In my screed above, I am not exactly gentle with the vast bulk of singer-songwriters wandering around these days.

But I want to go on record that I do not include Mary Garvey (mg) in the singer-songwriters I regard so lowly. Having heard some of Mary's songs on the "Folk Songs of the Pacific Northwest" CD, it's evident that she has a real knack for catching the spirit of the people she writes about, putting it into words, and setting her words to good memorable and singable melodies. Melodies of her own devising, I believe.

I understand that Gordon Bok has recorded at least one of her songs so far.

Very nice work, Mary!
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Yes, the time signature definitely influences the note structure of a melody. Without doing a treatise on music theory in relation to rhythm, the top number gives you the number of beats per measure and the bottom number gives the kind of note that is worth a full beat. A 4/4 time signature means that there are four beats per measure and that a quarter-note receives a full beat, The rest is simple arithmetic:   a half-note lasts for two beats and an eighth-note is worth half a beat (two eighth-notes would occupy a full beat), and so on. So the time signature sets the rhythmic structure of a piece of music.

There are some subtle differences between, say 2/4 and 4/4. In 2/4, the main stress falls on the first beat. 2/4 could be considered "march-time." In 4/4, the first and third beats are generally stressed, with a little less stress on the third beat.

3/4 is generally thought of as "waltz-time." 3/8 or 6/8 are similar, but generally faster. Jig time.

But this is subject to lots of variation, depending on how fast the piece goes. In standard sheet music, the pace of a piece of music is usually indicated by an Italian word ("Lento," "Presto," "Andante;" etc. Get a good music dictionary) above the time signature. Or a metronome marking ("MM") indicating the number of beats per minute.

Assigning such designations as "waltz-time" to 3/4 or "march-time" to 2/4 as an absolute rule is too crude and clumsy. A piece with a 2/4 time signature marked "Lento" (slow) might just be too slow to march to. And depending on the Italian word or the metronome marking, 3/4 could be too slow or too fast to waltz to.

Time signatures and metronome markings give fairly precise indications, but they are still subject to interpretation.

Don Firth