Rhythm
Bar (measure)
A bar, or measure, is a unit of time that groups a fixed number of beats, set by the time signature and marked off on the page by vertical bar lines.
What is a bar in music?
Music is counted in regular groups of beats: those groups are bars (called measures in American English). On a score or a tab, each bar is separated by a vertical bar line. The number of beats per bar comes from the time signature: four in 4/4, three in 3/4.
Beat 1 of each bar is the strongest. It is usually where chord changes and the kick drum land. Do not confuse a bar with a barre chord, where your index finger presses several strings: the words sound alike but mean completely different things.
How do you read bars in a chord chart?
In a chord chart, each box between two bar lines is one bar:
| C | Am | F | G |
That is four bars with one chord each, so four beats per chord in 4/4. | C G | Am F | puts two chords in each bar, two beats each. The % sign repeats the previous bar.
Other signs worth knowing: a double bar line marks the end of a section, |: and :| enclose a passage to play twice, and boxes marked 1. and 2. give a different ending the second time. To practise reading chord progressions in different styles, browse the chord progression library.
How long is one bar?
It depends on the tempo. The formula: number of beats × 60 ÷ BPM.
- 4/4 at 60 BPM: 4 seconds per bar.
- 4/4 at 100 BPM: 2.4 seconds.
- 4/4 at 120 BPM: 2 seconds, so 24 seconds for one pass of a 12-bar blues.
- 3/4 at 90 BPM: 2 seconds.
Songs are almost always built from 4- or 8-bar phrases: a 16-bar verse in 4/4 at 120 BPM lasts 32 seconds.
Exercise: feel the bar while you play
Play C, Am, F and G, one bar each, at 80 BPM. Strum D DU UDU (D = down, U = up) in every bar.
- Count 1 2 3 4 out loud and change chord exactly on the 1.
- Then count the bars themselves: 1 2 3 4, 2 2 3 4, 3 2 3 4, 4 2 3 4. The first number tells you which bar you are in.
- Stop strumming for bar 4 and come back in on bar 1: if you land on time, you can feel the bar.
Session players use exactly this count so they never get lost in a song form.
Key takeaways
- A bar groups a fixed number of beats, marked off by vertical bar lines.
- Beat 1 is the strongest and usually carries the chord change.
- Bar length = beats × 60 ÷ BPM.
- Songs are built from phrases of 4, 8, 12 or 16 bars.
Frequently asked questions
Is a bar the same as a measure?
Yes. Bar is the usual term in British English, measure in American English, and both mean the same thing. Musicians in both countries understand both, and chord charts use bar lines either way.
What is a pickup bar?
A pickup, or anacrusis, is an incomplete bar at the start of a piece: one or a few notes played before the first strong beat. If a melody starts on beat 4, that beat is the pickup and bar 1 begins on the following downbeat. The accompaniment usually comes in on that downbeat.
How many bars are in a verse or chorus?
Most often 8 or 16 bars in pop and rock, 12 in the blues, and 32 (an AABA form of 8 bars per section) in many jazz standards. Counting the bars of a song helps you anticipate every section change.
Related terms
Practise in the workshop
Take it from theory to the fretboard
Open the workshop tools and see this idea across the whole neck. Free account, no card needed.