Reference

Compound Meters

The compound meter's time unit may be divided by three.

Some important points that we must consider in relation to these measures are:

1. We recognize the compound measures because the numerator (the top number in the time signature) is 6, 9 or 12.
2. We obtain the note that will occupy a beat by dividing the numerator by 3. For instance a 6/8 measure has 2 beats.
3. We must add a dot to the notes that occupy a beat.
4. The denominator (the bottom number) indicates the note that occupies a third of the time unit. For example in a 6/8 measure the eighth note occupies a third of a beat since a beat is occupied by 3 eighth notes or 1 dotted quarter note.

The next table show the above points:

Meter	Beats	Note in one beat	Note in one measure
6 8	2
9 8	3
12 8	4
6 4	2
9 4	3
12 4	4

An example:

© 2011 J. Rodríguez Alvira

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