Meter refers to the repetitive arrangement of strong and weak pulses in a musical composition. It comes from the Greek word for "measure" and is notated with a time signature at the beginning. The time signature indicates how many beats are in each measure and which note value (quarter note, half note, etc.) receives one beat. There are three main types of meter: duple meter groups beats in twos, triple meter groups beats in threes, and quadruple meter groups beats in fours. The time signature, along with the grouping of beats, establishes the underlying pulse or rhythm of a piece of music.

1. METER
Lesson 2

2. Meter  refers to the repetitive arrangement of strong and weak
pulses or beats in a musical composition.
 comes from the Greek word metron, which means
“measure”.
 Each measure or cluster of notes represents a musical
composition’s rhythm.
 Notated at the beginning of a composition with a time
signature.
 Rhythm in music can be divided into groups called meters

3. Meter  all about “pulse” and how pulses are grouped together in
sets.
Beat  is the foundation of rhythm. It is a regular interval of sound
 It is a steady, repeating pulse in music.
 Arranged and organized in groups or follow a certain
pattern of strong and weak beats.
 Beat stick
beat stick ( )
Accent (>)  represent the strong beat
U  represent the weak beat
Measure  Grouping of music between two bar lines.

4. Time Signature  Indicates the rhythm of the music.
 It appears like a fraction positioned at the
beginning of the staff after the clef.
 in a music piece has two numbers written in the
treble clef: the upper number abd lower number.
 Written at the beginning of the measure

5. 2
4
 This number indicates the number of
equal beats in a measure.
 In
2
4
,
3
4
, and
4
4
, the number on top indicates
that a measure will have 2,3, and 4 beats
respectively.
 This number indicates the kind of note that gets one beat.
 In this example, a quarter note ( ) receives one beat.

6. 3
4
 This is the three four-time signature, which
means that there are 3 beats per measure and 4
indicates that a quarter note gets one beat.
4
4
 This is the four-time signature, which means that
there are 4 beats per measure and a lower 4
indicates that a quarter note gets one beat.
2
4
 This is the two-four-time signature, which means
that there are 2 beats per measure and the 4
indicates that a quarter timing gets one beat.

7. 1. Duple Meter  When beat are grouped into 2’s, they have a
constant pattern of one strong beat and one weak
beat.
 It is usually used in marching music

9. 2. Triple Meter  When beats are grouped into 3’s, they have a
constant pattern of one strong beat followed by
two weak beats. It is used in waltz music.

10. 3. Quadruple Meter  When the beats are grouped into 4’s, they have a
constant pattern of one strong beat followed by
three weak beats. It is used in almost all kinds of
music.