Choreosheet

Time signature finder

Upload a song and the free preview shows its time signature (4/4 or 3/4), its tempo, and where count 1 lands. No sign-up needed for the preview.

The preview header reads like "~125 BPM · 4/4". Your song stays private: only you can open the sheet.

What it finds, and what it does not

Choreosheet finds the beats and the downbeats (the 1 of each bar), then checks whether the beats fall in groups of 4 or groups of 3. So it tells 4/4 from 3/4, which is what decides how a dancer counts. It does not name rarer signatures such as 5/4 or 7/8, and a 6/8 song shows as 4/4 or 3/4 depending on which pulse it locks onto. If the result does not feel right, you can change the time signature on the sheet in one tap.

Check it by ear in 30 seconds

  1. Find the strongest beat. Listen for the beat where the drums hit hardest or the singer starts a line. Call it 1.
  2. Count on from it. Count the beats until the next strong beat comes round. Do it four or five times.
  3. Read the number. If it comes round every 4 beats, the song is in 4/4. Every 3 beats, it is in 3/4 (a waltz feel).

Tapping helps: use the tap tempo page, and say "1" out loud on every strong beat.

Common time signatures in dance music

Time signatureWhere you hear itHow dancers count it
4/4Pop, hip hop, cheer mixes, jazz, contemporary, most of what is on the radio8-counts
3/4Waltzes, some ballads and folk songsSets of 6 (two bars of 3)
6/8Some ballads and slow songs that sway; usually felt in 2 big beatsOften counted as 8s at the slow pulse

Why it matters for choreography

In 4/4, two bars make one 8-count, and most moves start on 1, 3, 5 or 7. In 3/4, a bar has 3 beats, so two bars make a set of 6 and a step pattern repeats every 3 counts. Counting a waltz in 8s puts every phrase in the wrong place. More on this in how to count music for dance.

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