Discussion 4b - Compound Meters

Compound Conundrum

“What is a compound meter?”

• Any regular meter where the beats are dvided evenly by 3.

Single, duple, triple, and quadruple refer to how many beats are in the measure. Ex:

• Single: 3/8
• Duple: 6/8
• Triple: 9/8, 9/16
• Quadruple: 12/8

“How do compound time signatures work?”

• Top # = how many divisons there are in a measure.
• Bottom # = the note value of the division.
• Do figure out the number of beats in a measure, divide the top number by 3. (Ex: 6/8 has two beats. 6÷3=2)

Counting:

• Divisions: use “1 la li 2 la li”
• Subdivisions: use “1 to la ta li ti 2 to la ta li ti”

Further reading

From Open Music Theory

Compound meters

Meters that divide the beat into three equal parts are compound meters.

When combined with simple meters, there are six types of standard meter in Western music:

• simple duple (beats group into two, divide into two)
• simple triple (beats group into three, divide into two)
• simple quadruple (beats group into four, divide into two)
• compound duple (beats group into two, divide into three)
• compound triple (beats group into three, divide into three)
• compound quadruple (beats group into four, divide into three)

In a time signature, the top number (and the top number only!) describes the type of meter. Following are the top numbers that always correspond to each type of meter:

• simple duple: 2
• simple triple: 3
• simple quadruple: 4
• compound duple: 6
• compound triple: 9
• compound quadruple: 12

Notating meter

In compound meters, the bottom number of the time signature corresponds to the type of note corresponding to a single division of the beat. If a compound meter is notated such that each dotted-quarter note corresponds to a beat, the eighth note is the division of the beat, and thus the bottom number of the time signature is 8. If a compound meter is notated such that each dotted-half note corresponds to a beat, the quarter note is the division of the beat, and thus the bottom number of the time signature is 4. Note that because the beat is divided into three in a compound meter, the beat is always three times as long as the division note, and the beat is always dotted.

Compound duple meter

"Shiver," Radiohead

Strong Quartet No. 17 in B-flat Major, K. 458, "The Hunt," Movement I., Wolfgang A. Mozart

Compound triple meter

"The Tourist," Radiohead

Sonata No. 42 in G Major, Hob. XVI:27, Movement II., Joseph Haydn

Compound quadruple meter

"Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3," Muse

Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2, "Moonlight," Movement I., Ludwig van Beethoven

St. Matthew Passion, No. 1, Chorus, "Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen," J.S. Bach