musical time signature
- noun
- /ˈmjuːzɪkəl taɪm ˈsɪɡnətʃər/
- Specialized
:
compás musical
- In 4/4, the musical time signature has four beats per measure.
Examples
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The composer chose a 3/4 musical time signature for the waltz.
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The song shifts to a different musical time signature halfway through.
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Learning to read a musical time signature is essential for playing in an orchestra.
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The musical time signature indicates the rhythm of the piece.
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Learning to read a musical time signature is essential for playing in an orchestra.
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The composer chose a 3/4 musical time signature for the waltz.
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In 4/4, the musical time signature has four beats per measure.
Synonyms
2
4.7
A sign at the start of music that shows beats in each bar and which note gets one beat
How Complex
648
5.6
27
3.5
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
6.6
- Specialized
1
5.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'time' here denotes the metrical pattern of beats and 'signature' denotes a marking or symbol, so together they straightforwardly mean a symbol that shows the meter. This follows standard noun-modifier composition and is cross-linguistically paralleled, so a B1 learner who knows the parts should be able to infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Musical time signature comes from the idea of a written 'sign' that shows the music's time, meaning how many 'beats' are in each group and which note gets one beat. So the signature part means a small mark that tells players the rhythm pattern to follow.