Common time symbol

A large letter C at the start of a staff, standing for four-four time.

Also known as: Common time, C music symbol, Letter C on the staff

MusicalEveryday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

The C means four-four. It is not an abbreviation of 'common' — it descends from a broken circle used in medieval notation to mean imperfect time, and the C shape is what remained of it.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Stands for four-four time, four quarter-note beats to the bar.
Contexts: Music
Historically documentedVerified fact
Descends from the broken circle of medieval mensural notation, which marked imperfect time — a full circle marked perfect, threefold time. The C is not an initial letter.
Contexts: Music
Common modern usageVerified fact
Is struck through by a vertical line to mean cut time, halving the counted beat.
Contexts: Music

Visual description

A large open C occupying the height of the middle three staff lines, drawn as a thick crescent open to the right.

Symmetry: horizontal
Orientation: upright

Commonly confused with: Time signature
A shorthand for one signature rather than a different kind of mark.

Compare: Common time (C) vs a written time signature →

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Time signature
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Part of

Staff notation — reading a score

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Meanings

The C means four-four. It is not an abbreviation of 'common' — it descends from a broken circle used in medieval notation to mean imperfect time, and the C shape is what remained of it.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Stands for four-four time, four quarter-note beats to the bar.

Contexts: Music

Historically documentedVerified fact

Descends from the broken circle of medieval mensural notation, which marked imperfect time — a full circle marked perfect, threefold time. The C is not an initial letter.

Contexts: Music

Common modern usageVerified fact

Is struck through by a vertical line to mean cut time, halving the counted beat.

Contexts: Music

Confidence

IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols

Meanings

Visual description

Related & commonly confused symbols