Which term describes a meter with three beats per measure?

Which term describes a meter with three beats per measure?

• A. Triple
• B. Duple
• C. Compound
• D. Irregular

Answer: (A)

Meter in music is about how many beats you feel in each measure. When you have three beats per measure, you’re in triple meter. That triple feel is the steady pattern of strong-weak-weak, like in a waltz, and you’ll see time signatures such as 3/4 or 3/8. This contrasts with two beats per measure (duple) and meters with irregular numbers of beats (like 5/4 or 7/8). The term triple specifically describes the three-beat-per-measure structure. The idea of compound meters is about how each beat is subdivided (in compound meters, beats break into threes), not about having three main beats per measure. So for three main beats per measure, the correct term is triple.

Meter in music is about how many beats you feel in each measure. When you have three beats per measure, you’re in triple meter. That triple feel is the steady pattern of strong-weak-weak, like in a waltz, and you’ll see time signatures such as 3/4 or 3/8.

This contrasts with two beats per measure (duple) and meters with irregular numbers of beats (like 5/4 or 7/8). The term triple specifically describes the three-beat-per-measure structure. The idea of compound meters is about how each beat is subdivided (in compound meters, beats break into threes), not about having three main beats per measure. So for three main beats per measure, the correct term is triple.