Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of p oetry (Scholes 1977; Latham

2002) where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented (Scholes 1977; Latham 2002). Hence it may also refer to the pattern of lines and accents in the verse of a hymn or ballad, for example, and so to the organization of music into regularly recurring measu res or bars of stressed and unstressed "beats", indicated in Western music notat ion by a time signature and bar-lines. The terminology of western music is notoriously imprecise in this area (Scholes 1977). MacPherson (1930, 3) preferred to speak of "time" and "rhythmic shape", I mogen Holst (1963, 17) of "measured rhythm". However, London has written a book about musical metre, which "involves our initial perception as well as subsequen t anticipation of a series of beats that we abstract from the rhythm surface of the music as it unfolds in time" (London 2004, 4). This "perception" and "abstraction" of rhythmic measure is the foundation of hum an instinctive musical participation, as when we divide a series of identical cl ock-ticks into "tick-tock-tick-tock" (Scholes 1977). "Rhythms of recurrence" ari se from the interaction of two levels of motion, the faster providing the pulse and the slower organizing the beats into repetitive groups (Yeston 1976, 50 52). " Once a metric hierarchy has been established, we, as listeners, will maintain th at organization as long as minimal evidence is present" (Lester 1986, 77). Contents * 1 Metric structure * 2 Types o 2.1 Duple meter o 2.2 Triple meter o 2.3 Simple meter o 2.4 Compound meter * 3 Meter in song * 4 Meter in dance music * 5 Meter in classical music o 5.1 Changing meter o 5.2 Hypermeter o 5.3 Polymeter o 5.4 Examples of various meter sound samples * 6 Sources * 7 See also * 8 External links [edit] Metric structure Metric levels: beat level shown in middle with division levels above and multipl e levels below. The definition of a musical meter requires the identification of repeating patte rns of accent forming a "pulse-group" that corresponds to the poetic foot. Norma lly such pulse-groups are defined by taking the accented beat as the first and c ounting the pulses until the next accent (MacPherson 1930, 5; Scholes 1977). Nor mally, even the most complex of meters may be broken down into a chain of duple and triple pulses (MacPherson 1930, 5; Scholes 1977). The level of musical organ isation implied by musical meter, therefore, includes the most elementary levels of musical form (MacPherson 1930, 3). The general classifications of rhythm metrical rhythm, measured rhythm, and free rhythm may be distinguished in all aspects of temporality (Cooper 1973, 30). Me trical rhythm, by far the most common in Western music, is where each time value is a multiple or fraction of a fixed unit (beat, see paragraph below) and norma l accents re-occur regularly providing systematical grouping (measures, divisive

