← Why Twelve Notes · Lesson 1 of 4
A bar has to add up
In 4/4 time every bar holds four beats. A whole note fills the bar, a half note takes two beats, a quarter note one, an eighth note half a beat. Writing a bar is adding fractions until they make exactly one whole.
Children meet this as a puzzle: two quarters and a half fill a bar; three quarters leave a gap; a half and three quarters spill over. The notes are fractions with a sound attached.
A bar in 3/4 time holds three beats. Which set of notes fills it exactly?
A lesson is kept once you've answered the question and written at least 8 words. Nobody grades it; it stays on this device.