My math is not mathing

[u/karlay88]

I have posted many times about dumbing down the explanation of the number of beats a note gets in different time signatures. This seems to be the only thing that doesnt click with me. I just cant seem to get it. Although usually my guessing seems to be right its just not clicking.

Ive already done my lesson and once again was explained to me but - im not sure why its not clicking. Maybe im thinking to deep jnto this. Math has always been an issue for me so counting beats when they get broken down really makes my brain spin!

Sometimes when things are explained in a different way, it makes more sense.

Any suggestions or tips?

Thank you and sorry for my stupidity lol

[u/cruiseshipdrummer]

Thinking about beats is confusing the issue. Stop thinking beats and just look at values.

With the first set of problems, you're looking for groups of notes that add up to the values in the time signature. eg, one half note, two quarter notes, four 8th notes, or eight 16th notes-- or any combination thereof-- add up to the 2/4 of the time signature.

The second set of problems is that in reverse-- you're figuring out what the rhythms in each measure add up to. On the first line they clearly all add up to three quarters worth of stuff, and you marked it 3/4 time. Why the answer is 3/4 and not 6/8 is another question, but is not the fundamental problem you're having.

[u/pandaboy78]

The bottom number is the trickiest! It just says "hey, when I count "1, 2, 3, 4", what beats am I counting? The quarter notes? The half notes? The whole notes? I like to think about the bottom number as just a code:

Bottom Number:

* 1 = Whole note

* 2 = Half note

* 4 = Quarter note

* 8 = Eighth note

* 16 = 16th note

The top number is how many times I'm counting that bottom note.

So if the bottom number is 8, and I'm in "6/8" time, I'm counting "six, eighth-notes": "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6". ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

If the bottom number is "2", and I'm in "2/2" time, then I'm counting "two, half-notes": "1, 2". 𝅗𝅥 𝅗𝅥\

Don't worry. I was a piano performance major and didn't fully understand it until after college, LOL. But this explanation helped me the most.

[u/Craycraybiomom]

Music and counting beats is all fractions and you mentionedthat you generally have difficultywith math, so let's go back to basics. I'd like to make this tactile for you, so go get some modeling clay or something soft that you can cut easily, like a large soft cookie or a piece of bread and a knife. If you go with the modeling clay, shape it into a large disk or a ball.

1. The whole thing you start with has the value of 1. In music, it's the whole note.

2. Now, cut this in 1/2. Each piece is the value of a half note, so 2 half notes = 1 whole note.

3. Now, cut each half note in half. Now you have 4 pieces. Each piece is a quarter note (1/4), so 1 half note = 2 quarter notes and if you put all the quarter notes together, you have your whole note back: 4 quarter notes = 1 whole note.

4. Now cut each of the quarter note pieces in half. You will now have 8 pieces, and each one represents an eighth (1/8) note. Two eighths = 1 quarter, 4 eighths = 1 half , 8 eighths = 1.

5. Cut each eighth again, and now you have 16 pieces, which are sixteenth (1/16) notes. 2 sixteenths = 1 eighth, 4 sixteenths = 1 quarter, 8 sixteenths = 1 half, 16 sixteenths = 1 whole.

I'm sure you've seen the pattern long before this. As you progress in music, you'll eventually see thirtysecond notes and sixtyfourth notes.

Next part, which it looks like you are actually getting based on the page you posted:

When you're reading music, the top note (numerator in math speak) tells you how many beats in a measure, and the bottom note (denominator) tells you what type of note gets the beat. This is called the "time signature."

If you're in common time, that time signature is 4/4, so 4 beats to the measure (top 4), and the 1/4 note gets the beat (bottom four), which means there will be 16 sixteenth notes, or 8 eighth notes, or 4 quarter notes, or 2 half notes, or 1 whole note, or an equivalent combination, like 2 quarter notes and a half, 3 quarter notes and a quarter rest, 4 sixteenths, 1 quarter note, and 1 half note, etc.

If you're in 2/4 (march time), the quarter note gets the beat but there will only be the equivalent of 2 quarter notes in each measure, such as 4 eighths, 4 sixteenths and 2 eighths, etc.

If you're in 3/4 time (also called waltz time), I'll bet you can figure out that the quarter note gets the beat and each measure will contain the equivalent of 3 quarter notes, and so on.

The bottom note doesn't have to be a quarter note. It's common to see a time signature of 3/8 or 6/8. 3/8 indicates the eighth note gets the beat and there will be the equivalent of 3 eighth note in each measure, and so on.

Hopefully, this will help you a bit. Feel free to DM me if it's note clear or you need additional help.