Figure out whether a time signature is duple, triple or quadruple AND figure out whether it is simple or compound.įor example, we saw that 3/4 is a simple triple meter: it consists of three quarter note beats in every bar. These 2 ways together are what you need to recognise the differences between basic time signatures. This depends on the lower number of the time signature. And by whether the beats are naturally divisible by 2 (simple meters) or naturally divisible by 3 (compound meters).This is what the top number of the time signature represents. By the amount of beats in every bar: 2 beats in every bar (duple meter), 3 beats in every bar (triple meter) or 4 beats in every bar (quadruple meter).If you’ve followed carefully up till now, you probably noticed that I described time signatures in two ways:
And finally, let’s have a look at the nursery rhyme “Pop! Goes the Weasel”. The 6/8 rhythm gives the melody a ‘skipping’ or ‘hopping’ character.
