music theory for musicians and normal people by toby w.

rush

Complex Meter
globe theatre
london, england

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

> > b 3 > b > 3 >

measure to the next.

& 68 43 68 43 68 b 4
68
b b 4
sondheim
stephen
and
bernstein
Story

America

Side
leonard
West

1957

> > > > > >

consistent alternations like this are often written 68 43
with two time signatures at the beginning, like this:

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!

23 4
simple complex compound
meter meter meter
beat unit includes simple beat unit
divisible by and compound beats divisible by

& 85 .
two three

beat shown by beat shown by

undotted note t! co dotted note
bea mp
le ou
p nd
sim be
at
!

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

58 78 88 89 10 118
like compound meters, the time signature for complex meters is based on the division

8
of the beat. but, in fact, these meters still have two, three or four beats per measure!

can be can be can be can be can be can be

written as written as written as written as written as written as
2+3 & 85 2+2+3 & 78 2+3+3 & 88 3+2+2+2 & 89 3+3+2+2 & 10
8 2+3+3+3 & 118
or

& 10
or or
8
& 89 & 118
& 85 & 88
or or or
& 78
3+2+3+2
2+3+2+2 3+2+3+3
3+2 3+2+2 3+2+3
& 10
or

8
or or
& 98 & 118
3+2+2+3
or or
7 8
3+3+2 & 8
2+2+3+2 3+3+2+3

2+3+2 & 8

8
or

or & 10
8 or
& 98 & 118
2+3+2+3

112 !
2+2+2+3 or 3+3+3+2
& 10

7
2+3+3+2 8
for the bottom
16
of course, while using like or

number is most common in modern scores, 2+2+3+3 & 10

8 or
any note can be used as the division! ...
licensed under a creative commons BY-NC-ND license - visit tobyrush.com for more