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Meter or metre is a concept related to an underlying division of time characteristic of western music. The concept provides that the pattern, is usually 2, 3, or 4 beats long, (duple, triple, quadruple), and each beat may be normally divided into 2 or 3 basic subdivisions (simple, compound). Another view is that meter is the measurement of a musical line into measures of stressed and unstressed "beats", indicated in Western music notation by a symbol called a time signature. Yet another view is that "meter" describes the whole concept of measuring rhythmic units, but it can also be used as a specific descriptor for a measurement of an individual piece as represented by the time signature—for example, "This piece is in 4/4 meter (help· info)" is equivalent to "This piece is in 4/4 time" or "This piece has a 4/4 time signature" – all of which are formally called simple quadruple meter, four beats, each normally divided by 2. Look up meter, metre in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Hymn (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ... In musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. ... Music notation is a system of writing for music. ... The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and what note value constitutes one beat. ... A rhythmic unit is a durational pattern which occupies a period of time equivalent to a pulse or pulses on an underlying metric level, as opposed to a rhythmic gesture. ... Image File history File links 4-4_rhythm_metre_meter_time_measure. ...

Rhythm is distinguished from meter in that rhythms are patterns of duration while "meter involves our initial perception as well as subsequent anticipation of a series of beats that we abstract from the rhythm surface of the music as it unfolds in time" (London 2004, 4). For other uses, see Rhythm (disambiguation). ...

Ametric music includes chant, some graphically scored works since the 1950s, and non-European music such as Honkyoku repertoire for shakuhachi (Karpinski 2000, 19). There is discussion as to whether the western concept of meter existed before the development of tonality in the late 16th century as polyphonic music before this time was written without bar lines. Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. ... Honkyoku (本曲) are the pieces of shakuhachi or hocchiku music played by wandering Japanese Zen monks called Komuso. ... A shakuhachi flute, blowing edge up. ...

Rhythmic meter

In common practice period music, there are four different time signatures in common use: In music the common practice period is a long period in western musical history spanning from before the classical era proper to today, dated, on the outside, as 1600-1900. ...

• Simple duple – two beats to a bar, each divided by two, the top number being "2" (2/4, 2/8, 2/2 …)
• Simple triple (3/4 (help· info)) – three beats to a bar, each divided by two, the top number being "3" (3/4, 3/8. 3/2 …)
• Compound duple - two beats to a bar, each divided by three, the top number being "6" (6/8, 6/16, 6/4 …)
• Compound triple - three beats to a bar, each divided by three, the top number being "9" (9/8, 9/16, 9/4)

In some regional music, for example Balkan music (like Bulgarian music, and the Macedonian 3+2+2+3+2 meter), a wealth of complex compound meters are used. Another term for this is "additive meter". This has influenced some Western music as well, for example, Béla Bartók, and Paul Desmond in the well known tune Take Five. In music, simple metre or simple 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 two parts, as opposed to three which is compound meter. ... Triple metre is a musical metre characterised by a primary division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with 3/4 and 9/8 being the most common examples. ... Image File history File links 3-4_rhythm_metre_meter_time_measure. ... In music, duple refers to duple meter. ... In music, compound meter, (chiefly British variation) compound metre, or compound time, is a time signature or meter in which each measure is divided into three or more parts, or two uneven parts (as opposed to two even parts, called simple metre), calling for the measures to be played with... The music of Southeastern Europe or the Balkans is a type of music distinct from others in Europe. ... Bulgarian folk dances are intimately related to the music of Bulgaria. ... Levendikos Is a dance from Macedonia in Greece - mainly danced in the western side of Macedonia in the town of Florina. ... In music, compound meter, (chiefly British variation) compound metre, or compound time, is a time signature or meter in which each measure is divided into three or more parts, or two uneven parts (as opposed to two even parts, called simple metre), calling for the measures to be played with... Bartok redirects here. ... Paul Desmond (25 November 1924 - 30 May 1977), born Paul Emil Breitenfeld, was a jazz alto saxophonist and composer born in San Francisco, perhaps best known for penning Take Five as a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. ... This article is about Dave Brubeck Quartet jazz piece. ...

If each beat in a measure is divided into two parts, it is simple meter, and if divided into three it is compound. If each measure is divided into two beats, it is duple meter, and if three it is triple. Some people also label quadruple, while some consider it as two duples. The latter is more consistent with the above labeling system, as any other division above triple, such as quintuple, is considered as duple+triple (12123) or triple+duple (12312), depending on the accents in the musical example. However, in some music a quintuple may be treated and perceived as one unit of five, especially at faster tempos.

