The meaning of compound beat is explained as follows:

It is composed of single beats of the same type, and each measure contains two or more downbeats, which is called compound beat.

Music terminology:

Common compound beats include: 6/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc., among which 6/8 and 9/8 are Most commonly used in music.

Additional explanation:

Uncle Song’s tutorial (Chapter 1, Lesson 7, 33 minutes) says that compound time is the time signature with 6, 9, and 12 above it, including 6/4 , 9/8, 12/8, etc. When playing time, each major beat contains three minor beats.

For example: 6/4|3 3 3 3 3 3|According to the definition, the meaning of 6/4 is: the quarter note only counts as 1/3 beat, so the first three 3's sing one beat Value, the last three 3s are sung to the time of one beat. Therefore, this section is not 6 beats, but 2 beats.

Similarly: 9/4|1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3|In this section, 111 sings one beat, not the usual three beats. The same goes for 222 and 333. So there are only three beats in this measure.

Backbeat memory skills:

For non-music majors, first of all, follow the German system that China inherited from the former Soviet Union. The advantage is that it breaks out of the cage of rules and professionalism, and can Short-term memory.

Due to the difference in the number of time marks and the position of stress, beats are divided into single beats and compound beats. The characteristic of single beat is that there are only strong beats and weak beats.

A beat with two or three beats in each measure is called a single beat, which is a strong sound ">" and a weak sound "-" (two beats), or a strong sound ">" two weak sounds " -" (three beats).

For example, 2/2, 2/4, 3/4, 3/8, etc. are all single beats. In the beat, regardless of single or compound beat, one strong and one weak or one strong and two weak form a combination.

In compound beats, each measure has several groups of one strong and one weak, or one strong and two weak sounds, which are grouped together and are called compound beats.

In compound beats, only the first heavy beat in each measure is called a downbeat, represented by ">", and the other heavy beats are called sub-downbeats, represented by "+".

Commonly used compound beats include 4/4, 6/8, 9/8, 12/8, etc.

Compound time is actually composed of several single beats. 6/8 is the compound time of 2/4, 9/8 is the compound time of 3/4, and 12/8 is the compound time of 4/4. In time, 6/4 is the compound time of 2/2.