Unit 2 · Lesson 3 of 5 — IB MYP: Personal and Cultural Expression · Communication
Measures & Meter
Meter organizes beats into repeating groups. You will compare how 4/4 and 3/4 change the feel of a musical idea.
In this lesson
Learning Targets
Each section below is labeled with the target it teaches. The questions and your Noteflight task practice every target.
Target 1Read 4/4 and 3/4
Target 2Check that measures contain the correct number of beats
Target 3Hear how meter changes musical feel
IB MYP connection
Command terms: IDENTIFY · COMPARE
IdentifyCompare
Learner Profile · ATL
Balanced · Thinker — Thinking: weigh how note values and rests create energy, then use that understanding deliberately.
Task
Use what you're learning to complete the Noteflight task below, then check your own work before moving on.
Inquiry: How does changing the meter of the same musical idea change how it feels?
Reflect: What did “Measures & Meter” teach you about your own composing choices?
Key words
Words you will use today
Meter
The repeating pattern of strong and weak beats that groups music into measures.
Time signature
The two numbers at the start of the music. The top number is how many beats each measure has; the bottom number is the note value that gets one beat (4 means a quarter note).
Strong / weak beats
Beat 1, the downbeat, is the strongest beat in every meter. In 4/4, beat 3 is moderately strong and beats 2 and 4 are weak. In 3/4, beats 2 and 3 are both weak.
4/4
Four quarter-note beats per measure, felt strong–weak–medium–weak.
3/4
Three quarter-note beats per measure, felt strong–weak–weak.
Reading the time signature
Target 1
The time signature tells you how to count
Every example so far has started with 4/4. That pair of numbers is the time signature. The top number tells you how many beats are in each measure; the bottom number tells you which note value gets one beat. A bottom 4 means the quarter note gets the beat. So 4/4 means four quarter-note beats per measure, and 3/4 means three. The note values themselves do not change: a quarter note is still one beat and a half note is still two. What changes is how many beats fit before the next bar line, which is why the count starts over at 1 after three beats in 3/4.
01
4/4: count 1 2 3 4
Four beats per measure. “Ode to Joy” fills each measure with four quarter notes, one per beat, until the dotted rhythm in its last measure.
Beethoven, “Ode to Joy,” mm. 1–2, counted.02
3/4: count 1 2 3
Three beats per measure. This tune, sung as “America” in the United States and as “God Save the King” in Britain, counts 1 2 3 in every measure. Measure 2 uses the dotted quarter and eighth you learned in Lesson 1: 1 (2) + 3.
“America” (traditional), mm. 1–2, in C, counted.
Checking measures
Target 2Target 1
Every measure must add up to the top number
To check a measure, add the beat values of every note and rest in it and compare the total with the top number of the time signature. The usual mistakes are an extra or missing beat, forgetting that a dot adds half a note’s value, and carrying a 4/4 habit into 3/4: a whole note (4 beats) cannot fit in a measure of 3/4, so a note that fills a 3/4 measure is a dotted half. (One exception you will see in printed music: a completely silent measure is marked with a whole rest in any meter.)
01
Adding up measures of 3/4
Write the value of each note under it and add. Measure 1: 1½ + ½ + 1 = 3. Measure 2: a dotted half note, 3 beats on its own. Both match the top number, 3.
“America,” m. 4 and the final measure, with beat values.02
Spot the incomplete measures
This draft is meant to be in 3/4. Measures 1 and 3 add up to 3 beats. Measure 2 (orange) holds 4 beats, a 4/4 habit, and measure 4 (orange) holds only 2½: a half note plus an eighth rest leaves half a beat unaccounted for.
Course example with errors: mm. 2 and 4 (orange) do not add up to 3.
Hearing meter
Target 3
Meter changes how music feels
Meter is not only a counting system; it is something listeners feel. In 4/4, beats group strong–weak–medium–weak, an even, two-by-two pattern heard in marches, hymns, and most popular songs. In 3/4, beats group strong–weak–weak, which gives a lilting, circular feel heard in waltzes and minuets. In the examples below, the lower staff plays a low note on every downbeat and lighter, higher notes on the other beats, so you can hear where each measure begins. (Playback does not accent beats, so listen for the low notes.)
