music theory for musicians and normal people by toby w. rush

globe theatre london, england Complex Meter compound meter, compound meter, wherefore art thou simple meters and compound meters compound? are both used quite a bit in the common practice period, but they were rarely found together... most pieces exclusively used one or the other! &&&&

on the rare occasion that they were uh, because combined, it was generally as mixed meter, of this dot...? when the meter changes from one measure to the next.

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r S e ar n st o “Am We le 957 1 > > > > > 6 œ œ œ 3 œ 6 œ œ œ 3 œ œ 6 bœ œ œbœ œ œ 3 œ bœ 6 bœ œ œ 3 œ & 8 œ œ œ 4 œ œ 8 œ œ œ 4 œ 8 4 œ 8 bœ œ œ 4 œ œ > > > > > > consistent alternations like this are often written with two time signatures at the beginning, like this: 86 43 but twentieth-century composers — especially those who were working in a style called primitivism, which featured primal, unpredictable rhythms — would take the combination of simple and compound rhythms to the next level!

simple complex compound meter meter meter

beat unit includes simple beat unit divisible by and compound beats divisible by two three

beat shown by 5 œ œ. beat shown by undotted note & 8 compound beat! dotted note

simple beat!

in these meters, the beats will be uneven! so these eighth the note that serves as the division of the beat 5 notes should all be remains constant throughout the measure. & 8 œ œ œ œ œ the same length!

like compound meters, the time signature for complex meters is based on the division of the beat. but, in fact, these meters still have two, three or four beats per measure! 5 7 8 9 10 11 can8 be can8 be can be can8 be can8 be can8 be written as written as written8 as written as written as written as

2+3 3+2+2+2 3+3+2+2 10 2+3+3+3 5 2+2+3 7 2+3+3 8 & 89 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 118 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ or & 8 & 8 & 8 or or or or or 3+2+3+2 10 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2+3+2+2 9 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 8 3+2+3+3 11 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 3+2+2 3+2+3 8 & 8 or & 8 3+2 5 7 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ or or œ œ œ œ œ & 8 3+2+2+3 & 8 or or 10 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2+2+3+2 9 & 8 3+3+2+3 11 & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ or & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ or or 2+3+2 7 3+3+2 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2+3+2+3 10 & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 8 & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2+2+2+3 9 or 3+3+3+2 11 & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ & 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ 2+3+3+2 & 108 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ of course, while using for the bottom like or number is most common in modern scores, 2+2+3+3 or ! 8 & 108 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ can be used as the division! 7 ... 11 any note 16 2 2 licensed under3 a creative commons BY-NC-ND license - visit tobyrush.com4 for more