3. Compound and additive meters, tuplets

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The beat is not always a quarter note. These are the meters where it changes size or groups another way, and the tuplets that cross beats.

Compound meters. In 6/8 the beat is a dotted quarter, so ccc ccc is one bar of eighths, counted in two, as a musician counts it.

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meter: 6/8
tempo: 70
hh = ccc ccc
bd = b__ b__

Tuplets across beats. A number before the brackets says how many beats the group takes: 2[c4 d e] is three notes in two beats (quarter-note triplets) and 3[c c c c] four in three.

Additive meters. meter: 7/8 = 2+2+3 says how the eighths group. A bar is written one word per group (cc cc ccc) or one per eighth (c c c c c c c), and the tempo counts eighths.

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meter: 7/8 = 2+2+3
tempo: 240
hh = cc cc ccc
bd = b  b  b

Meter changes. at bar 17: meter 7/8.