Meters
Rhythm describes the motion of music in time that heavily relies on pulse. It is important to understand what the pulse is in a piece of music to figure out what the meter is. The meter of a piece is a recurring pattern of strong and weak beats. It is determined at the beginning of a piece by a meter (time) signature. It can also change during a piece and will be indicated.
In a time signature, the top number signifies the numbers of basic notes in a measure. The bottom number represents a basic note value. To briefly explain 2=half note, 4=quarter note, 8=eighth note, and so on. So if we were to play in 2/2, the top number is 2 which means there are two basic notes in one measure and the bottom note is 2 so the basic notes would be half notes. Let's do that again with 4/4, or common time. The top number is 4 so there are 4 basic notes and the bottom number is 4 so the basic notes are quarter notes. Let's do one last example.
In the above examples, they were all in simple meter. Simple meter is when each beat can be divided into TWO parts. This would mean each beat would be simple division. Key signatures that are simple, usually have 2, 3, and 4 in the top.
In the above examples, they were all in simple meter. Simple meter is when each beat can be divided into TWO parts. This would mean each beat would be simple division. Key signatures that are simple, usually have 2, 3, and 4 in the top.
Simple key signatures often have very simple basic notes. Below you can see meters, their basic note pulse, and divisions.
Meter Signature Basic Note Pulse Division
2/2 3/2 4/2 Half note Two quarter notes
2/4 3/4 4/4 Quarter note Two eighth notes
2/8 3/8 4/8 Eighth note Two sixteenth notes
Compound meter is pretty easy to spot because each basic note is dotted, which you have to divide into groups of THREE (compound division. In compound meters, the top numbers to look out for are 6 ,9, and 12. In simple meter, the bottom number tells you the basic note; however, in compound meter, the bottom note tells you the basic note division. To find the pulse, you can usually divide the top number by three. Let's break down 6/8.
Meter Signature Basic Note Pulse Division
2/2 3/2 4/2 Half note Two quarter notes
2/4 3/4 4/4 Quarter note Two eighth notes
2/8 3/8 4/8 Eighth note Two sixteenth notes
Compound meter is pretty easy to spot because each basic note is dotted, which you have to divide into groups of THREE (compound division. In compound meters, the top numbers to look out for are 6 ,9, and 12. In simple meter, the bottom number tells you the basic note; however, in compound meter, the bottom note tells you the basic note division. To find the pulse, you can usually divide the top number by three. Let's break down 6/8.
- First, remember that you must use a dotted note for the pulse which means that it will be divided into a group of three.
- The eight on the bottom means eighth notes. This means that the dotted note will be divided into three eighth notes.
- Which dotted note equals three eight notes? If you got a dotted quarter note than you are correct!
- Now we need to figure out how many dotted quarter notes in each measure. To do this we need to divide 6 (the top number) by three which equals two. This means that there are two dotted quarter notes in each measure.
- Another way to do the last step is to just add up the eighth notes in each dotted quarter until you reach 6 because the time signature indicates you need 6 eighth notes in each measure.
Meter Signature Basic Note Pulse Division
6/4 9/4 12/4 Dotted half note Three quarter notes
6/8 9/8 12/8 Dotted quarter note Three eighth notes
6/16 9/16 12/16 Dotted eighth note Three sixteenth notes
Simple and compound meter both have pulses of 2, 3, or 4, therefore, we identify them by duple, triple, and quadruple meter. To simply put it 2 pulses=duple, 3 pulses=triple, and 4 pulses=quadruple. When naming a meter, duple, triple, and quadruple will be paired with simple or compound.
Simple Meters Compound Meters
Duple Meters 2/4 2/2 2/8 6/8 6/4 6/16
Triple Meters 3/4 3/2 3/8 9/8 9/4 9/16
Quadruple Meters 4/4 4/2 4/8 12/8 12/4 12/16
Let's break down two of these meters.
3/4 is a simple meter because the basic note is a quarter note which can by simply divided into two parts. It is triple meter because there are three basic pulses in each measure. 3/4 is simple triple meter.
12/8 is compound meter because it's basic pulse note is a dotted quarter note. Since 12 divided by 3 equals 4 or 4 dotted quarter notes equals 12 eighth notes, it is quadruple meter. 12/8 is compound quadruple meter.
Asymmetrical meters literally means "not symmetrical". In these meters the pulse cannot be divided into equal groups of 2, 3, or 4. The upper numbers in asymmetrical meters are often 5 or 7. These meters will not be common in your earlier music theory studies since they were used much more often in 20th century music.