Separating Music into Measures

So far we've just been concerned with the pitches of the notes (i.e., how high or low they are) and where they are positioned on the staff. Now we'll learn about the vital part that rhythm plays in music, and in how we notate the music. Most styles of music have a rhythmic beat or pulse to them. When you tap your feet along with a piece of music, most likely you are tapping along with the beat. These beats are then grouped into measures (or bars) when the music is notated. Here is an example of a treble staff with bar lines separating the measures:

Notice at the end that we have two bar lines, one thin and one thick. This “double bar line” is known as the final bar line or final double bar, and is used to show the end of the song. In future musical examples, you may see two thin bar lines at the end. This is used to show the end of a section of music, but not the “end end.”