The bar and the tempo

▶ Open in Aratu to hear the examples, change them and do the exercises

Every Aratu piece starts by saying two things: its meter and its tempo.

meter: 4/4
tempo: 90

hh = c c c c
bd = b - b -

meter: 4/4 is the time signature: four beats in a bar. tempo: 90 is the tempo: ninety beats per minute, as on a metronome. See the round knob next to the 90: drag it up or down and the number changes. The music speeds up or slows down from the next bar.

The first rule: a space separates beats

Read the hi-hat line counting aloud: "one, two, three, four". Each group of symbols between spaces is one beat. A bar of 4/4 has four groups.

When a bar has too many or too few beats, Aratu says so. This example has one beat too many. Read the message under it and fix it:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

meter: 4/4
bd = b - b - b

Several bars on one line

The bar line | separates bars, as in a score. This bass drum line has two different bars, and the pair repeats:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

bd = | b - b - | b b b - |
sd = | - s - s | - s - s |

In the grid, each bar is a box, with its beats numbered above.

Other meters

A waltz has three beats in a bar. Count "one, two, three" as you listen:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

meter: 3/4
tempo: 150

bd = b - -
hh = - c c

In 6/8 the beat is a dotted quarter and is counted in two, the way a musician counts it. You will see this in the lesson on compound meters, after you learn to divide the beat.

Exercises

Write two bars of bass drum: in the first, it plays on beats 1 and 3; in the second, on all four beats.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

bd = | - - - - | - - - - |

See an answer

bd = | b - b - | b b b b |

Now a waltz in 3/4: bass drum on beat 1, snare on beats 2 and 3.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

meter: 3/4
bd = - - -
sd = - - -

See an answer

meter: 3/4
bd = b - -
sd = - s s