rhythm), measured rhythm is where each time value is a multiple or fraction of a specified time unit but there are not regularly recurring accents (additive rh ythm), and free rhythm is where there is neither (Cooper 1973, 30). Some music, including chant, has freer rhythm, like the rhythm of prose compared to that of verse (Scholes 1977). Some music, such as some graphically scored works since th e 1950s and non-European music such as Honkyoku repertoire for shakuhachi, may b e considered ametric (Karpinski 2000, 19). Senza misura is an Italian musical te rm for "without meter", meaning to play without a beat, using time to measure ho w long it will take to play the bar (Forney and Machlis 2007,[page needed]). Metric structure includes meter, tempo, and all rhythmic aspects which produce t emporal regularity or structure, against which the foreground details or duratio nal patterns of any piece of music are projected (Wittlich 1975, chapt. 3). Metr ic levels may be distinguished: the beat level is the metric level at which puls es are heard as the basic time unit of the piece. Faster levels are division lev els, and slower levels are multiple levels (Wittlich 1975, chapt. 3). A rhythmic unit is a durational pattern which occupies a period of time equivalent to a pu lse or pulses on an underlying metric level. [edit] Types [edit] Duple meter Main article: Duple meter Duple meter is a meter in which each measure is divided into two beats, or a mul tiple thereof (quadruple meter). For example, in the time signature 2/4, each me asure contains two (2) quarter note (4) beats. [edit] Triple meter Main article: Triple metre Triple meter is a meter in which each measure is divided into three beats, or a multiple thereof. For example, in the time signature 3/4, each measure contains three (3) quarter note (4) beats. [edit] Simple meter Simple quadruple drum pattern: divides four beats into two About this sound Play (helpinfo) Simple metre or simple time is a metre in which each beat of the measure divides naturally into two equal parts, rather than three which gives a compound metre. For example, in the time signature 3/4, each measure contains three crotchet (q uarter note) beats, and each of those beats divides into two quavers (eighth not es), making it a simple metre. More specifically, it is simple triple because th ere are three beats in each measure; duple (two beats) or quadruple (four) are a lso common metres, with other numbers being less usual. Simple triple drum pattern: divides three beats into two About this sound Play ( helpinfo) [edit] Compound meter Compound duple drum pattern: divides two beats into three About this sound Play (helpinfo) Compound meter, compound metre, or compound time (chiefly British variation), is a time signature or meter in which each beat is divided into three or more part s, or two uneven parts.[citation needed] In Western music, the predominant form of compound meter is the division into three parts; but more parts are possible, and frequently used, for example, in Balkan music; some examples are given in t he article Bulgarian dances.[citation needed] Compound triple drum pattern: divides three beats into three About this sound Pl ay (helpinfo) Compound meters are written with a time signature showing the number of division s of the beat in each measure. For example, compound duple (two beats, each divi ded into three) is written as a time signature with a numerator of six, such as

6/8. A time signature of 3/4 would also contain six quavers in the measure, but by convention it is understood that 3/4 refers to three crotchet beats, while 6/ 8 refers to two beats divided into three. Examples of compound meter: * 6/8 (compound duple meter) has two beats divided into three equal parts, i .e., a primary accent on the first quaver, and a subordinate accent on the fourt h quaver. * 9/8 (compound triple meter) has three beats divided into three parts, i.e. , a primary accent on the first quaver, and subordinate accents on the fourth an d seventh quavers. * 12/8 (compound quadruple meter) has four beats divided into three equal pa rts, i.e., a primary accent on the first quaver, a secondary accent on the seven th quaver, and subordinate accents on the fourth and tenth quavers. Although 3/4 and 6/8 are not to be confused, they use measures of the same lengt h, so it is easy to "slip" between them just by shifting the location of the acc ents. This interpretational switch has been exploited, for example, by Leonard B ernstein, in the song "America" from West Side Story, as can be heard in the pro minent motif About this sound Play (helpinfo): "I like to be in A-mer-i-ca" from West Side Story. Some works with compound meter: * The Irish slip jig is characterized by being in 9/8 time. Counter-examples, not in compound meter Compound meter divided into three parts could theoretically be transcribed into musically equivalent simple meter using triplets. Likewise, simple meter can be shown in compound through duples. In practice, however, this is rarely done beca use it disrupts conducting patterns when the Tempo changes. When conducting in 6 /8, conductors typically provide two beats per measure. Where the tempo is slow, however, all six beats may be performed. Compound time is associated with "lilting" and dance-like qualities. Folk dances often use compound time. Many Baroque dances are often in compound time: some g igues, the courante, and sometimes the passepied and the siciliana. [edit] Meter in song A German children's song shows a common fourfold multiplication of rhythmic phra ses into a complete verse and melody. About this sound Play (helpinfo) The concept of meter in music derives in large part from the poetic meter of son g and includes not only the basic rhythm of the foot, pulse-group or figure used but also the rhythmic or formal arrangement of such figures into musical phrase s (lines, couplets) and of such phrases into melodies, passages or sections (sta nzas, verses) to give what Holst (1963, 18) calls "the time pattern of any song" (See also: Form of a musical passage). Traditional and popular songs may draw heavily upon a limited range of meters, l eading to interchangeability of melodies. Early hymnals commonly did not include musical notation but simply texts that could be sung to any tune known by the s ingers that had a matching meter. For example The Blind Boys of Alabama rendered the hymn Amazing Grace to the setting of The Animals' version of the folk song The House of the Rising Sun. This is possible because the texts share a popular basic four-line (quatrain) verse-form called ballad meter or, in hymnals, common meter, the four lines having a syllable-count of 8:6:8:6 (Hymns Ancient and Mod ern Revised), the rhyme-scheme usually following suit: ABAB. There is generally a pause in the melody in a cadence at the end of the shorter lines so that the u

