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Year 11 - Music

Understanding metre

Understanding metre, rhythm, dynamics and articulation

Unit Summary

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Lesson Summary

You will learn to identify simple, compound and irregular time signatures.

Key Notes

  • 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.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • 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 Mistakes To Avoid

  • Compound time signatures create more complex sounding music and aren't used often.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Time signatures (or metre) can be grouped into simple, compound and irregular time signatures. Simple time signatures have two quavers in each beat.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'simple time'

each beat is divided into two quavers; 4/4 and 3/4 are examples of this.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Compound time signatures create more complex sounding music and aren't used often. Correction: 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.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 11 Music guide library.