" for 4/4, "1 2 3" for 3/4. When you encounter a dotted note, keep counting steadily through its extra half-beat. Counting out loud forces your brain to process the rhythm actively rather than guessing.
Beyond time signatures and dotted notes, rhythm is largely about "feel." When you divide a single beat into two smaller notes (eighth notes), you have two choices for how to play them:
A time signature tells you how many beats are in a bar, but the "feel" (straight vs swing) tells you how to play the space between the beats. As you advance, you'll learn to switch between these two feels effortlessly!
Common questions about rhythm and time
4/4 is by far the most common time signature in Western music, so much so that it is often called 'Common Time' (represented by a 'C' on sheet music).
Dotted notes allow composers to write rhythms that sustain for an uneven number of beats (like 3 beats for a dotted half note) without having to tie multiple notes together.