01
Four beats: steady and even
Count along with the low notes. Every fourth beat the bass drops down, and “Ode to Joy” moves forward in even, balanced steps.
Beethoven, “Ode to Joy” (in C). Lower staff: low note on each downbeat (added).02
Three beats: lilting and circular
Now the bass drops every third beat. The strong–weak–weak pattern makes “America” sway, and its longest notes, the dotted quarters and the final dotted half, all start on a downbeat.
“America” / “God Save the King” (traditional), in C. Lower staff added.
Worked comparison
Target 1Target 2Target 3
One idea in two meters
Here is a short course example written in 4/4, then rewritten in 3/4. The pitches and their order stay the same. To fit three beats per measure, the durations have to change, and that changes which notes land on the downbeats. Play both and listen to the difference.
01
The idea in 4/4
Short–short–long in each measure: two quarter notes lead to a half note on beat 3.
Course example in 4/4 (2 measures). Lower staff added.02
The same idea in 3/4
Long–short, then a note that fills the whole measure. Every downbeat now carries a held note.
The same pitches in 3/4 (4 measures). Lower staff added.
Feature
4/4 version
3/4 version
Beats per measure
4
3
Measure check
1 + 1 + 2 = 4 in both measures
2 + 1 = 3, then 3 (dotted half), twice
Rhythm pattern
Short–short–long
Long–short, then one note per measure
On the downbeats
C, F
C, G, F, C (each held)
Feel
Walks steadily toward each half note
Sways; each held note fills its measure
Model description: Both versions use the same six pitches in the same order. In 4/4, each measure moves short–short–long: two quarter notes lead to a half note on beat 3, so the idea walks steadily toward its held notes. To fit 3/4, the rhythm becomes long–short followed by a full-measure dotted half: C now lasts two beats on the downbeat, and G and the final C each fill an entire measure. Every downbeat now carries a held note, and the strong–weak–weak grouping makes the idea sway like a waltz instead of moving forward evenly. Every 4/4 measure adds up to 4 beats and every 3/4 measure to 3.
Notice what the comparison does: it confirms each measure adds up, names what changed in the rhythm, identifies which notes land on the downbeats, and describes the effect on the feel. Your Noteflight comparison should do the same.
Check your understanding
Try it before you compose
Pick an answer for each question. You will see right away whether you are correct and why.
0 of 6 correct
1What does the time signature 3/4 tell you?
Target 1
2This excerpt is in 3/4. Which measure does not add up to 3 beats?
Target 2
3Which of these fills exactly one measure of 3/4?
Target 2Target 1
4Listen only. Count the beats from one low downbeat note to the next. What is the meter?
Target 3
5Listen, then choose which version you heard.
Target 3Target 1
A
B
6Which statement best explains why the 3/4 version of the idea feels different from the 4/4 version?
Target 3
Take it to Noteflight
One idea, two meters
Write a short idea in 4/4, then rewrite it in 3/4 the way the worked comparison does: same pitches, same order, new durations. Then listen to how the meter changes its feel.
Your Noteflight task
Write the same short idea once in 4/4 and once in 3/4. Play both and compare.
A 2–4 measure idea. Every measure adds up to 4 beats.
For exampleCourse example in 4/4
Version 2Target 2
Rewrite it in 3/4
Same pitches in the same order. Change durations so every measure adds up to 3 beats.
For exampleThe same idea in 3/4
DownbeatsTarget 3
Choose the downbeats
Decide which notes should land on beat 1 in each meter. Held notes on downbeats make the meter easy to feel.
For example“America,” mm. 2–3
2While you build
4 · 3
Target 1
Confirm each version begins with the correct time signature: 4/4 for Version 1, 3/4 for Version 2.
Σ
Target 2
Write the beat value under every note and add each measure. Fix any measure that does not match the top number.
▶
Target 3
Play both versions. Write 2–3 sentences, modeled on the worked comparison, naming what changed in the rhythm, what lands on the downbeats, and how each version feels.
3Check your own work
0 of 5 checked
Finish the Noteflight work above, then mark this lesson done when you finish.