Understanding metre
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can identify simple, compound and irregular time signatures.
Key learning points
- Time signatures (or metre) can be grouped into simple, compound and irregular time signatures.
- Simple time signatures have two quavers in each beat.
- Compound time signatures have three quavers in each beat.
- Simple and compound time signatures can also be described as duple (2), triple (3) or quadruple (4 beats).
- Irregular time signatures cannot be counted with groups of only 2 or only 3 beats. Examples are 7/8 and 5/4.
Keywords
Simple time - each beat is divided into two quavers; 4/4 and 3/4 are examples of this
Compound time - each beat is divided into three quavers; 6/8 and 12/8 are examples of this
Irregular time signature - the number of beats cannot be divided by 2 or 3 (e.g. 5, 7)
Common misconception
Compound time signatures create more complex sounding music and aren't used often.
This isn't strictly true. Compound time signatures are extremely common, including in popular music styles. While the theory of them is slightly more complex than simple time signatures, to compose or play using them is not particularly difficult.
Teacher tip
The key to identifying any time signature is feeling the pulse. If pupils are struggling to feel the pulse, consider some simple exercises clapping the pulse alongside a simple drum beat, or with recorded music. This is key to being able to identify even basic time signatures.
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