Simple and Compound Time
Time signatures fall into two basic categories - simple time and compound time. Simple time is any time signature where the basic beat is divisible by two. E.g. in *, ^, and %the basic beat is a quarter note which may be divided in half to become two eighth notes per beat. Any time signature where the basic beat is divisible by three is called compound time. The most common example of compound time is six eight time ()). Other examples of compound time would be _ and +. In compound time, the basic beat is felt as a dotted quarter note which can be divided by three.
The Six Eight Time Signature
This is the six eight time siganture.
There are six eighth notes in one bar of ) time.
The six eighth notes are divided into two groups of three.
The following song shows some typical note groupings in ) time. Notice the similarity in feeling between this time signature and the triplets and swing eighth notes you learnt earlier.
Here is another song in ) time. In bar 14, the note D# occurs. This is enharmonically the same as Eb, so you already know the fingering, you just need to get used to another way of reading the note.
Here is an example in + time. A bar of + time is similar to a bar fo triplets in * time. Notice once again the use of the note D#, this time in two separate octaves. This example is derived from the A Blues scale.
