In music, compound metre or compound time is a time signature or meter in which each beat (or rather, portion, 1/2 or 1/3 of a measure) is divided into three parts, as opposed to two which is simple meter.
For example, 6/8 is divided into two parts, making it duple meter, of three quavers (eighth notes) each, making it compound meter (compound duple meter).
For all meters, the first beat (the "downbeat") is stressed; in time signatures with four groups in the bar (such as 4/4 and 12/8), the third beat is also stressed, though to a lesser degree.
Assuming the breve to be a beat, this corresponds to the modern concepts of triple meter and duplemeter, respectively.
N.B. in modern compoundmeters the beat is a dotted note value, such as a dotted quarter, because the ratios of the modern note value hierarchy are always 2:1.
For example, a meter with 3 beats per measure with the quarter note receiving the beat is called "3/4" time, and is notated with a "3" in the top number and a "4" in the lower number.
Compoundmeter is used to notate music that has three instead of two subdivisions per beat.
In compoundmeter, the top number is the number of subdivided by 3 beats and the bottom number is the note value receiving the subdivided by 3 beat.
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