- Compound meter signatures differ from simple ones in several ways - In compound meters: - The top number of the meter signature is 6, 9, or 12, representing duple, triple, and quadruple. Divide this by three to get the number of beats per measure - The lower number is usually 8, but may also be 4 or 16. This number shows the type of note that represents the division of the beat.
RHYTHMIC NOTATION IN COMPOUND METERS
- As in simple meters, rhythms in compound meters should be beamed to reflect the beat unit.
- Not all compound-meter music is notated with a dotted-quater beat unit, it can be a dotted half note or dotted eighth note. - Counting compound meters with quarter-note beat division can prove challenging; since the quarter notes are not beamed together like eighths are.
SYNCOPATION
- As in simple meters, ties and rests in compound meters can create offbeat accents, or syncopation - Syncopations are created in compound meters by: - placing ties from a weak part of a beat across a stronger part - an accent mark on a weak beat or the weak part of a beat - a rest on the strong part of a beat that causes a weaker part to sound accentented
MIXING BEAT DIVISIONS AND GROUPINGS
Triplets - In simple meters, the beat may occasionally be divided into three parts instead of the normal two, these are called triplets and marked with a 3 - When notating triplets, use the same duration values for the triplet as the duple division it replaces (example: an eighth note triplet replaces two eighth notes)