Common Time
Common time is another way of writing 4/4: four quarter-note units fit in each measure. The symbol looks like a C on the staff.
- C symbol
- 4/4
- four quarter units
What does the C mean?
The C-shaped sign is the modern shorthand for 4/4. Its shape comes from an older incomplete-circle sign in mensural notation; it was not originally invented as the letter C for 'common'. Today the name common time is convenient, but the sound is the same as a written 4/4.
How do you count it?
Count four quarter-note beats per bar. A bar might contain four quarters, two halves, or eight eighths; each arrangement fills the same written span. A drummer may mark a backbeat on 2 and 4, but 4/4 itself does not require any particular drum pattern.
How is cut time different?
The crossed C means cut time, or 2/2. Both meters can fit four written quarter notes in a bar. In cut time, performers commonly feel two half-note beats; in common time they commonly feel four quarter-note beats. The notation tells you which level to count.
Keep going
Everything in time signatures
- Common Time
- Cut Time (Alla Breve)