Sheet Music Theory - Simple and Compound Time Signatures

[Rodney Eddy]

After learning simple music theory such as the different types of
notes and what the stave, time signature and clef symbols are you are
then ready to delve further into learning about the different types of
time that are found in music. Put simply the three types are simple,
compound and irregular times. Simple time is the easiest to identify.
In simple time the top number will always be a 2,3 or 4 denoting that
there will be that many beats per bar. This is very straight forward
and is easy for beginning music students to pick up making it a good
choice for beginner bands. The next type of time, compound, is also
relatively easy to distinguish. It will be a number that is greater
than four, but at the same time it must be divisible by three.
When you examine compound time you will notice that the notes will
normally be grouped in threes. One example of this can be found in 6/8
time where you will find two groups of three eighth notes each. You
can also find many different combinations of these. You might find two
quarter notes and two eighth notes together in one bar or you might
find two dotted quarter notes. You could also find a dotted half note.
While this may seem rather easy in and of itself it can be a bit
tricky. If you were only counting the beats in slow music you would
find it rather easy. Faster music can be a good deal harder however.
It is much easier to just count the eighth note groups as if they were
just one big beat. This means that in a rapidly moving piece of sheet
music written in 6/8 time you would have two separate pulses.
The first one will be on the first of the eighth notes and will be a
strong one. The second will be lighter and will hit on the fourth of
the eighth notes. This will leave you with two countable beats for
each bar. Each of these two beats will then be able to divide into
three. This benefit to 6/8 time is what helps it to be an almost
perfect marching tempo. As a matter of fact, many of the early 20th
century military marches were written in this time signature.
Most of the time you will find 6/8 time described as having two dotted
quarter notes per bar rather than having six eighth notes per bar.
Some of the other compound time signatures include 12/8 and 9/8 time.
In 12/8 time you will find four groups total. This means there would
be four dotted quarter notes for each bar. In 9/8 time you will find
three groups of three eighth notes which will be represented by three
dotted quarter notes for each bar.
The last type of time is irregular time. The top number will always be
higher than four but it must not be divisible by three. Some examples
of irregular time signatures includes 7/4 and 5/8 time. Note that the
top numbers are both higher than four but three will definitely not
divide into them.

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