ABSTRACT
The important thing to recognize in this correlation is that both meters have two beats. This is counterintuitive because in 24 the top number means that there are 2 beats in a measure, which implies that in 68 there should be 6 beats. The reason for this difference lies in the fact that the note values we use divide into pairs (i.e., a whole-note divides into two half-notes, a half-note divides into two quarter-notes, and so on). This scheme matches the division into twos that occurs in simple meters but is at odds with the compound meter’s division of the beat into three parts. An accurate meter signature for 68 would have a 2 on top and a dotted quarter-note on the bottom to show that there are two beats in the measure and that the dotted quarter-note gets the beat. As you work through this module try to perform the true number of beats in each bar.
