In this exercise to recognize time signatures you see a measure written without its time signature: you tap the top number (numerator) and the bottom number (denominator) that belong to it. Answers are checked right away, and the feedback explains how many beats the measure has and what its beat unit is. You can also generate printable worksheets with solutions.
Want to do it by ear? In the ear-training exercise recognize the time signature by ear you listen to a melody with the first beat accented and choose the time signature without seeing the score.
How to recognize a time signature
- Look at how the notes are grouped. In simple meters the beats usually divide into two parts; in compound meters, into three. The clearest clue is the eighth notes: beamed in twos they point to a simple meter, in threes to a compound one.
- Count the top number. In simple meters (2/4, 3/4, 4/4) the top number is simply the number of beats. In compound meters (6/8, 9/8, 12/8) the top number counts the eighth notes in the whole measure, which are grouped in threes to form the beats: 6/8 has 2 beats, 9/8 has 3 and 12/8 has 4.
- Work out the bottom number. It gives the reference note value: 4 is the quarter note (UK: crotchet) and 8 is the eighth note (UK: quaver). In simple meters that note value is the beat unit. In compound meters, the bottom number gives the note value that is grouped in threes (the eighth note, if it is 8), but the beat unit is the next larger note value with a dot: a dotted quarter note, not a dotted eighth note. Among the answer options there are also other valid bottom numbers: whole note (1), half note (2), sixteenth note (16) and thirty-second note (32). In the exercise these are wrong answers, except that 2/2 is always accepted as an alternative to 4/4 (see the questions below).
| Time signature | Top number | Grouping | Beats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/4 | 2 | 2 quarter notes | 2 |
| 3/4 | 3 | 3 quarter notes | 3 |
| 4/4 | 4 | 4 quarter notes | 4 |
| 6/8 | 6 | 2 groups of 3 eighth notes | 2 |
| 9/8 | 9 | 3 groups of 3 eighth notes | 3 |
| 12/8 | 12 | 4 groups of 3 eighth notes | 4 |
Some measures last exactly the same when written in another way: three quarter notes (3/4) take up the same time as two dotted quarter notes (6/8). The difference is in how the eighth notes are grouped, not in the total length:
3/4: three quarter-note beats
6/8: two dotted-quarter-note beats
If the written rhythm has no eighth notes to show that grouping (for example, a dotted half note filling the whole measure), there is no way to tell them apart just by looking at the rhythm: both time signatures are correct, and the exercise accepts both. Nothing is missing from your knowledge: the written rhythm simply gives no more information to choose between the two.
Printable worksheet (PDF)
The same exercise on paper, for class: eighteen measures without a time signature, six simple, six compound and six mixed, on one A4 sheet. The student writes the time signature in the box. With a separate answer sheet, including the cases where two time signatures are correct.
Download the worksheet (A4 PDF) Answers
You can print and photocopy it freely for class.
More worksheets
The same exercise on paper, for class: eighteen measures without a time signature, six simple, six compound and six mixed, on one A4 sheet. The student writes the time signature in the box. Each sheet comes with its own answer sheet, including the cases where two time signatures are correct. Generate as many sheets as you need, each with different measures, and print them straight from your browser.
Before this exercise
If you find the beats hard to recognize, first go through analyzing time signatures, which explains what each time signature says, and the value of note values in each measure. The full theory is on the page about time signatures.