[Dixielandjazz] Timing and tempo

[Thompson]

Does the time signature reflect the tempo? or is that an arbitrary thing?

Rebecca

-----Original Message-----
From:  Of Dan Augustine
     The differences among 2/2, 2/4, and 'cut time' are notational. 
In all of these time-signatures (or 'meters'), there are two beats in 
the bar.  In 2/2, the half-note is a beat; in 2/4, the quarter-note 
is a beat. In 'cut time' (usually represented by a large capital 
letter 'C' with a vertical bar through it), the half-note also gets 
the beat.