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A time signature specifies how many beats there are in a bar, and the note values of those beats.<\/strong><\/p> \u2018Auntie, did you feel no pain,<\/i>Falling from that apple tree?<\/i>Will you do it, please, again?<\/i>‘Cos my friend here didn\u2019t see.\u2019<\/i><\/p> What Harry Graham presents us with here is a piece of poetry in four-time. Each line has four strong beats: DA-de DA-de DA-de DA. <\/p> Read it aloud, and you\u2019ll almost certainly find you space those beats equally in time, even though the final DA has no -de. If it were a piece of music you would say it was in \u2018Four-four\u2019 time. You\u2019d indicate this at the very beginning of the piece with the sign 4\/4, the second \u2018four\u2019 signifying that the main beat is written as a \u2018crotchet\u2019 (or, in the US, a \u2018quarter note\u2019). At the end of each group of four you\u2019d draw a vertical bar-line to indicate that the basic pulse-pattern is complete.<\/p> Now recite your favourite limerick. The rhythm should be: de DA-de-de DA-de-de DA (or DA-de). Four beats, but now each beat breaks down into a more fluent three sub-beats \u2013 or \u2018triplets\u2019. <\/p> Even though there\u2019s still a basic four-beat pattern at work here, the time signature now reflects that subordinate triplet pattern: \u2013 three \u2018quavers\u2019 (UK) or \u2018eighth-notes\u2019 (US) times four beats = 12\/8. Here’s a famous piece in 12\/8 time: REM’s ‘Everybody Hurts’.<\/p>What is a time signature?<\/h2>