nderlying musical meter is 8:8:8:8 beats, the cadences dividing this musically i nto two symmetrical "normal" phrases of four measures each (MacPherson, 14). Two-fold, four-fold and eight-fold division and multiplication of phrases into m easures and of phrases into passages is indeed "common" and "normal" the above arr angement is typical of the Baroque suite and the Bach chorale but it is far from u niversal. "God Save the Queen", for example, has six three-beat measures in its first phrase and eight in the second yet it still achieves symmetry. A Twelve-ba r blues has three lines, not two or four, of four measures each.[citation needed ] In some regional music, for example Balkan music (like Bulgarian music, and the Macedonian 3+2+2+3+2 meter), a wealth of irregular or compound meters are used. Other terms for this are "additive meter" (London 2001, I.8) and "imperfect meter " (Gardner 1964,[page needed]). [edit] Meter in dance music Typical figures of the waltz rhythm (Scruton 1997) Meter is often essential to any style of dance music, such as the waltz or tango , that has instantly recognizable patterns of beats built upon a characteristic tempo and measure. The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (1983) defines th e tango, for example, as to be danced in 2/4 time at approximately 66 beats per minute. The basic slow step forwards or backwards, lasting for one beat, is called a "sl ow", so that a full "right-left" step is equal to one 2/4 measure. Gavotte rhythm.png But step-figures such as turns, the corte and walks-in also require "quick" step s of half the duration, each entire figure requiring 3-6 "slow" beats. Such figu res may then be "amalgamated" to create a series of movements that may synchroni se to an entire musical section or piece. This can be thought of as an equivalen t of prosody. [edit] Meter in classical music A sequence of steps laid against the typical rhythm of the gavotte. Stylised fol k-dances from all over Europe lent their characteristic meters to the Baroque su ite. In music of the common practice period (about 1600 1900), there are four different families of time signature in common use: * Simple duple two or four beats to a bar, each divided by two, the top numb er being "2" or "4" (2/4, 2/8, 2/2 4/4, 4/8, 4/2 ). When there are four beats to a bar, it is alternatively referred to as "quadruple" time. * Simple triple (About this sound 3/4 (helpinfo)) three beats to a bar, each divided by two, the top number being "3" (3/4, 3/8, 3/2 ) * Compound duple - two beats to a bar, each divided by three, the top number being "6" (6/8, 6/16, 6/4 ) * Compound triple - three beats to a bar, each divided by three, the top num ber being "9" (9/8, 9/16, 9/4) Rhythmic analysis of the metric elaboration of one phrase of a gavotte by J.S. B ach. Ebene (German: level). If the beat is divided into two the meter is simple, if divided into three it is compound. If each measure is divided into two it is duple and if into three it is triple. Some people also label quadruple, while some consider it as two duple s. Any other division is considered additively, as a measure of five beats may b e broken into duple+triple (12123) or triple+duple (12312) depending on accent. However, in some music, especially at faster tempos, it may be treated as one un

