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 if metre is not perceived in the same way by individuals in a group, and is not necessarily explicit in the music, then part of teaching ballet - which relies greatly on coherence between music and movement in groups - must be to "manage" the perception of metre[2].
In practice, this means teaching the basic components of metre - pulse, tactus, duple, triple, compound and additive metres - and using these terms as analytical tools to aid both the perception of metre and the learning of steps or movements which have to be performed in particular metres.
Metre is the term used to describe patterns of pulses defined by the prominence of some pulses (by means of accent, for example) over others.
Metre gives dignity and memorability, conveys tempo, mood, the subtle shifts in evidence, passion and persuasion beyond what is possible in prose.
For contemporary practice it may be better to consider metre under two headings: whether the syllables or the stresses are being counted, and whether these counts are fixed or variable.
Some of the speech rhythms claimed as "superior to metre" are not rhythms at all but an enviable dexterity in idiomatic expression.
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