A compound time signature is where the beat falls on a dotted note which means the beat is divisible by three. This is different to simple time (e.g. 3/4, 4/4, 5/4 etc.) where each beat is a crotchet (quarter note) which is normally subdivided by multiples of two.

Because dotted notes are native to compound time signatures, triplets can be written without having to include the number 3 or the bracket.

The following three compound time signatures are used the most frequently.

6/8 rhythms have two beats per bar and could be counted:

1 2 3 2 2 3 or

9/8 rhythms have three beats per bar and could be counted:

1 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 or

12/8 rhythms have four beats per bar and could be counted:

1 2 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 4 2 3 or

12/8 can sound the same as 6/8. The only difference is how long you decide to make each bar in the same way that 2/4 and 4/4 can sound similar.

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