Musical Theory/Meter

 Meter is the regular recurring pattern of strong and weak beats of equal duration, which is also known as time. The meter or time signature in a musical composition is indicated by a fraction, and located at the beginning of a piece of music. The lower number of the fraction tells what kind of note receives one beat. The upper number tells how many beats are in a measure.



In compound meter the upper number is either 6,9, or 12. Each beat is a dotted note and subdivided into groups of three beats.