"Once a metric hierarchy has been established, we, as listeners, will maintain that organization as long as minimal evidence is present" (Lester 1986, 77). Duple time is far more common than triple. Most popular music is in simple quadruple time, eg 4/4, though often may be in simple duple, 2/2 or cut time such as in bossa nova. Doo-wop and some other rock styles are frequently in 12/8, or may be interpreted as 4/4 with heavy swing. Similarly, most classical music before the 20th century tended to stick to relatively straightforward meters such as 4/4, 3/4 and 6/8, though notational variations on these such as 3/2 and 6/4 are also found. By the twentieth century, composers were also using less regular meters, such as 5/4 and 7/8.

Also in the twentieth century, it became relatively more common to switch meter frequently—the end of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is a particularly extreme example—and the use of asymmetrical rhythms where each beat is a different length became more common: such meters include already discussed quintuple rhythms as well as more complex constructs along the lines of 2+5+3/4 time, where each bar has a 2-beat unit, a 5-beat unit, and a 3-beat unit, with a stress at the beginning of each unit; similar meters are used in various folk musics. Other music has no meter at all (free time) (such as drone-based music as exemplified by La Monte Young), features rhythms so complex that any meter is obscured (such as in some pieces using serial techniques^{[citation needed]}[Pierre Boulez, Marteau sans maitre; Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gruppen]), or is based on additive meters (such as some music by Philip Glass). Igor Stravinsky. ... This article is about the Igor Stravinsky ballet music. ... Additive rhythms are larger periods of time constructed from sequences of smaller rhythmic units added to the end of the previous unit. ... In musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. ... In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. ... La Monte Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer whose eccentric and often hard-to-find works have been included among the most important post World War II avant-garde or experimental music. ... For other uses of serial or serialism, see Serial (disambiguation). ... Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is a three-times Academy Award-nominated American composer. ...

Meter is often combined with a rhythmic pattern to produce a particular style. This is true of dance music, such as the waltz or tango, which have particular patterns of emphasizing beats which are instantly recognizable. This is often done to make the music coincide with slow or fast steps in the dance, and can be thought of as the musical equivalent of prosody. Sometimes, a particular musician or composition becomes identified with a particular metric pattern; such is the case with the so-called Bo Diddley beat. Some examples (Scruton 1997): For other uses, see Waltz (disambiguation). ... Tango is a style of music that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay. ... Prosody may mean several things: Prosody consists of distinctive variations of stress, tone, and timing in spoken language. ... Bo Diddley (born December 30, 1928) aka The Originator, is an influential American rock and roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ...

March rhythms

Polka rhythms

Siciliano rhythms

Waltz rhythms

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 3 KB)March rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 3 KB)March rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 2 KB)Polka rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 2 KB)Polka rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 3 KB)Siciliano rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 3 KB)Siciliano rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 3 KB)Waltz rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x91, 3 KB)Waltz rhythms Created by Hyacinth using Sibelius and Paint. ...

Polymeter

See also: Polyrhythm

Polymeter or Polyrhythm is the use of two metric frameworks simultaneously, or in regular alternation. Examples include Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 2. Leonard Bernstein's "America" (from West Side Story) employs alternating measures of 6/8 (compound duple) and 3/4 (simple triple). This gives a strong sense of two, followed by three, stresses (indicated in bold type): // I-like-to be-in-A // ME RI CA//. Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. ... Bartok redirects here. ... The String Quartet No. ... Leonard Bernstein in 1971 Leonard Bernstein (IPA pronunciation: )[1] (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, and pianist. ... America is a well-known song from the musical West Side Story. ... For other uses, see West Side Story (disambiguation). ...

An example from the rock canon is "Kashmir" by the seminal British hard-rock quartet Led Zeppelin, in which the percussion articulates 4/4 while the melodic instruments present a riff in 3/4. This is also heard in Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog."^{[citation needed]} Kashmir is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their 1975 album Physical Graffiti. ... For the bands 1969 eponymous debut album, see Led Zeppelin (album). ... Black Dog is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, which was released as the lead-off track of their untitled fourth album in 1971. ...

"Touch And Go", a hit single by The Cars, has polymetric verses, with the drums and bass playing in 5/4, while the guitar, synthesizer, and vocals are in 4/4 (the choruses are entirely in 4/4) (The Cars 1981, 15). Complete listing of all The Cars albums, singles, DVD/Videos. ... The Cars were an American rock band, fronted by Ric Ocasek, that emerged from the early punk scene in the late 1970s. ...

