A compound meter has big beats made up of smaller beats, while a simple meter does not.
2/4 is a simple meter. There are 2 beats, the top number is two. A conductor would bounce the baton on one and two.
6/8 is a compound meter. There are 2 beats, but each beat is a compounding of 3 smaller beats. ONE two three FOUR five six. A conductor would only bounce the baton on one and four, even though according to the time signature there are six beats in the measure.
It’s simple if the top number matches the number of baton bounces. It’s compound if it doesn’t.
A compound is divisible so that the upbeat falls on the least denominator. For example, 6/8 is divisible by 2, so the upbeat is right in the middle. Compare this to 3/4 where the upbeat is on the 3rd quarter note.
Think of 6/8 as a march (2/4) but with each quarter note divided into its own triplet.
Comments
A compound meter has big beats made up of smaller beats, while a simple meter does not.
2/4 is a simple meter. There are 2 beats, the top number is two. A conductor would bounce the baton on one and two.
6/8 is a compound meter. There are 2 beats, but each beat is a compounding of 3 smaller beats. ONE two three FOUR five six. A conductor would only bounce the baton on one and four, even though according to the time signature there are six beats in the measure.
It’s simple if the top number matches the number of baton bounces. It’s compound if it doesn’t.
A compound is divisible so that the upbeat falls on the least denominator. For example, 6/8 is divisible by 2, so the upbeat is right in the middle. Compare this to 3/4 where the upbeat is on the 3rd quarter note.
Think of 6/8 as a march (2/4) but with each quarter note divided into its own triplet.
DA-de-de-DA-de-de