I’ve studied music casually most of my life but I’ve never been able to understand what the bottom number means in a time signature!
In: 8
It is the length of the note that the top number represents.
4/4 means 4 quarter (ie 1/4) notes in a bar.
6/8 means 6 eighth (ie 1/8) notes in a bar.
3/4 means 3 quarter notes in a bar.
On a related note, this is why 3/4 and 6/8 time signature although it may “seem” that way, are not equal. The beat accents are different. 3/4 is typically “ONE two three” whereas 6/8 is typically “ONE two three FOUR five six” with ONE being slightly stronger than FOUR.
The bottom number signifies the type of note that receives a beat. 4 would be a quarter note, 8 would be an eighth note, and so on.
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