J. Anthony Allen breaks down compound meters by showing how 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8 work as groups of three. The beat in compound time is the dotted note, not the simple note, and you count either two, three, or four of these groups per measure.
I have a couple graphs here that are images, I should say, not really graphs that kind of outline this a little bit clearer. Maybe just another way to see it. So in six, eight, we can have six eighth notes or two dotted quarter notes, right? Because each one of these is 3 8th notes, right? In 6, 4, also a compound meter, we would have 6 quarter notes, because 4 is at the bottom. So 6 quarter notes or 2 dotted half notes, right? Because each one of these is going to equal three quarter notes. So this equals six quarter notes. Nine, eight. We would have nine eighth notes or three dotted quarter notes. Hence, this would be called a triple meter because of that. And this would be called a duple meter because of that. This would also be called a duple meter. 6, 4, 12, 8, we have 12 8th notes or 4 dotted quarter notes, right? So this would be called a quadruple meter. So quadruple meter because of that. Triple meter because of that. Duple meter because of that. Here's another graph or chart that lays this out kind of nicely. So in six, eight beats per measure. Now, what they're calling the beat is this big dotted quarter note, right? And the division of the beat is the eighth note. So six, four, two beats per measure. The beat here is dotted half note. And quarter notes are the division of the beat. Three quarter notes are the division of the beat. 9, 16, 3 dotted eighth notes is what gets the pulse. And then the division of the beat is three 16th notes. Nine, eight, three dotted quarter notes. And an eighth note, three eighth notes is the division of the beat. 12, eight. There's going to be four dotted quarter notes because there will be 12 of these. Because here's another way you can think about this. This three eighth notes times this, three times four equals this top number, right? So 12 eighth notes, same deal here. 12, four would be four groups of three quarter notes or four dotted half notes, because each one of these equals three of those. So a couple different ways to look at it. Hopefully that helps it sink in a little bit more. Now in the next video, let's go back to our Green Sleeves example and see if we can pick that apart a little bit.
