Chapter 2 ::
Simple Meter
Dividing Musical Time
The primary pulse of music is called a beat. Beats are usually divided into two or three parts. There are two types of meters: simple and compound. In this chapter, we focused only on simple meter. There are three types of simple meters: duple, triple, and quadruple.
A meter signature is found after the clef on a musical staff. This will signify the what kind of meter is found in that piece of music. The top number of the meter signature represents the number of beats in each measure. The bottom number represents the type of note that gets one beat. For example, a two-four (2/4) meter has 2 quarter note beats in each measure. The image below shows 9 tpyes of simple meter signatures. |
Simple meter means that each beat in a measure can be evenly divided by 2. For example, a four-four (4/4) meter can be written with 4 quarter notes or 8 eighth notes. One quarter note is equal to 2 eighth notes. This is known as beat division. Refer to the chart to the right to see how each note divides.
I remembered bits and pieces of meter from Pop Music and Music and the iPad; however, we didn't dive into this topic as extensively in those classes as we have in AP Theory. My knowledge of meter has grown immensely through the course of this course. I would like to improve my dictation skills. I feel that I do a pretty good job of identifying meter audibly, but I need work on identifying what kind of notes are being played and how they are beamed. |
Conducting Patterns
Now that we know how to identify meter signatures, let's look at the conducting patterns for each type of signature. Conducting patterns are used to help musicians follow the rhythm of a piece of music. The conductor moves his or her hand on each beat, which is why a conducting pattern is determined by the meter signature. The image to the right shows the three types of conducting patterns.
A simple duple meter is shown by a downward motion to the right, then back up. The downward motion represents the first beat and the upward motion represents the second beat.
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A simple triple meter is represented by a straught-down motion, a motion to the right, then a motion back to the top. The downward motion represents the first beat, the motion to the right represents the second beat, and upward motion represents the third beat.
And finally, a simple quadruple meter is shown by a straight down motion, a motion to the left, a motion to the right, and a motion back to the top. The downward motion represents the first beat, the left motion represents the second, the right motion represents the third, and the upward motion represents the fourth beat. When conducting, make sure to use fluent hand motions. Relax your hand to make it bounce off each beat. Refer to the video to the left for an example of how to conduct each simple meter signature. |