In "Toads Of The Short Forest" (from the album Weasels Ripped My Flesh), composer Frank Zappa explains: "At this very moment on stage we have drummer A playing in 7/8, drummer B playing in 3/4, the bass playing in 3/4, the organ playing in 5/8, the tambourine playing in 3/4, and the alto sax blowing his nose." Weasels Ripped My Flesh is an album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, released in 1970 (see 1970 in music). ... Frank Vincent Zappa[1] (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, musician, and film director. ...

The metal band Meshuggah uses polymeters; typically the songs are constructed in 4/4, with guitar and bass drum patterns in other meters such as 11/8 and 23/16.^{[citation needed]} Meshuggah is a Swedish five-piece experimental metal band, known for their use of extended polymetric passages, complex drum patterns, odd time signatures, angular, dissonant guitar riffs, and harsh vocals. ...

Another notable example in postmodern music is the band King Crimson, which often employs a rather special form of polymeter, namely two guitar tracks playing essentially the same riff, but one track has one or more notes added or subtracted, thus creating highly complex harmonic and rhythmic structures. An example for this kind of polymeter can be found in their song "Frame by Frame," which features a riff in 7/8 over which the second guitar plays the riff with one note less every other time, thus creating an overlay of 7/8 with 6/8+7/8.^{[citation needed]} These are all examples of what is sometimes referred to as "tactus-preserving polymeter." Since the pulse is the same, the various meters eventually agree. (4 measures of 7/4 = 7 measures of 4/4). The more complex, and less-common "measure preserving polymeter," occurs when there exists more than one meter, but the measure stays constant. This is also referred to as polyrhythm (Waters 1996,^{[citation needed]}; Larson 2006,^{[citation needed]} This article is about the musical group. ... Riff is also an alternate spelling of Rif, a region of Morocco. ... Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. ...

Research into the perception of polymeter shows that listeners often either extract a composite pattern that is fitted to a metric framework, or focus on one rhythmic stream while treating others as "noise". This is consistent with the Gestalt psychology tenet that "the figure-ground dichotomy is fundamental to all perception" (Boring 1942, 253; London 2004, 49-50). Gestalt psychology (also Gestalt theory of the Berlin School) is a theory of mind and brain that proposes that the operational principle of the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies; or, that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. ...

Metric structure

Metric structure includes meter, tempo, and all rhythmic aspects which produce temporal regularity or structure, against which the foreground details or durational patterns are projected (Wittlich 1975, chapt. 3). For other uses, see Tempo (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Rhythm (disambiguation). ... A duration is an amount of time or a particular time interval. ...

Rhythmic units can be metric, intrametric, contrametric, or extrametric. A rhythmic unit is a durational pattern which occupies a period of time equivalent to a pulse or pulses on an underlying metric level, as opposed to a rhythmic gesture. ...

Metric levels may be distinguished. The beat level is the metric level at which pulses are heard as the basic time unit of the piece. Faster levels are division levels, and slower levels are multiple levels (Wittlich 1975, chapt. 3). See also the beat disambiguation page. ...

Level of Meter is shown to be a spurious concept, since meter arises from the interaction of two levels of motion, the faster of which provides the pulses, and the slower of which organizes them in repetitive conceptual groups (Yeston, 1976^{[citation needed]}[page number needed]).

Hypermeter is large-scale meter (as opposed to surface-level meter) created by hypermeasures which consist of hyperbeats (Stein 2005, 329). The term was coined by Cone (1968) while London (2004, 19) asserts that there is no perceptual distinction between meter and hypermeter. In musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. ... See also the beat disambiguation page. ...

A metric modulation is a modulation from one metric unit or meter to another. In music a metric modulation is a change (modulation) from one time signature/tempo (meter) to another, wherein a note value from the first is made equivalent to a note value in the second, like a pivot. ... In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ...

Deep structure

C. S. Lee (1985) has described musical meter in terms of deep structure, where, through rewrite rules, different meters (4/4, 3/4, etc) generate many different surface rhythms. For example the first phrase of The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, without the syncopation, may be generated from its meter of 4/4: It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Generative linguistics. ... The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... A Hard Days Night is a 1964 hit song written by John Lennon and credited (as were all their songs) to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, performed by English band The Beatles and produced by George Martin. ... In music, syncopation is when a stressing of a normally unstressed beat in a bar or failure to sound a tone on an accented beat occurs. ...

