What are the differences in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 time signatures?

¾ is mostly known for the time signatures for the waltz. It means that there are 3 beats every measure (the beat being every quarter note, because of the “denominator” of 4).

Likewise, 4/4, the most common time signature, is 4 beats a measure, with the quarter note getting the beat.

Thank you, @Neophyte, I am having a really hard time reading music and understand it. I think I’m music illiterate, funny thing is, I am a singer! Not a professional one, but it’s something I love to do.

There are two parts to each time signature. The bottom number represents the type of note that gets one beat. 1=whole note, 2=half note, 4=quarter note, 8= eighth note, etc. The notes have different names in different parts of the world, these are the American names.

The top number is how many beat there are in a measure. If there is a 3, then there would be three beats in a measure.

If the time signature is ¾, then there will be the equivalent of three quarter notes in the measure. 2/4 has two quarter notes. 6/8 would have six eighth notes in the measure. A ¾ and 6/8 measure are the same length, but are subdivided differently, into three and six parts, respectively.

Thank you so much, @PhiNotPi . I really appreciate your taking the time out to respond to me in such great detail. I’m on YouTube trying to find different songs that have these time signatures. I’m trying to hear/learn the difference.

@atarah09 all waltz pieces will be in ¾ and almost every modern rock song will be in 4/4.

Anything called “waltz” will be in 3. And ¾ is the easiest one to recognize.

When this one gets going, around 1:15, you can count along 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3…
The Nutcracker – Waltz of the Flowers – Royal Ballet

Or this one gets fun around 2:20
Famous Waltz Blue Danube Strauss – Silvester 2008

I just found the most pleasant song with the ¾ time signature. It’s called A Sunday Smile by Beirut; tell me what you all think! I’m in love with it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbGiDxg8kwM

¾ goes by the rhythm ”trip-ple-let” OR ”one two three”.
6/8 goes by the faster rhythm ”trip-ple-let trip-ple-let” OR ”one two”.
4/4 goes by ”one two three four”.
2/4 goes by ”one two” or ”dou-ble”.

@PhiNotPi , I’m beginning to get the hang of this; all thanks to you wonderful folks! Thanks so much. I think I’m finally beginning to have a better understanding of this.

I have no feel for music, but like @jaytkay said , a waltz beat is pretty easy to recognize. Even I can do it. oom pah pah, oom pah pah. Definitely start with waltzes. Samba music is 2/4. Try dancing to it to get the feel for the 2.

2/4, 2 beats a measure, ¾ 3 beats a measure, 4/4 4 beats a measure. Typical disco music or pop now that goes, Kick, Closed Hat, Snare repeatedly uses the 4/4 time signature. ¾ can be heard like this, A C C, A C C, A C C <imaginary chords or single notes even. 2/4 you can usually hear in a love ballad or something heavy. It’s just, 1–2, 1–2, 1–2, imagine each comma have as its own measure translated with notes is, D-A, D-A, GC, GC

@atarah09 Yeah, it’s okay, but Beirut’s “Nantes” and “Elephant Gun” are way better.

To add on, waltzes are ¾, modern rock songs are 4/4, and doo-wop is 6/8 or 12/8! In this case you can count to four really slowly or twelve really fast. There are simply four groups of three, so both sound right.

@sliceswiththings Wow pretentious much? Haha, I’ve listened to Beirut since he started off with the joys of losing weight, but I don’t go out my way to tell others which songs are best of his lol.

Some people find this easier to understand visually – I certainly did, when I was first learning. This is what conductors are for. Try waving one of your hands or a stick in these different patterns and chanting the numbers out loud as you hit each position. This will also help you understand what the heck they’re waving around for up there. You can also try this to different songs to help you figure out what time signature they’re in.

Everyone is saying the correct thing. I figure I would chime in with what they are meaning, just to clarify. The difference in the signatures is where the “accent” is placed. In classical music, the accent is on the first beat. So, 2/4 is ONE two, ONE two. ¾ is ONE two three, ONE two three. 4/4 is ONE two three four, ONE two three four.