| Bars and bar lines are the punctuation marks of | | | | Common Time. |
| piano sheet music! They divide the rhythm into | | | | After the first 4 beats, the music has reached |
| short sections and make it easy to find your | | | | the end of the bar. A vertical line is then drawn. |
| place. They give the music structure. Without | | | | This is called a bar line. |
| them - you would just have "a load of notes!" | | | | Its job is to define the end of each bar. It also |
| At the beginning of any piece of piano music you | | | | helps you quickly locate where you are in the |
| will find a time signature. A time signature is 2 | | | | music. If you are playing with other musicians, you |
| numbers, written one above the other. The top | | | | can all begin at Bar 17, for instance. |
| number tells you how many beats there are in | | | | The other very important job is to place the |
| every bar. | | | | emphasis on the 1st beat of every bar. Beat 1 is |
| What is a beat? A beat is the pulse of the music. | | | | the boss! If a piece of music has a 4 4 time |
| It is what you tap your foot to when you hear | | | | signature, you would count "1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4 " |
| Rhythm and Blues. It is what soldiers march to. | | | | At the end of a piece of piano music you will find |
| The beat is the driving force of music. | | | | a double bar line. This tells you: "You have reached |
| The most common time signature is 4 4. This can | | | | the end. Stop... and wait for the audience to |
| also be displayed as C - which stands for | | | | applaud! |