Introduction

Compound Meter: Dotted-Quarter-Note Beat

In this chapter, we focus on compound-meter time signatures in which the dotted quarter note is assigned to the beat. The organization and progression of difficulty is much the same as Chapter 1 with only a few minor changes.

Chapter 2A includes excerpts that use 6/8 as a time signature and feature mostly dotted half, dotted quarter, and eighth notes. In Chapter 2B, the rhythmic complexity of Chapter 2B is maintained, and the challenge becomes one of attending to the more involved metrical hierarchies of triple and quadruple meter.

Since dotted quarters are a bedrock feature of 6/8, 9/8, and 12/8, there is no parallel for Chapter 1C here. Chapter 2C introduces sixteenth notes in compound meter in much the same way as Chapter 1D. Finally, Chapter 2D features a variety of excerpts that use ties and dots in more challenging ways, particularly in creating rhythmic and metrical conflicts with the notated meter. The skills developed from careful work in Chapter 2D will prove invaluable for students’ future work in Chapters 4 and 5.