it of five. [edit] Changing meter In twentieth century concert music, it became more common to switch meter the end of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is an example. A metric modulation is a modulation from one metric unit or meter to another. The use of asymmetrical rhy thms also became more common: such meters include quintuple as well as more comp lex additive meters along the lines of 2+2+3 time, where each bar has two 2-beat units and a 3-beat unit with a stress at the beginning of each unit. Similar me ters are used in various folk music as well as some music by Philip Glass. Addit ive meters may be conceived either as long, irregular meters or as constantly ch anging short meters. [edit] Hypermeter Hypermeter: 4 beat measure, 4 measure hypermeasure, and 4 hypermeasure verses. H yperbeats in red. Opening of the third movement of Beethoven's Waldstein sonata. Notice that the m elodic lines in bars 1 - 4 and 5 - 8 are (almost) identical. Hence, they must ha ve the same hypermeter - 4 hyperbeats per hypermeasure. In this case, the "downb eat" of each hypermeasure is the low C, which is struck by the same hand which t hen plays the melody. Hypermeter is large-scale meter (as opposed to surface-level meter) created by h ypermeasures which consist of hyperbeats (Stein 2005, 329). "Hypermeter is meter , with all its inherent characteristics, at the level where measures act as beat s." (Neal 2000, 115) For example, the four-bar hypermeasure is the prototypical structure for country music, in and against which country songs work (Neal 2000, 115). In classical music, the four bar hypermeter is a commonly observed practi ce, constituting the basis of symmetrical phrasing. The term was coined by Cone (1968) while London (2004, 19) asserts that there is no perceptual distinction between meter and hypermeter. Lee (1985) and Middleto n have described musical meter in terms of deep structure, using generative conc epts to show how different meters (4/4, 3/4, etc.) generate many different surfa ce rhythms. For example the first phrase of The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night", w ithout the syncopation, may be generated from its meter of 4/4 (Middleton 1990, 211): 4/4 / \ / 2/4 | | | | | hard 2/4 2/4 | / \ | 1/4 1/4 | / \ / \ | 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 | | | | | It's been a 4/4 \ 4/4 / \ 2/4 2/4 2/4 | | \ | | \ | | | | | | days night...

The syncopation may then be added, moving "night" forward one eighth note, and t he first phrase is generated (About this sound Play (helpinfo)). [edit] Polymeter See also: Polyrhythm The main distinction is between Polyrhythms and Polymeters. The two are often co nfused. Polymeter is sometimes referred to as "tactus-preserving polymeter." The measure size differs, the beat is the same. Since the beat is the same, the various met ers eventually agree. (Four measures of 7/4 = seven measures of 4/4). Polyrhythm is sometimes referred to as "measure preserving polymeter,". The beat

varies and the measure stays constant. E.g. in a 4:3 polyrhythm one part plays 4/4, the other plays 3/4, but the 3/4 beats are stretched so that three beats of 3/4 are played in the same time as four beats of 4/4. More generally, sometimes rhythms are combined in a way that is neither tactus n or measure preserving - the beat differs and the measure size also differs. See Polytempi. Research into the perception of polymeter shows that listeners often either extr act a composite pattern that is fitted to a metric framework, or focus on one rh ythmic stream while treating others as "noise". This is consistent with the Gest alt psychology tenet that "the figure-ground dichotomy is fundamental to all per ception" (Boring 1942, 253; London 2004, 49-50). In the music, the two meters wi ll meet each other after a specific number of beats. For example, a 3/4 meter an d 4/4 meter will meet after 12 beats. In "Toads Of The Short Forest" (from the album Weasels Ripped My Flesh), compose r Frank Zappa explains: "At this very moment on stage we have drummer A playing in 7/8, drummer B playing in 3/4, the bass playing in 3/4, the organ playing in 5/8, the tambourine playing in 3/4, and the alto sax blowing his nose" (Mothers of Invention 1970). "Touch And Go", a hit single by The Cars, has polymetric ver ses, with the drums and bass playing in 5/4, while the guitar, synthesizer, and vocals are in 4/4 (the choruses are entirely in 4/4) (The Cars 1981, 15). The Sw edish metal band Meshuggah makes frequent use of polymeters, with unconventional ly-timed rhythm figures cycling over a 4/4 base (Pieslak, 2007).