common time

nounMusic. a meter or tempo of four beats per measure, with each of four quarter notes receiving a single beat.

a musical rhythm in which there are two or four beats in a bar.

4/4 time There are a number of time signatures one can choose to use, but the majority of music (not just rock, pop, and electro) is in 4/4 time.

Why, well, each beat is a quarter note because each one takes up 1/4, or a quarter, of the measure. In music notation we call this common time, or four-four, and mark it that way on music staff paper with a small C, or with a four over a four. This is called a time signature, or meter.

In fact, to answer the question why 4/4 is called “common time”, you could simply have a look at the statistics of time signatures in all music ever created. More than 90% or more of all popular songs written in the last 100 years is in 4/4. That is indeed why it is called “common time”, because it simply is so common.

If you are new to music, the "C" with the bar is called "cut time", and basically is equivalent to 2/2 time. The "C" is known as common time, and is equivalent to 4/4 time. Time signatures are normally centered above the first line of music or words, in combination with the key signature.

in common in American English in joint possession or use; shared equally.

adjective [ADJECTIVE noun] Common is used to indicate that someone or something is of the ordinary kind and not special in any way.

For example, in common time (4/4), there are four quarter beats per bar. In 2/4 time, there are two quarter beats per bar. But in 2/2 time – cut time – there are two half beats per bar.

4/4 time The most common time signature in country, bluegrass, and most genres of music is 4/4 time. Often times, people refer to 4/4 time as “common time” and replace the two stacked numbers of the time signature with the letter C.

Here is the time signature of cut time. The top number represents the number of beats per measure and the bottom number represents the type of note worth one beat. Another way to represent cut time is with a “C” with a line through it.

The time signature of a piece of music indicates how many beats are in each measure, and what note value is equivalent to a beat. The most common meter in music is 4/4. It's so popular that it is often referred to as “common time”.