Pulse, beat and metre
The pulse is the steady beat you can tap with your foot. Metre tells us how the pulses are grouped into bars. In every bar the first beat is the strongest. The time signature is written as two numbers, for example 4/4 or 6/8.
Simple, compound and mixed metres
- Simple metre (2/4, 3/4, 4/4): each main beat splits into two parts.
- Compound metre (6/8, 9/8, 12/8): each main beat splits into three parts. In 6/8 you feel two big beats, each of three eighth notes.
- Mixed (asymmetric) metre (5/8, 7/8, 11/8): the groups are of two and three eighths together, for example 7/8 = 2+2+3 or 3+2+2. The grouping is written above the bar.
The bottom number tells the kind of note that counts one pulse (8 = an eighth note). The top number says how many pulses are in the bar.
Syncopation, dotted rhythm and ornaments
Syncopation means the accent falls on a weak beat or between beats. The listener expects a strong beat, but the stress comes early or late, so the music feels surprising and lively.
Dotted rhythm: a dot after a note makes it longer by half of its own length. A dotted quarter note = a quarter + an eighth = 3 eighths. Long-short patterns like this sound like a skipping step.
Ornaments are small, quick notes added around a main note to decorate it, such as a grace note, a trill or a turn. They do not change the metre.
Rhythmic and melodic variation
A variation keeps the idea of a tune but changes something. Rhythmic variation changes the lengths of notes (for example turning even notes into long-short). Melodic variation changes the pitches or adds ornaments, but the shape of the tune stays recognisable.
Key formulas and definitions
- Simple metre: beat splits in 2 (2/4, 3/4, 4/4)
- Compound metre: beat splits in 3 (6/8, 9/8, 12/8)
- Mixed metre: groups of 2 and 3 (5/8 = 3+2, 7/8 = 2+2+3)
- Dotted note = note + half of its length (dotted quarter = 3 eighths)
- Syncopation = accent on a weak beat or off the beat
Worked examples
1. How do you count 6/8?
Six eighth notes in two groups of three: 1 2 3 4 5 6, with accents on 1 and 4. It feels like two big beats.
2. A dotted quarter note is followed by an eighth note. How many eighth notes does the bar part last?
A dotted quarter = 1 quarter (2 eighths) + half of a quarter (1 eighth) = 3 eighths. The eighth note adds 1. Together: 4 eighths = one half-bar of 4/4.
3. Group a 7/8 bar as 2+2+3. Where are the accents?
On pulses 1, 3 and 5. Count: 1 2, 3 4, 5 6 7. The last group of three is longest.
Common mistakes
- Thinking 6/8 is the same as 3/4. Both have six eighths, but 6/8 feels like 2 big beats of 3 and 3/4 feels like 3 beats of 2.
- Calling any loud note a syncopation. Syncopation is a stress on a weak place, not just loudness.
- Forgetting that the dot adds half of the note value, not a fixed amount.
- Counting 7/8 as seven equal beats. We feel it in uneven groups such as 2+2+3.