Rhythm & Meter
Time Signatures Explained: Simple, Compound and Beyond
A time signature gives beats per bar and the note value that counts as one beat. Simple meters split each beat in two, compound meters split it in three.
Meter
The repeating pattern of strong and weak beats that groups the pulse into bars, shown by a time signature such as 3/4.
Also called: metre, time signature, time signatures
Meter is the pattern of stronger and weaker beats that repeats through a piece and groups the beats into bars. In 3/4 the first beat of each bar is strong and the next two are weak, the strong-weak-weak shape of a waltz. In 4/4 beat one is strongest, beat three is a secondary accent, and beats two and four are weaker. The time signature shows the meter on the page. The top number gives the beats per bar, and the bottom number names the note value that receives one beat. Meter describes organisation rather than speed. A piece in 3/4 can be played slowly or quickly, and it remains in three.
Related terms
- BeatOne unit of the steady pulse that runs under a piece, the level at which listeners tap a foot or count.
- Simple meterA meter in which each beat divides into two equal parts, as in 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4.
- Compound meterA meter in which each beat divides into three equal parts, as in 6/8, 9/8 and 12/8.
- HypermeterThe grouping of bars into larger metrical units, such as four-bar phrases, that the ear hears as strong and weak.
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Rhythm & Meter
Meter, Beat Hierarchy and Hypermeter in Performance
Meter is a pattern of strong and weak positions, not a time signature: how it is built, how it stretches past the bar, and where performance contradicts it.