Did you know that music is full of fractions? You will discover with Eric that without fractions there would be no songs It's not magic ... it's mathematical! The pedagogical side: This segment demonstrates whole notes, half notes, and quarter notes. It shows that a musical bar in a song may have different types of notes. Time signatures tell you how many beats there are to the measure and what kind of note gets one beat no matter how quickly or slowly you play the music. Metronomes help musician keep a steady beat, counting time.