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The time signature not only determines the speed of the piece, by aligning the note markings to each beat of the tempo, but implies the rhythm or meter of the piece. The measures should roughly align to discrete musical ideas (melodies, harmonic progressions, etc.). By determining the number of beats per measure, the time signature creates a visual organization to the piece.
== Notes and Rhythm ==Note markings are vertically aligned on the staff to determine their pitch. Rests are placed in the middle of the staff, as they have no pitch content, only rhythm. The different symbols used to indicate notes and rests determine their duration, in terms of beats (dependent on the time signature). Here are the most common notes: * Whole Note* Half Note* Quarter Note* Eighth Note* Sixteenth Note* Thirty-Second Note * Whole Rest* Half Rest* Quarter Rest* Eighth Rest* Sixteenth Rest* Thirty-Second Rest Notice the flags on the notes shorter than a quarter note. When such notes appear consecutively, bars are used in place of the flags, so the notes are "barred" together for each beat. For example, this helps indicate that 2 eighth or 4 sixteenth notes equal the same duration as a single quarter note. Additional durations can be formed in several ways. The simplest is the placement of a dot behind the note. This indicates that the note should be its normal duration plus half its normal duration. Thus, a dotted half note in 4/4 time lasts 3 beats, or the same as a half note and a quarter note. Two notes of the same pitch that appear consecutively can be "slurred" together with a curved line above or below them. This indicates to sustain the first note that much longer. For example, a half note and quarter note slurred together are equivalent to 3 beats in 4/4, or a dotted half note. Tuplets are indicated the same way they are in tab, with a bracket above the notes and the ratio or number above that.
== Measures ==