What is a metre?

Answer 1

MATH

A "metre" (meter) is an SI or metric system unit, which was originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance between the Earth's equator and the North Pole. It is currently defined as the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 of a second. It is used in various sub-units or multiples such as centimeters, 1/100 meter, and kilometers, which is 1000 meters.

For those using English units, a meter is about 39.37 inches so for rough calculations, it is a little over a yard. A kilometer is about 3/5 of a mile.

MUSIC

When listening to a piece of music we usually feel some beats more strongly than others, so that we can count a recurring pattern of loud and soft, or "accented" and "unaccented" beats. (an accent is a stress placed on a note or beat). For example, in a march we could count a ONE-two pattern, the ONE being the accented note and the beginning of the bar. In a waltz the pattern would be ONE-two-three. Most songs have a ONE-two-three-four pattern.

The patterning of beats into repeated groups is called "metre". The unit of time occupied by one group of beats (that is, from one accented beat to the next) is called a bar. Metre provides a framework of bars within the sounds and silences of music occur.

The are three basic metres in music:

1. duple metre - two beats in a bar

2. triple metre - three beats to a bar

3. quadruple metre - four beats to a bar