Time Signatures

It is so interesting how little my sixth graders know about time signatures.  If you ask a random selected group of sixth grade general music students, what does the top number mean in 4/4 time, you will usually get the right answer:  It means there are four beats in every measure.  If you ask a random selected group of these students what the bottom number means in 4/4 time, you will get several answers, almost none of them will be correct!  They will say it means there are four measures on every line, they will say there are four beat measures, they will say each measure has four notes in it..none of these are even close to being correct. 

Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to make sure that before the year is over, these sixth graders will be able to explain what the bottom number means in 4/4 or 2/2 or 6/8 time.  My first plan of action has worked quite well.  One of the reasons they don't know what the bottom number means is that the 4 is always on the bottom, they never have noticed any other number there.  I will show them now what it means to have a 2 or a 6 on the bottom. 

When they first witness the 2 on the bottom, it is really playing with their heads.  The way you count it is different than they have ever learned before, but they begin to see the light.  They begin to understand what happens to the counting if you change the 4 to a 2.  They then begin to realize that if you change it, you have the half note as the unit of beat, or that a half note equals one beat.  If they understand that, then they can by proxy begin to understand what it means to have a quarter note equal one beat.  The minute something changes and can be changed, that is the minute they say, "Oh, now I get it!!"  It is very exciting to watch, but I am thinking and kicking myself that I never started this process before now.  I will give them a quiz at the end of the quarter, and I believe they will ALL be able to explain the idea of the time signature, both top and bottom numbers.

Great lesson on how to count music