# Measure

Source: https://help.malighting.com/grandMA3/2.4/HTML/keyword_measure.html
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To enter the Measure keyword in the command line, use one of the options:

- Type **Measure**
- Type the shortcut **Mea**

## Description

The Measure keyword is used together with the phaser speed (speed layer) to define the length of time of a phaser. Knocking in the measure layer without specifying a value, will take the number of steps of the running phaser as the value. 

For more information see [Phasers](/grandma3/2-4/phaser/). 

|                                            |                                                                            |
| ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ![](/img/grandma3/2-4/tip_gray-639af3.png) | **Hint:**                                                                  |
|                                            | The measure layer also affects how the width of each step is calculated.   |

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| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ![](/img/grandma3/2-4/important_gray-89eed8.png) | **Important:**                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|                                                  | When using the measure layer, multiple width value combinations can produce identical results. To ensure predictable timing, we recommended you consider the width value of a step as the percentage of a beat and ensure that the total width of all steps in the phaser equals the number of beats specified in the measure layer.  |