How long is a bar of music?

Answer 1

depends on the time signature and how many notes are in the measure.

Answer 2

Well... "Length" of a bar is not really dependent upon the tempo (unless you mean "length" in the amount of time elapsed). I also saw one answer contrasting "bars" and "measures". A bar IS a measure, but there can be a fine distinction; some people apply "bar" to mean "bar line", the little vertical line that separates measures on a stave (a line of music). And a "measure", then, is the space between the bar lines. But we'll assume your question asks "how long is a measure of music". And the answer to that is... Depends on the time signature, basically. Most contemporary popular music (in the US) uses a time signature of 4/4, which means there are 4 "beats" in a bar, and each "beat" is equivalent to one 1/4 note. (2/4 time signature would indicate 2 beats per measure, each beat being a 1/4 note.) So a common measure is usually 4 beats long, regardless of tempo. If you know QUEEN's "We Will Rock You", when they sing "we will, we will", that's ONE BAR, each word is occupying one 1/4 note. (You would count "1-2-3-4" over the "we-will-we-will".) I wrote a piece in 17/16, which is 17 beats in each bar, each beat represented by a 1/16 note. So... A bar of music is however long the composer wants it to be.

Answer 3

Listen to a recording of a typical classic rock or oldies song on the radio, and tap along to the song's tempo. Just hold a pencil and tap it on the table so that the taps are like a metronome - steady tap with an equal amount of time between each tap. Now count along with each tap, "1, 2, 3..."

You'll notice that with the far majority of these songs, every 4 taps (or 8 taps, depending on how fast you're tapping along) parts of the song start to repeat themselves. You might hear the songs's guitar riff repeat, or the singer sing another line of lyrics with the same melody, or the drum beat starts and ends on the same loop, etc. In this case, it's easier to say "1, 2, 3, 4; 1, 2, 3, 4; 1, 2, 3, 4;" as you tap, and notice that similar parts of the song reoccur on beats of the same number. Not all songs go 1-2-3-4 (for example, if you try tapping along with "Rock a Bye Baby", you'll find it easier to count 1-2-3,1-2-3)

A bar is the time in between when you say "1" and the next time you say "1". Of course this could change depending on how fast you tap along with the song. A bar is usually determined by what makes the most sense when you're writing a song's notes out on a piece of sheet music. But as you listen more, you can get better at determining where each "bar" begins and ends in a song.

Answer 4

It depends on the time signature. If the time signature is 4/4, there are four beats to every measure, or bar. If the time signature is 5/8, there are 5 beats to every measure, or bar. The bars are separated, according to the "time signature".

Answer 5

Depending on the song it can change. It will indicate that with the numbers at the beginning of the bar. Haven't seen a sheet of music in a while, but i believe that it is typically (not always) four notes.

Answer 6

It depends on the tempo of the song. If you have a good ear for music, count 1-2-3-4 and that's a bar.

Also, 2 bars is usually 2 lines of lyrics

Answer 7

a bar of music is the same thing as a measure of music, which can be any length depending on the time signature of the music. a bar, or measure, of music is from one measure bar to the next measure bar, and the length varies according to your time signature.

Answer 8

4 measures = 1 bar

Answer 9

it depends on how many beats and what tempo you are at....

at 4/4 and 60 beats per min.. a measure bar would be 4 seconds long....

Answer 10

Depends on what the time signiture (example 4/4= 4 quarter note beats) and tempo ( beats per minute) are.

Answer 11

As long as the time signture indicates. If the T.S. is 4/4 then it is 4 beats/counts long. If the T.S. is 3/4 then it is 3 beats long and so on.