 4/4 4/4 4/4 /  /  /  2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 | /  | | | | 1/4 1/4 | | | /  /  | | | 1/8 1/8 1/8 1/8 | | | | | | | | | | It's been a hard day's night (Middleton 1990, 211). 

Examples of various meter sound samples

1. sample of how 1/4 meter (help· info) sounds in a tempo of 90bpm.
2. sample of how 2/4 meter (help· info) sounds in a tempo of 90bpm.
3. sample of how 3/4 meter (help· info) sounds in a tempo of 90bpm.
4. sample of how 4/4 meter (help· info) sounds in a tempo of 90bpm.
5. sample of how 5/8 meter (help· info) sounds in a tempo of 120bpm.

Image File history File links 1-4_0. ... Beats per minute (bpm) is a unit typically used as either a measure of tempo in music, or a measure of ones heart rate. ... Image File history File links 2-4_0. ... Image File history File links 3-4_0. ... Image File history File links 4-4_0. ... Image File history File links 5-8_0. ...

Meter in song

Issues involving meter in song reflect a combination of musical meter and poetic meter, especially when the song is in a standard verse form. Traditional and popular songs fall heavily within a limited range of meters, leading to a fair amount of interchangeability. For example, early hymnals commonly did not include musical notation, but simply texts. The text could be sung to any tune known by the singers that had a matching meter, and the tune chosen for a particular text might vary from one occasion to another. This article is about the musical composition. ... In poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. ... In poetry, the meter or metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse. ... See also hymn - a program to decrypt iTunes music files. ...

One case that illustrates the potential use of this principle across musical genres is The Blind Boys of Alabama's rendition of the hymn Amazing Grace, which is sung to the musical setting made famous by The Animals in their version of the folk song The House of the Rising Sun. Musical genres are categories which contain music which share a certain style or which have certain elements in common. ... The Blind Boys of Alabama are a gospel music group from Alabama that first formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939. ... For other uses, see Hymn (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Amazing Grace (disambiguation). ... The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s known in the United States as part of the British Invasion. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... For other uses, see The House of the Rising Sun (disambiguation). ...

Sources

• The Cars (1981). Panorama (songbook). New York: Warner Bros. Publications Inc.
• Honing, Henkjan (2002). "Structure and Interpretation of Rhythm and Timing." Tijdschrift voor Muziektheorie 7(3):227–32.pdf
• Karpinski, Gary S. (2000). Aural Skills Acquisition: The Development of Listening, Reading, and Performing Skills in College-Level Musicians. ISBN 0-19-511785-9.
• Krebs, Harald (2005). "Hypermeter and Hypermetric Irregularity in the Songs of Josephine Lang.", in in Deborah Stein (ed.),: Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517010-5. 
• Larson, Steve (2006). "Rhythmic Displacement in the Music of Bill Evans". In Structure and Meaning in Tonal Music: Festschrift in Honor of Carl Schachter, edited by L. Poundie Burstein and David Gagné, 103–22. Harmonologia Series, no. 12. Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press. ISBN 1576471128
• Lester, Joel (1986). The Rhythms of Tonal Music. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-1282-4. 
• London, Justin (2004). Hearing in Time: Psychological Aspects of Musical Meter. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516081-9. 
• Scruton, Roger (1997). The Aesthetics of Music, p.25ex2.6. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816638-9.
• Waters, Keith (1996). "Blurring the Barline: Metric Displacement in the Piano Solos of Herbie Hancock". Annual Review of Jazz Studies 8:19–37.
• Wittlich, Gary E. (ed.) (1975). Aspects of Twentieth-century Music. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. 
• Yeston, Maury (1976). The Stratification of Musical Rhythm. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Maury Yeston is a American composer and lyricist educated at Yale and Clare College, Cambridge. ...

See also

• Wazn
• Tala
• List of musical works in unusual time signatures

In Arab music a wazn (plural, awzān) is a rhythmic pattern or cycle, literally translated as measure (also called darb, mizan, and usul). ... In Indian classical music, Tala (tāl (Hindi), tāla (anglicised from talam; in Sanskrit), literally a clap, is a rhythmical pattern that determines the rhythmical structure of a composition. ... Listed here are musical compositions or pieces in Western music that have unusual time signatures. ...

External links

• www.oddtimeobsessed.com website and Internet radio dedicated to odd meters in music. (odd time signatures)

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